Seminar with Master Penfil in February...

[Miles]

I was only able to attend the Friday session, so I missed out on meeting Carbone Sensei. But it was still an enjoyable and learning experience.

I didn't get a chance to meet the other MT'ers formally except for TallAdam but I did run into someone I trained with about 10 years ago which was nice.

Looking forward to the dvd!

Miles

 

[MBuzzy]

We should have done an MT role call - I don't even know who was there from the board and I just realized that...

 

[terryl965]

We should have done an MT role call - I don't even know who was there from the board and I just realized that...

Yes you should have well at the Buffalo M&G we will have to beat you down

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

In all fairness, we didn't do a formal MT Role Call, but we did start the Friday evening session by having everyone in the room introduce themselves. I thought that you guys went over to have individual discussions with each other during the evening.

Peter had to pass on being there Saturday & Sunday, but I know that John & Craig, as well as J.B. Jaeger spent some quality time at Sensei Carbone's houe and in Greek Town.

I was just at Sensei Carbone's house a couple of hours ago. We had some great conversations about the time spent with him. He was quite taken by the number of participants that came toi his home. He enjoyed the interaction with all of you very much.

In April he will be holding his next Weapons Training Camp in his new dojo. His grandmaster will be here from Okinawa. He wants to invite EVERYONE to participate. If you are interested, let me know so we can arrange for you to be here.


All the best,


Master Jay S. Penfil

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

Greetings to all,
I just finished posting close to 600 pictures from the seminar that were taken by Stace Sanchez (KICKPICS.net) on my myspace page.

If you want to view them, go to myspace.com/masterpenfil and click on the "PICS", go to the bottom of the photo album list to find them.

 

[Makalakumu]

I've had some time to ponder the seminar itself and I have some insights and a couple of questions I'd like to share.

Insight #1

Master Penfil shared with us his concepts of basics and I greatly appreciate seeing a TSD Master breaking down the traditional techniques into the applicative components in which they were constructed. More TSD people need to see this from a high ranking individual such as Master Penfil because this is the only way that any of these technques make sense in any sort of combative way.

With that being said, I challenge the label that we apply to these techniques. They are not basic. They are complicated movements that are pregnant with various meanings and I think that calling them "basic" presents an impediment towards understanding. I beleive that Itosu Sensei intentionally designed them this way in order to obfuscate their true nature.

When discussing basics, I would like to see an honest appraisal of techniques that really are basic. Lets look at some of the drills that we performed when studying basics. We used ha dan mahkee, for example, and broke it into several peices. We used two different kinds of parries, three kinds of strikes, and one joint lock. These individual movements are basics, not ha dan mahkee.

Approach this from a beginning student's perspective. If you never teach and practice the peices, then you will have less of an understanding of the whole.

IMHO, its time to step out of Itosu's shadowy creation.

Insight #2

As far as the seminar structure goes, I'd like to see an underlying theme that ties together all of the elements better. For example, when we practice "basics" perhaps it would be better to practice the "basics" in a single form. This would have been especially important friday night because we had so many practicioners from other arts there, a little more focus could have allowed for more elaboration based on personal experience.

This increased focus could, conceivably, traverse the entire weekend. Think about how powerful it would be to spend the entire weekend on the applications of one form. The depth that this would portray would really open a participants eyes to the real depth of TSD hyungs. Further, I think the amount of redundancy in all of our hyung is such that participants would naturally see analogues in other hyung.

The light from this intense spotlight would filter into the other areas of the TSD curriculum.

Insight #3

This insight regards Master Penfil himself. I found him to be a very professional and class individual who is extremely knowledgable about not only TSD technique, but also of other entirely different families of karate. I had the opportunity to speak with Master Penfil at length private and train with him privately and I can tell you first hand that he really knows what he is talking about.

I felt a lot of brotherhood with him because I felt that I had finally found someone who viewed TSD like I did. Yes, we approach application from different angles, but I really enjoyed the new perspective that he provided me.

Master Penfil is probably unique within the TSD community, being a high ranking individual and veiwing the art in this way. Do not waste any opportunity to train with him, especially if you only have ever seen the kicho, hyung, and deh ryun TSD.

Questions

1. Now that we know this stuff is embedded in our practice, what are we going to do about it?

2. This one is for Master Penfil. When a beginning student walks into your dojang, what are the unifying objectives that you want them to be aware of by the end of that class?

 

[JWLuiza]

It was excellent. My wife and I are planning a trip to visit some friends in the Baltimore and DC area later this year. I would love to get together again to train, drink soju, and eat kimchi.

Agree, Carbone Sensei is incredible....John and I were talking about that on the way home - you realize that we spent the evening in the presence of a living legend?.....and we drank his wine.....Incredible. I'm planning to get up there at least once every other month.

BTW, if you haven't yet, there's a Meet and Greet area here that you can stop by to introduce yourself. I'd also LOVE to see a post or three about your style in the KMA main forum. I'd like to know more about it in terms of history, lineage, execution, etc.

When are you comign to the Baltimore/DC area? I'm nearer DC that Errant108... We have an open Friday night workout that I could probably get you guys into. Or maybe a Sat workout.....

 

[Errant108]

1. Now that we know this stuff is embedded in our practice, what are we going to do about it?

The issue at hand here is that the "basics" aren't, as you said. Hyung are a tool for preserving a curriculum in a situation where you cannot or do not wish to preserve said curriculum via the written world.

If a given movement (and I'm just pulling this out of my ***, not actually providing bunhae for a technique) such as a low block is actually slipping and parrying a punch before responding with your own strike, then that's not basic. Its a curriculum. You have to provide the lesson plan.

The first technique in that series is slipping a punch So you first have to learn how to throw said punch. That's a basic. Drill throwing that punch on pads. Drill it with a partner. Put on gloves and head gear, work throwing that punch with footwork, working on your accuracy. Now that you know how to throw that punch, you can begin working on slipping it. Partner up, drill statically to get the gross motion. Add footwork and spontaniety in the attack's timing. Work in the parry, and see how you have to adjust your footwork and distancing if you intend to make contact with your opponent versus just getting out of the way. Now, work in the counter attack. Build on the timing, distancing, and footwork you've already learned. Learn how to weigh the benefits of slipping & countering versus parrying & countering. See what works best for you.

That's basics.

So, rather than look at learning how to "perform" a technique, we need to move toward an overall curriculum based first on attribute development, and then tool development. In the above example, one needs to first gain the ability to judge distance, speed, and acquire a target to learn how to throw that first punch. Learning how to move and hit becomes more of a priority than learning how to throw that picture perfect lunge or reverse punch. Reaction time becomes key in learning how to evade and counter attacks, rather than static "blocking".

 

[Errant108]

When are you comign to the Baltimore/DC area? I'm nearer DC that Errant108... We have an open Friday night workout that I could probably get you guys into. Or maybe a Sat workout.....

What, I don't get an invite?

 

[Makalakumu]

The issue at hand here is that the "basics" aren't, as you said. Hyung are a tool for preserving a curriculum in a situation where you cannot or do not wish to preserve said curriculum via the written world.

If a given movement (and I'm just pulling this out of my ***, not actually providing bunhae for a technique) such as a low block is actually slipping and parrying a punch before responding with your own strike, then that's not basic. Its a curriculum. You have to provide the lesson plan.

The first technique in that series is slipping a punch So you first have to learn how to throw said punch. That's a basic. Drill throwing that punch on pads. Drill it with a partner. Put on gloves and head gear, work throwing that punch with footwork, working on your accuracy. Now that you know how to throw that punch, you can begin working on slipping it. Partner up, drill statically to get the gross motion. Add footwork and spontaniety in the attack's timing. Work in the parry, and see how you have to adjust your footwork and distancing if you intend to make contact with your opponent versus just getting out of the way. Now, work in the counter attack. Build on the timing, distancing, and footwork you've already learned. Learn how to weigh the benefits of slipping & countering versus parrying & countering. See what works best for you.

That's basics.

So, rather than look at learning how to "perform" a technique, we need to move toward an overall curriculum based first on attribute development, and then tool development. In the above example, one needs to first gain the ability to judge distance, speed, and acquire a target to learn how to throw that first punch. Learning how to move and hit becomes more of a priority than learning how to throw that picture perfect lunge or reverse punch. Reaction time becomes key in learning how to evade and counter attacks, rather than static "blocking".

You may find this of interest...

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59916

 

[MBuzzy]

The first technique in that series is slipping a punch So you first have to learn how to throw said punch. That's a basic. Drill throwing that punch on pads. Drill it with a partner. Put on gloves and head gear, work throwing that punch with footwork, working on your accuracy. Now that you know how to throw that punch, you can begin working on slipping it. Partner up, drill statically to get the gross motion. Add footwork and spontaniety in the attack's timing. Work in the parry, and see how you have to adjust your footwork and distancing if you intend to make contact with your opponent versus just getting out of the way. Now, work in the counter attack. Build on the timing, distancing, and footwork you've already learned. Learn how to weigh the benefits of slipping & countering versus parrying & countering. See what works best for you.

This is basically a list of the things that I dont' think that we do enough in most TSD schools. I feel that a class with no partnering and working on applying technique needs it!

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

For those of you who are interested, Soke Peter Carbone's next training camp will be April 11, 12 & 13 at his new dojo!!!

For those of you who attended my February seminar and had the chance to meet Soke Carbone, you have a good idea of what the quality of the material will be. For those who were not here, You will want to find out first hand.


If you are interented in attending, contact me right away to get registered.


All the best,


Master Jay S. Penfil

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

This weekend is the main event!!!

Soke Carbone's Weapon's Training Camp starts on Friday evening. If you are interested, contact me "ASAP"...


All the best,

Master Jay S. Penfil

 

[tsdmgk1336]

Hello there Master Penfil,,


I hope your training with Master carbon was a success. I haven't heard from you in a while. I'm currently reading a book called The way of the Kata. Whats your opinion on this book?

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

It is a good book... I recieved it as a gift about 3 years ago.

Shihan-Te is a great book as well. Darryl Craig has written many great books. I am currently reading his book; "IAI - The Art of Drawing the Sword". It is a great introductory source for anyone that is interested in the Japanese Sword.

Sensei Carbone is doing well. The training camp was a huge success. We will have the official grand opening of the new dojo in May. His instructor, Nakamoto Soke will be here from Okinawan for the event and will stay here for 3 weeks to train us. I am lookoing forward to the time that we will be able to spend together.

All the best,


Master Jay S. Penfil

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

This weekend Sensei Peter Carbone is bringing in his grandmaster from Okinawa. His name is Nakamoto, Kiichi. He is 82 years old and currently the senior Grandmaster in Okinawa.

Ryukyunote WeaponsSociety
Grand Openind
USA-Okinawa Honbu Dojo
8586 Napier Rd.
Northville, MI 48168
248-347-7665
[email protected]

May 17 & 18

*Seminars and Demonstrations*

Rare visit, Director from Okinawa
10th Degree Grand Master Nakamoto, Kiichi
Historical Family, Royal Body Guards of the Ryukyu Kings

Last formal student of Gojuryu founder Chogun Miyagi

$125.00/per participant
(includes Saturday evening Bar-B-Que, Pig Roast)


For mor info please contact me at your earliest convenience!!!​

 

[Master Jay S. Penfil]

We ar ein the process of setting a date for a seminar that will be held here at my school with my senior student, Master Dave frizzell. Master Frizzell will be here in Michigan for a couple of weeks of R&R from the Army in the middle of July. As soon as he knows trhe exact dates we will finalize the seminar date. It will be a one day program, and for those of you that were here with us in february, you know how much energy and value Master Frizzell brings to the table with him!!!

I will post as soon as we are set.