New Years Resolution
So far so good! My main New Years resolution for 2007 is to attend between 24 and 30 martial arts seminars this year. The majority will be Systema seminars but I also enjoy and learn a lot by attending seminars hosted by other martial art systems. (If you know of or are hosting an open seminar please feel free in sending me info, I will be most grateful)
In this thread I am hoping to offer very brief reviews of the seminars that I attend during 2007. I am a slow writer with little free time so this will is also part of the challenge of my New Years resolution.
1) So far I have been able to travel down to California to attend a Systema seminar hosted by Norcal Systema (http://norcalsystema.com/ ) featuring Martin Wheeler. It was held in Alameda California outdoors on a beautiful Saturday afternoon under a large metal roof over a flat cement deck. The open air pavilion provided a beautiful combination view of blue water and blue skies. The seminar was attended by people from many martial arts and as far away as L.A. Martin covered striking (mostly stand up but with some ground work also thrown in) from movement paying particular attention to connection. This was not my first attendance of a Norcal hosted event and certainly will not be my last (especially as I heard that they are hosting Vladimir Vasiliev in 2008)
2) On Jan 19th -21st my school hosted Emmanuel Manolakakis for a Systema blade seminar. Review here http://martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=722446#post722446
3) Then on Jan 26th I was able to travel to Montreal to attend a two day Systema event hosted by Kevin Secours http://www.montrealsystema.com/ . He brought in Vladimir Vasiliev to teach on Saturday and Martin Wheeler to teach on Sunday. On Saturday Vladimir covered striking (standing and on the ground) and takedowns. This seminar was well attended by many experienced martial artists as well as those practicing Systema. Hitting and receiving hits while standing and while falling and while on the ground as well as when getting off the ground even while against walls all made for a bruising good time and much loud breathing was heard with the laughter and grunting noises common to working on strikes. On Sunday Martin covered falls and rolls for the first hour and a half (all on a hardwood floor) which made for a great warm up and body limbering session which was quickly progressed into gun and knife work. This was a very bruising and relaxing weekend all told and all in all very enjoyable. Montreal is a beautiful city with lots to do and I was able to parley the weekend into a four day weekend staying for an additional couple of days to relax and recharge which is something I do not get to do enough while at home.
4) Last weekend I was able to attend the Saturday portion (02/03/07) of a two day Modern Arnis seminar taught by Remy Presas Jr. It was a fun and interesting day with Remy teaching joint locks to takedowns switching back and forth rapidly from empty hand to sticks demonstrating the same principles whether empty hand or empty hand vs. stick or stick vs. empty hand or stick vs. stick, all were done alive from movement. Remy was also gracious to allow several other Arnis instructors to teach an hour block of instruction each. The first was Ken Smith Jr. who taught an hour long knife segment showing many of the same principles that Remy had been demonstrating. Ken is a great instructor, very deep in his knowledge and moves very well. Two other instructors also taught this day with Remy demonstrating and teaching blocks of instruction between these other instructors deepening the understanding of the principles being taught. I have very limited experience in the Filipino arts and this group of instructors and seminar participants was very gracious and understanding and willing to work with me while working with-in their patterns, they made the trip to their city and the time spent most enjoyable. My many thanks and deep appreciation to them.
So far so good! My main New Years resolution for 2007 is to attend between 24 and 30 martial arts seminars this year. The majority will be Systema seminars but I also enjoy and learn a lot by attending seminars hosted by other martial art systems. (If you know of or are hosting an open seminar please feel free in sending me info, I will be most grateful)
In this thread I am hoping to offer very brief reviews of the seminars that I attend during 2007. I am a slow writer with little free time so this will is also part of the challenge of my New Years resolution.
1) So far I have been able to travel down to California to attend a Systema seminar hosted by Norcal Systema (http://norcalsystema.com/ ) featuring Martin Wheeler. It was held in Alameda California outdoors on a beautiful Saturday afternoon under a large metal roof over a flat cement deck. The open air pavilion provided a beautiful combination view of blue water and blue skies. The seminar was attended by people from many martial arts and as far away as L.A. Martin covered striking (mostly stand up but with some ground work also thrown in) from movement paying particular attention to connection. This was not my first attendance of a Norcal hosted event and certainly will not be my last (especially as I heard that they are hosting Vladimir Vasiliev in 2008)
2) On Jan 19th -21st my school hosted Emmanuel Manolakakis for a Systema blade seminar. Review here http://martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=722446#post722446
3) Then on Jan 26th I was able to travel to Montreal to attend a two day Systema event hosted by Kevin Secours http://www.montrealsystema.com/ . He brought in Vladimir Vasiliev to teach on Saturday and Martin Wheeler to teach on Sunday. On Saturday Vladimir covered striking (standing and on the ground) and takedowns. This seminar was well attended by many experienced martial artists as well as those practicing Systema. Hitting and receiving hits while standing and while falling and while on the ground as well as when getting off the ground even while against walls all made for a bruising good time and much loud breathing was heard with the laughter and grunting noises common to working on strikes. On Sunday Martin covered falls and rolls for the first hour and a half (all on a hardwood floor) which made for a great warm up and body limbering session which was quickly progressed into gun and knife work. This was a very bruising and relaxing weekend all told and all in all very enjoyable. Montreal is a beautiful city with lots to do and I was able to parley the weekend into a four day weekend staying for an additional couple of days to relax and recharge which is something I do not get to do enough while at home.
4) Last weekend I was able to attend the Saturday portion (02/03/07) of a two day Modern Arnis seminar taught by Remy Presas Jr. It was a fun and interesting day with Remy teaching joint locks to takedowns switching back and forth rapidly from empty hand to sticks demonstrating the same principles whether empty hand or empty hand vs. stick or stick vs. empty hand or stick vs. stick, all were done alive from movement. Remy was also gracious to allow several other Arnis instructors to teach an hour block of instruction each. The first was Ken Smith Jr. who taught an hour long knife segment showing many of the same principles that Remy had been demonstrating. Ken is a great instructor, very deep in his knowledge and moves very well. Two other instructors also taught this day with Remy demonstrating and teaching blocks of instruction between these other instructors deepening the understanding of the principles being taught. I have very limited experience in the Filipino arts and this group of instructors and seminar participants was very gracious and understanding and willing to work with me while working with-in their patterns, they made the trip to their city and the time spent most enjoyable. My many thanks and deep appreciation to them.