WMAA Spring Camp Sucess

[Northern]

Hey,
I had a great time. And no Tim and Janice (hope I spelled that right) didn't bribe me with a New Stereo System to say that. Thanks to Stereo Advantage to just have the good sense to sponser another great WMAA event.
Everybody brought there "attitude" and a good sense of humor to the camp. Many Laughs were had. Good techniques were shown, and hopefully absorbed. Yes, absorbed simular to the supposedly padded sticks! (And why did Mr Parson's deserve the unpadded kind) I am still wondering about that.
I am sure Dr Leader will be posting a detailed camp review shortly... But, feel free to add your thoughts... and explaintions of why Rich might have needed a beating from P.G. (anyone who wasn't there should know that this is totally tounge in cheek) I learned my lesson that I should watch my range better so as not absorb many nice leg shots. Hopefully I will use the drills learned to pursue that thought. Anyhow, Thanks to All the Instructors and Participants for a decent time. (That is 1980's for IT ROCKED)

 

[Cruentus]

Definatily a good time. Good things I saw from all instructors (in no particular order):

PG Myrlino Hufana: Best thing about him (if you watched closely) was the way he controlled distance. Covered a lot of great attribute building excersises that will help everyone with footwork, monitoring with the live hand (with knife), managing distance, and striking (with cane). Plus...the sparring was fun!

Guro Rick Manglinong: Great double stick work once again. Reinforced what many may have done with him already, but also allowed us to build from there. Guro Rick Helped me in my continuous research into the Presas double stick "style." Also had fun in the last session (Rich and I probably had too much fun trying to kill each other instead of sticking to the drill. I think Guro Rick wanted to kill us, but hey, who hasn't? :lookie: Thank God Guro Rick is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet! :cheers: )

Datu Tim Hartman: If you were paying attention during Tim's session, then your timing would have improved. A Great learning opportunity as usual. Worked on both single cane and empty hand. Tim's session allowed people to feel the Balintawak flavor in their Modern Arnis, which of course was right up my alley. I also liked the trapping hands portion, and the way that Datu Tim tied it all in with the stick work. I think I am still better empty hands then with stick, despite all the stick work I do (ARGGH!)! :ultracool

Guro Jeff Leader: Disarms. That's all I have to say. Dr. Leader did a wonderful job in breaking down the disarms, and showing how they translate to empty hand vs. cane, and also against longer weapons. It gave us all the chance to analyze proper body mechanics when disarming, making us all a little bit better then we were. Nice Job Jeff! :asian:

Punong Abala Janice Strand(sp?): If my dictionary serves me correctly, Punong Abala means "host" (which is ironic because the verb "abala" by itself means "busy," which also fits the description!). As always, Janice was Tim's right hand in making another great event, and deserves a new title for being the awesome camp host that she is! :uhyeah:

All in all, it was a great time. I thank all the instructors and students for sharing their knowledge, and I thank Tim and Janice for hosting, and I thank everyone for putting up with my quirky little antics, and my big mouth (especially Rich). [ ahem...No homo-erotica intended guys...get your minds out of the gutter! ]

:asian:

 

[Northern]

I would tend to agree with the synopsis presented by Paul.
And Yes, Janice did do a lot great work!

 

[arnisador]

2004 Annual WMAA Camp--Review

The 2004 WMAA Camp has come and gone and once again I had a great time and learned a lot. Thanks to Tim Hartman and Janice Stranc for another educational, fun, and well-run event! My review is from memory, not notes, so I hope any errors, of omission or of commission, will be corrected--in particular, I may have mixed up the order of what was taught in exactly which session.

I was able to spend some time with Mr. Hartman on Wednesday evening, including having pizza and wings with Bob Hubbard and Susan Spann. On Thursday Mr. Hartman and I discussed issues related to the camp during the day. Mr. Hubbard joined us for part of the time, and we socialized with early arrivals as well. There was a special class for senior students in the evening, during which Mr. Hartman covered Balintawak concepts. Fortunately for me I was able to practice with Rich Parsons who is himself very knowledgeable in Balintawak. I came away with some great techniques and also a broader perspective on the Balintawak style. After a brief chat, Mr. Parsons and I visited Mr. Hubbard at his place before returning to the school. We had planned to meet Mr. Hufana and his party (his wife Tess and his student Ed Peregrino (sp?)) at the airport that night; as it turned but, their second flight was delayed and they ended up spending the night in a hotel.

On Friday morning Mr. Hartman and I made final preparations, picked up the other instructors at the airport and took them to the hotel, and greeted participants at the school, while Ms. Stranc continued to do a myriad of things in order to prepare the paperwork, and location for the camp. The amount of time and effort she puts into this event simply cannot be emphasized enough.

Finally, the time came! Mr. Hartman opened the camp with brief remarks, and then I gave a session on Modern Arnis disarms. We only covered numbers one through six, but we did them in the standard way, against a two-handed swing, and empty hand. I discussed some changes in how they are typically done now compared to the Yellow Book style, and encouraged innovations. Several people, including Dan Carr, were kind enough to demonstrate variations and innovations that I had noticed them practicing. Next, Rick Manglinong took the floor. He began with a review of the material he had taught two years ago--the basic double-stick strikes of Ernesto Presas' Kombaton, followed by block-and-counter drills. These drills included several ways of using two sticks to block strikes and either strike or disarm. Everyone quickly picked up the striking and blocking patterns and tried to become comfortable using two sticks at once! I really enjoyed how he made connections, in all his sessions, between what he was doing and what is done in Modern Arnis. Mr. Manglinong, who as always was upbeat, energetic, and enjoying teaching, was assisted by Eric Altheff (sp?) for many demonstrations of techniques.

After dinner--the instructors ate together at the school-- Myrlino Hufana gave a session based on Modern Arnis and his own system, Hufana Traditional Arnis International. He explained how his system was founded with Prof. Presas' encouragement. Mr. Hufana, assisted by Mr. Peregrino, covered a series of footwork and liveliness drills using first the single stick, then the knife. Throughout his sessions he emphasized the importance of liveliness and of a good offense, saying when in doubt--strike! The knife passing drill was especially interesting to me. Mr. Hufana brought a wealth of experience and conveyed a great deal of enthusiasm during his sessions. Finally, Mr. Hartman took the floor for the last session of the day and taught empty hand techniques based on trapping hands. He showed defenses involving limb destructions--elbows to the forearms and biceps--and other techniques, relating them to corresponding stick techniques. He did a great job of making the "it's all the same" connections between stickwork and empty hands that are so central to Modern Arnis. Mr. Hartman brought his usual combination of deep insight into the material and his own special brand of humor to his presentation.

Afterwards, all the instructors and many of the participants went to Applebees for a late-night snack and socializing. We all had a great time--especially Paul Janulis. Everyone seemed to enjoy being able to chat in a relaxed setting.

Saturday morning started with Mr. Manglinong continuing double stick techniques, focusing on sinawalis and also disarms. He showed Kombatan sinawalis that mesh with the Modern Arnis sinawalis--the sticks get to the same place, but in different ways. I followed with the remaining Modern Arnis disarms. I also did a few disarms taken from other systems. After lunch at a Chinese buffet, Mr. Hufana continued with single stick techniques. He combined this once again with good advice on stickfighting in general. Mr. Hartman finished the day's instruction with tapi-tapi and related techniques from solo baston. He put them in context, from basic techniques to advanced counters.

After a break we had the customary buffet-style banquet at the school, followed by a series of demonstrations. We were treated to a wonderful lion dance by students of a local kung fu school--I regret that I do not recall the name of the school--that left the room vibrant with energy. We also learned a bit about the traditional importance of the dance in Chinese culture. Then Mr. Hartman's demo team, consisting of several of his younger students, showed several stick and empty-hand anyos, then some sinawalis, including the "Super Sinawali" taught by Mr. Manglinong. They did a great job! The last performance was by Capoeira Mandinga. They gave a rousing demonstration of their art that amazed much of the audience. They stayed to chat and answer questions and play afterwards. Following the demonstrations, Mr. Hartman presented Presas portraits to the instructors, and then the camp participants had a chance to socialize at the school. I left well after midnight!

Mr. Hartman started off the Sunday morning instruction, having switched his session time with Mr. Hufana's, and covered counters to solo baston inserts. The counters were based on Balintawak concepts. Everyone enjoyed learning some Balintawak-style techniques. He was followed by Mr. Manglinong who taught single stick techniques. He also, with Mr. Parsons, showed an interesting knife drawing drill. I have already taught that drill to someone else! Mr. Hufana gave the final session of the camp, beginning with blocking techniques and then going into Laban Laro sparring with face masks and gloves. I missed this session due to administrative issues but I was able to watch much of the sparring and everyone seemed to have a great time! Mr. Hufana's sparring tips were dead-on, as was his aim and control when he got out there.

Mr. Hartman ended the camp around 1:15PM that day and people slowly filtered out. (Of course, some people had been present only for one or two days.) After chatting for a while, I went out for pizza and wings with Mr. Hubbard, Ms. Spann, Mr. Janulis, and Mr. Parsons, then spoke with Ms. Stranc and Mr. Hartman before being taken to the airport for my flight home.

I want to thank Mr. Hufana and his student Mr. Peregrino for coming all this way to teach us. Mr. Hufana is a treasure! He has a great deal of information and experience, fantastic skills, and he obviously enjoys sharing his knowledge. He's an outgoing, laugh-out-loud but work hard instructor and a down-to-earth person. Look for his grand FMA Event in Las Vegas in October. If you get a chance to work with Mr. Hufana, take it! Thanks also to Tess Hufana for coming to Buffalo. She shared her husband, her charm, and her insights on Filipino languages and culture.

I also want to thank Mr. Manglinong, a warm, giving, humble person whom I both like and admire. He came a long way to teach us and once again he left the crowd wanting more. He embodies the qualities of quiet skill and genuine love of the arts that we all respect in a martial artist. He shared with the group in general, and with me in particular, stories about Grandmaster Ernesto Presas that gave me a fuller picture of the Filipino Martial Arts in general and of the Presas family in particular. He's a great martial artist, a great instructor, and a great guy.

Thanks to Tim Hartman, my friend and instructor, for giving me the opportunity to teach at this event; for trusting me to help with the camp and with the administration of the WMAA; for giving me advice, and asking for mine; and, well, for more things, over the course of a 25-year friendship, than I can possibly mention. When I see the first-class camp that Mr. Hartman puts on, and the top-level instruction he himself gives during his sessions, I'm reminded again why I'm so pleased to be in this organization.

Everyone who knows how this camp works knows that Janice Stranc is the biggest reason the camp occurs every year. Ms. Stranc does more things than I can list--frankly, much more than I know. She handles administrative matters of every description, prepares facilities, handles the financial aspects of the camp, orders food and materiel, meets and entertains guests, and so much more. Thanks to Ms. Stranc for doing so many jobs that most people don't see but that have to be done for a successful camp. Thanks also for hosting me at your house!

I enjoyed seeing and chatting with many old friends and acquaintances--Mr. Parsons, Mr. Janulis, Mr. Hubbard, Ms. Spann, Bob Chesbro, Bryson Ingram, and others. Thanks for coming! Thanks also to the new people whom I met--James Vail, for example, and others whose last names I cannot now recall. To all of you whom I worked with or socialized with, I say: Your presence improved my experience at this camp--both on and off the mat!

Thanks to the kung fu, Modern Arnis, and capoeira groups that volunteered their time to entertain us. I know I enjoyed all three demos a great deal. It's wonderful to have other martial artists who are willing to come and share with us!

More than anything else, I want to thank everyone who attended the camp. We do it for you, but your enthusiasm and energy make a big difference to the success of the camp. This year was once again a true success--because of you. See you next year!

-Jeff Leader
Chair, WMAA Advisory Board