A Milestone in my Martial Journey

[tallgeese]

I just wanted to take a second and give everyone a bit of a review of a seminar that I was lucky enough to take part in a couple of weekends ago. I was honored to be asked to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for JKD at this seminar and it was a phenomenal experience. As titled, I feel it was a milestone in my martial career and I’ll get to that in a bit.

The seminar, the Warrior’s Weekend, was the brainchild of my friend and guide in the realm of JKD, Nik Farooqui who envisioned it as more than just a martial arts workout, but as a way to build a network and brotherhood of like minded, combative artists of various disciplines. It was a way to move away from the closed mindedness of many martial events and expose artists and instructors to tools and tactics that would expand everyone’s game.

The line-up he brought in for this was top notch. First up, we had Carlos Flores teaching aspects of Dog Brothers Martial Arts. Almost every other exposure to stick work I’ve had has revolved around pattern after pattern with little to no application. This was not the case with Carlos, who had us almost immediately working application after drilling us on specific footwork that was fluid, precise, and functional.

Dominick Izzo came next. Dominick is a Wing Chun practitioner who has some strong opinion on his art, and combat arts as a whole. I found his presentation to be excellent. I’d never considered spending time looking into Wing Chun before. Honestly, I had always kind of considered it as a kind of outdated starting point for JKD. Dominick really changed this erroneous impression I had of the art and totally changed my opinion of it. It was an eye opener and I was happy to have met Wing Chun through Dominick.

I closed out day one with a punch block sequence from the guard out of BJJ. It’s one of the core things of the self defense aspect of the art and one that is fundamentally important for those looking to cross train in BJJ for other combative arts. Luckily, the feedback was good and it felt as if people were able to take the information and make it their own, which was something that was important to me as an instructor at this event.

The next day kicked off with Paul Ingram teaching Pekiti Tersia Kali, an explosively violent (and absolutely beautiful) blade based art. Having circled around the outside of the JKD world a time or two over the years I’ve seen a few Kali arts even if I haven’t spent a great deal of time actually diving into them. Paul made me rethink that lack of involvement and I hope that I can make time to train in this really cool art soon.

Last, Nik taught an aspect of JKD that I don’t always see done well. Low line attacks. Nik’s game here is awesome and functional and puts to use some kicks out of various kali arts and savate. Some have radically different chambering solutions than the kicks out of karate based arts I’m used to. It was an excellent example of a short block of instruction that can immediately and easily be integrated into what one is already doing. Just fantastic.

That takes us through the technical portions, which were awesome. However, the true strength of this event was the way that so many combative artists came together and saw how much more alike we were than different. It also allowed me to make new friends and training partners and reconnect with others. Even our resident Groinstrike and MasterPain came up for the festivities and it’s always great to see those guys.

So how is this a milestone?

People that have been around the arts for a long time, like for decades, might get it. We get used to the grind, maybe even tired of it a bit. We get insular and stop looking. We accept that we’re good at one thing, or two, and fail to continue looking outside ourselves or our group for potential answers. This seminar was the cure for that. I’m not sure that I’ve been as inspired to train for a long time. Not just in outside arts, but to drive forward in BJJ as well. Truly a milestone for me, I look at it as the first step in the next evolution of my martial journey.

And I can’t wait for the rest of it.

[bushido_man96]

That sounds like it was an awesome experience, Alex. What a great opportunity to work with and get exposed to so many great stylists. Awesome, and I envy you!

You mentioned the punch block sequence. I'd be interested to see it, and if its the same that we do at our DT club. I've learned lots of good stuff there so far, and had blast teaching it to my department. I keep looking for other options, too, and hope to get exposed to some more training, like yourself.

Congrats on your milestone! Its great to be able to meet new people and experience new ways of training. Get those batteries recharged, and keep after it!

[tallgeese]

That's a great way to put it- recharging my batteries. It really did feel like that. It also gave me a great look at the path I want my JKD, and by extension my own personal journey to go. It also gave me a great chance to see and work with martial artists that I want to be more like.

As for the punch block sequence I'll see if I can shoot some video for you in the near future and get it to you.

[Groinstrike]

I was privileged enough to partake in Warrior's Weekend and I agree with Tallgeese it was a very rewarding and energizing experience. Definitely got me fired up to get back into weapon based arts.

[MasterPain]

I was privileged enough to partake in Warrior's Weekend and I agree with Tallgeese it was a very rewarding and energizing experience. Definitely got me fired up to get back into weapon based arts.

I concur. Just remember to look both ways before whipping the blade out and swinging it around.

[sensei8]

You've recently had some dynamic Aha moments with constant growth, and no stagnant decay!!

SOLID!!

[tallgeese]

I finally got around to getting some footage from the weekend's seminar compiled from the facebook feed. For those that didn't get a chance to see it, here's some overview:

some DBMA:

PTK:

JKD:

Wing Chun:

and last but not least, yours truly:

Enjoy!

[sensei8]

Alex,

Enjoyed watching the videos; thank you for them. I would've loved to hear what was being said by each instructor overall!

[xinyitaichi]

I finally got around to getting some footage from the weekend's seminar compiled from the facebook feed. For those that didn't get a chance to see it, here's some overview:

Enjoy!

Great video. Thanks for sharing! What you've done is indeed a milestone event. I wish there were similar events on the East Coast. I am very envious.

If you can expand it to include other martial arts in future, that would be awesome. I cannot wait to see more videos.

[bushido_man96]

That looks like it was a total blast! I'd rather have heard what you guys had to say as opposed to the music, but the videos were great!