Starting to settle in after nearly two weeks on the road.
First some words about my Brazil seminar: Due to unexpected visa problems at the airport in Buenos Aires, my intended seminar, to be hosted by DBMA Group Leader Diego Marroni, did not happen. This greatly inconvenienced many people who had made plans. I have been giving seminars since 1995 and this was the first time that anything like this had ever happened to me and I was deeply embarassed.
Since then, Diego, who is a doctor in Brazilian Army, was stationed elsewhere, and he handed off hosting the seminar to Daniel V. & Daniel C.
The seminar was rescheduled for January 2014, but when I separated my shoulder in December it had to be rescheduled-- for April. Some would have been deterred, but Daniel and Daniel stood by me and for that I am grateful.
Finally we held the seminar the first week of April-- and Diego was able to come up from his post in southern Brazil-- with my recovery incomplete from my shoulder separation it was very helpful to be able to point to him and ask him to demonstrate movements that would have been painful for me. Also attending were some instructors from other parts of the country.
D&D were considerate hosts ( who consistently fed me very well!) and a wonderful group was in attendance. As I looked around the room I saw many people showing solid Kali Silat skills, and thanks to Diego filling in last year in my absence, many of them already had a grasp of our Dos Triques material. D&D give credit to Mas Guro Paulo Albuquerque for the general level that I saw. I had the pleasure of meeeting with the very gracious Mas Guro Paulo (who trains the Brazilian equivalent of our Secret Service) who was kind enough to share some of his thinking on gun disarms with me.
I am very pleased to announce that Daniel V. and Daniel C. are now DBMA Group Leaders for Rio.
I would also like to announce Diego's promotion to DBMA Instructor. In addtion to the month he spent with me in the US, and seeing him move while there, seeing what he was able to impart as he filled in for me last year and have it be retained a year later by those whom he instructed tells me what I need to know.
D&D tell me that August will be a better month for them to bring me back the next time and so the plan is for me to return in August of 2015. There may well be an additional seminar in another part of the country.
On the whole, I am very encouraged by developments in Brazil. The various instructors interested in DBMA get along well with each other and the prospects for synergy amongst the groups are quite promising. Add to that the dynamics of the three DBMA Groups in Argentina (Herman, Guillermo, and Nicolas) and I can see something very strong taking root in southern South America.
The Adventure continues!
Guro CraftyMarc Denny
