Symposium DVD reviews

[DoxN4cer]

I posted this on an ealier thread, but no replies... What's up, did you guys get your videos and haven't watched them yet?

It's been nearly a month since the last post on the Symposium videos, and nobody but Bram has offered up a review. What's up? Are you guys still digesting what's there, or are you still waiting for your copies? I know that George always sends out a quality product. I'm curious to hear what everybody thought about the presentations.

Tim Kashino

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by DoxN4cer
I posted this on an ealier thread, but no replies... What's up, did you guys get your videos and haven't watched them yet?

It's been nearly a month since the last post on the Symposium videos, and nobody but Bram has offered up a review. What's up? Are you guys still digesting what's there, or are you still waiting for your copies? I know that George always sends out a quality product. I'm curious to hear what everybody thought about the presentations.

Tim Kashino

Tim,

To be honest, no I have not watched them. For all the stuff that happened behind the scenes did leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I wanted time to go by first before I review it, to be as fair and open minded as possible.

Regards

 

[Datu Tim Hartman]

Originally posted by Rich Parsons
Tim,

To be honest, no I have not watched them. For all the stuff that happened behind the scenes did leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I wanted time to go by first before I review it, to be as fair and open minded as possible.

Regards

Agreed! If you remember bring it to the camp. I'll have my laptop with me so we can watch it.

 

[Cruentus]

Originally posted by Renegade
Agreed! If you remember bring it to the camp. I'll have my laptop with me so we can watch it.

Cool...I'll watch it then too, and I'll offer my review.

:asian:

 

[Rich Parsons]

Well guys I actually bought the Video Tapes, and you may watch it with me.

 

[DoxN4cer]

OK... how about anybody else on the MT forum that may have purchased a set? Anybody out there?

Tim Kashino

 

[Dan Anderson]

Yes, I got a set of the DVDs. The filming was fine and th presentations caught the essence of what was presented at the Symposium. An interesting point to bring up here is the differences in teaching methods of the presenters. Along with the techniques, the methods of each individual was one of the things I liked most about the DVD set. All in all, they are a good buy.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

 

[DoxN4cer]

Originally posted by Dan Anderson
Yes, I got a set of the DVDs. The filming was fine and th presentations caught the essence of what was presented at the Symposium. An interesting point to bring up here is the differences in teaching methods of the presenters. Along with the techniques, the methods of each individual was one of the things I liked most about the DVD set. All in all, they are a good buy.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

Have you got anything specific to say about each of the presentations, Dan?

Tim

 

[Dan Anderson]

I'm at the office and will need to go over the DVDs again.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by Rich Parsons
Tim,

To be honest, no I have not watched them. For all the stuff that happened behind the scenes did leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I wanted time to go by first before I review it, to be as fair and open minded as possible.

Regards

To be fair though to George, I am sure they are of the highest Quality, if they are similar to those produced by George for Bram Frank.

:asian:

 

[Red Blade]

I thouhgt some of you might find this interesting!

Hello to All Forum Members,

I have completed my review of the entire 2003 International Modern Arnis Symposisum DVD set and I was very impressed with the production, lighting editing and content. If there is a problem with any of the first three mentioned items then the last one - content, is meaningless. George, you did good!!

Because I was the host/sponsor, I waited to see what others had to say about the both the Symposium and the DVD's; that has now happened and it is appropriate for me to speak up without feeling like I "selling" my own accomplishments.

The instructional presentations were well done for the most part. All of the people were recorded and then presented sans editing and splicing. That's a good thing because each presentation is completely in context. It is true that some people were picked up at the begining of their particular presentation and others were picked up in mid-presentation, however with only one camera on the floor that was unavoidable. On the other hand, no one who was recorded has been misrepresented. It was very clear to me as I reviewed the DVDs that those people who were really talented, knowledgable and creative stood out.

There are some very intersting tidbits of information on the Symposium DVD Series, Bram Frank, Dan Anderson and Tom Bolden, stood out as the better known "names" entering the Symposium weekend. Tim Kashino, Peter Vargas, John Ralston, Dawud Muhammad and Paul Martin, earned kudos for their work at the Symposium and as "unknowns", they showed a great deal of presence, skill and knowledge. Collectively, everyone of the above mentioned people made the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium a success. I urge everyone to buy a set of DVDs.

There was a lot of crapping and bad-mouthing about the Symposium BEFORE the event even happened. Some others, bad mouthed the event afterwards, in spite of the fact they did not attend event and therefore they did not have ANY first hand knowledge about what went on there!

It's a damn shame that so many Modern Arnis people stayed home rather than attend the Symposium. Their non-attendance speaks volumes about just how far apart the various factions within the art really are and in all likelihood will remain for some time to come. When the different factions of the IMAF, Marppio and bulk of the WMAA leadership are absent from the event and the WMAA's lead instructor can not get even a single student from his own hometown to attend the Symposium which was being held in his hometown - there can be no doubt that Modern Arnis is an organizationally fractionalized art.

The good news is that the people on the DVD Series are showing us just how beautiful, adaptive and functional Modern Arnis really is. They give us a glimpse into the possiblities that the late Professor Remy Presas forged into the foundations of his art. As an art the only limitations on Modern Arnis are defined by the limitations that each individual player places on him/herself or allows other to place on them. The presenters named above easily and blithfully rose about an self imposed limitations and that is what makes the Symposium DVD Series so valuble. It gives all of us who wish to see some new perspectives on the art, a window into the past that became the future. These people are not looking back, they are looking forward. With all proper recognition, respect and reverence due to Professor Presas, the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium I, was meant to serve as an acknowledgement of the debt that we owed to the founder, yet it was also held to serve notice that the Modern Arnis is still a vibrant expression of creative self development.

Call George Denson at 1-800-340-9664, order a set of these DVDs and recapture the feeling of what you were part of or if you did not attend, what you missed! Don't be afraid to see what others are doing and how they are building on the foundations first laid down by the late Founder/GM. He was constantly admonishing us all to "make it for yourself!' These people have done just that and they are not finished with their work.

The 2003 International Modern Arnis Symposium I, DVD Series is a must have because We MADE History that weekend in July, at Erie Community College, in Buffalo, NY. The Symposium event has very little likelihood of ever being replicated again in our lifetimes! The fissure lines are that great and the mistrust is that strong! Unless there is a phenomenal change of attitudes among some significant people in leadership positions, the 2003 International Modern Arnis Symposium I, was the first and last of it's kind within the art. I hope that I am wrong, but that is why I stated right from the begining, I stated that I was only doing this system-wide symposium thing ONCE! Now the task, if it is ever undertaken again, will belong to some else!

Therefore and with all that I have stated above, I implore every person who was at the Symposium and everyone who wishes that they had attended, as well as those who are simply interested in Modern Arnis, to contact George Denson and buy your own set of DVDs, because this event is a vital piece of martial arts - Modern Arnis history.

BTW, I would hope that people will copy this post and send it to every Modern Arnis person, bulletin board, discussion list and forum that they know. Get the word out, people, history was made and recorded on July 12 and 13, 2003, at Erie Community College in Buffalo, NY and now everyone can own a piece of it; call George Denson at 1-800-340-9664.

Respectfully,

Jerome Barber, Ed.D.
Paradigm Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis
_________________
DoctorB

 

[DoxN4cer]

Well here's my two cents... I'll be going in order of appearance:

Paul Martin, one of my old training partners, disscussed and demonstrated some differences in training orientation between technical and tactical methods. He showed a couple of drills as example of tactical training. In his subsequent appearences on the DVDs he follows up on his initial line of reasoning, adding western style boxing, the bob and weave with head butting and still later the de Kadena drill with flowing into joint locks and escapes from arm bars and wrist grabs. A very creative approach to Modern Arnis.

Dieter Knuttel, opened with a full session on tapi-tapi instruction. he moved very fast and worked very hard. He was able to explain everything as he went along and he got a lot of things covered within his session. In his later appearences he slows the pace a bit, but he is very thorough in his presentations and explainations. He worked on stick to stick disarns and added some subtle touches of his own to the Professor's basic formulas.

Dawud Muhammad, opened his session with the solo stick which progressed to the single knife, and then empty hand tactics right off of the single stick. His footwok and body shifting was excellent and indicative of someone with a strong kenpo and knife fighting background. He was very composed and effective as a teacher, He clearly explained what he wanted everyone to do and why they should be doing it.

Peter Vargas, taught a very high quality version of the Taboada Style of Balintawak and American Modern Arnis. He provided his students with a quick, abbreviated but very accurate training experience with the GM Bobby Taboada's version of the Sinawali boxing drills. In his second presentation ge added what he called "entries" the previous boxing drills that included elbow strikes to the inner and outer forearm, chest and face area. His last session involved Balintawak / AMAA stick disrms. Peter provided a very effective program of instruction.

Dan Anderson, founder of MA-80, taught counters to the standard Modern arnis disarms. These counters are quite similar to Professor's, but Dan has added his own personal touches and boy do they work! In his second appearence Dan was teaching empty hand approaches to self defense in terms of countering attacks and creating takedowns and throws using the entire body to knock the opponent off-balance facilitating the "heel hook" takedowns that the Professor was always so fond of. He also showed some really good joint-lock reversals. Over-all it was a very positive and exciting program that should be seen.

Bram Frank, taught the opening sequence to his new modular instructional program that is designed to train the trainers of military and polic units. A fast paced yet simple program. Since most of what Bram teaches is oriented around the knife, he has a very different approach to Modern Arnis than the majority of instructors. He knows very well that there is not a simple linear transition from stick to knife. The knife is very unforgiving for someone's failure to keep their own body away from the path that the knife is taking. The second apparence served as a follow up to the first and it was a great opportunity for us to ask some questions and innovate on some of the material taught earlier.

Tom Bolden, began his first presentation with a primer on arnis stick blocking using a circular pattern that covers the entire body and is augemented by the checking hand.(If anybody out there was ever on the receiving end of one of Tom's checks, you'd think he had a hammer in hand... ouch). Then he added very definate movement patterns to the stick and checking hand to make the blocks-counters highly effective. A lot of people talk about movement, but Tom does it, and his students do it...very well. Tom's American Modern Arnis is a movement based system. In his second appearence, Bolden, showed us a series of movements that always kept his stick in the correct area to effective for blocking and countering. His movement schemes provided power and speed to his stick strikes, blocks, punches and kicks. He also brought the most sought after tee-shirt to the Symposium. It read "Arnis Excellence; Skill is Rank"; a maxim that Tom embraces and embodies.

John Ralston, conducted just one training session. He added pressure point striking to the art of disarming. The points were centered on the stick hand, wrist, forearm, bicep and tricep areas. These were the standard stuff that professor had taught for nearly three decades, but the addition of specific pressure points to the disarming methods really kicked it up a notch or two. It was an excellent block of instruction.

Side note: Richard Curren, another old training partner of mine, taught a session on the first night that was not captured on tape. It's a shame because what he showed on the only Friday evening session was very smooth, well coordinated and effective. He covered a knife flow drill that was really challenging and focused on body positioning and the live hand to avoid the bite of the blade.

DVD #5 contains the passing out of the certificates to the instructors. It was a very nice and rather informal presentation with very little distinction made between the instructors. This is a very good represetation of how the entire Symposium was handled. Everyone one was given equal opportunities to show their own version of how they believe that Modern Arnis could be done. It was an open event, and with the exception of Dan Anderson, Tom Bolden, Richard Curren and John Ralston, everyone had three sessions that they taught. It's hard to say that there was a favorite person or version of the art indicated at this event. The chief objective of the Symposium was met - showing the diversity that exists within Modern Arnis.

I highly recommend the material on the videos for anybody who wasn't there or who is curious about Modern Arnis and wants a broader view of the art.

Submitted respectfully,

Tim Kashino


BTW: For those of you who are speculating about my handle:

"Dox" - as in wharf or pier i.e. referring to the Navy
"N4cer" - military police.

Get the picture? Stop assuming.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

There are some very intersting tidbits of information on the Symposium DVD Series, Bram Frank, Dan Anderson and Tom Bolden, stood out as the better known "names" entering the Symposium weekend. Tim Kashino, Peter Vargas, John Ralston, Dawud Muhammad and Paul Martin, earned kudos for their work at the Symposium and as "unknowns", they showed a great deal of presence, skill and knowledge. Collectively, everyone of the above mentioned people made the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium a success. I urge everyone to buy a set of DVDs.

The interesting thing is that to the best of my knowledge, Bram Frank and Tom Bolden are friends of Barbers, as well as business associates. (Barber is a distributor for Brams "Gunting", for example.) Dan Anderson regularly does seminars with Barber when he is in town. The endorement lacks impartiality.

Additionally, Tim Kashino & Paul Martin are or were students of Barbers. Both Vargas and Muhammad have or had a business relationship with Barber. I am unaware of what relationship there is with Mr. Ralston.

All of those cited by Dr. Barber as being exceptional are in some way connected to him. Those he does not mention, are not. The 'Rub' being given in this review smacks of 'good ol boy'ness.

When the different factions of the IMAF, Marppio and bulk of the WMAA leadership are absent from the event and the WMAA's lead instructor can not get even a single student from his own hometown to attend the Symposium which was being held in his hometown - there can be no doubt that Modern Arnis is an organizationally fractionalized art.

The instructors I was interested in seeing bailed, and the majority of those placed on the bill held little interest to me given the lack of Arnis flavor. I train with Tim, and support his events. I've seen Dan at a few camps and am currently (slowly) working through his books. The only 'name' in the Arnis world that was still on the bill, and made it in was Dieter. I regret not spending more time chatting with him when I had the chance b4 the event. The rest of the bill either were outside my areas of interest, or weren't Arnis. I wanted to see Kelly Worden, Dan M. and a few of the other names who dropped out. The replacements didn't interest me, competent though they were.

I think a more important point here is, for an event that was so big, the fact that the 'names' and players choose to avoid it speaks volumes. Dr.B did get 2 outta the 6 Datus to instruct. But Kelly and Tim are regularly doing that. There were no Presas' there...They were at Kellys. Of the US based organizations, neither IMAF faction, nor the WMAC had a leadship presence. Only the WMAA was there in person. Dieter represented Germany...but where was the Philipians rep? At Kellys.

So, given the choice between training with a few folks I've already seen, and the replacement B team, or doing something fun, exciting and possibly profitable, I picked the later.

I went to Toronto and spent some time chatting with Chris Owens and Jason Carter. (Warning, Chris is now considered a pixie-stick addict and assumed goofy. Approach with caution. )

The debacle that happened behind the scenes afterward only reinforced my own attitude that it was the right thing to do. I'm sure the training that went on on the floor was excellent. Its the game playing and other BS that went on for over a year thats left a sour taste in my own mouth where Barber and his events are concerned. His suspension will be up on the 18th.

I haven't seen the videos themselves. Hopefully I'll have a chance to do so soon, and we can hope for a review in the magazine.


Oh...as to the "names" bit...see here: http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?&threadid=8298
Its old, but still interesting on just how well 'known' folks are online.

Peas. (Green, mashed)

 

[DoxN4cer]

Originally posted by bloodwood
More than one person saying the same thing says something.

Why, yes... it does. There's only one person doing all of the thinking. It's easier to let someone do the thinking for you, isn't it. You don't have to form your own opinions or do your own research. How wonderful... group-think can be.

It could mean that many of them are wagon riders and don't have an original thought in their heads. They just go running off at the mouth like parrots...

Ah, I digress... pardon the rant...

Tim Kashino

 

[Dan Anderson]

Sorry to interrupt the battling but here's some hard data about the Symposium DVDs. Here's the line up -
Disc 1 (the time is on my own DVD player and is after the intro)
Paul Martin 0:01.00
Dieter Knuettel 0:12.42
Paul Janulis 0:27.26
Dawud Muhammed 0:32:00
Peter Vargas 0:49:55
Tim Kashino 0:59.18
Disc 2
Bram Frank 0:00.59
Tom Bolder 0:11:18
Paul Martin 0:20.47
Dieter Knuettel 0:32.43
Tim Hartman 0:48:11
Dan Anderson 0:58.15
Disc 3
Tim Kashino 0:00.55
Bram Frank 0:07.27
Peter Vargas 0:18.57
Serrada Sekrima demonstration 0:24.34
Dawud Muhammed 1:02.07
Disc 4
Tim Kashino 0:00.58
Dieter Knuettel 0:16.03
Peter Vargas 0:29.12
Tim Hartman 0:38.11
John Ralston 0:54.49
Disc 5
Tom Bolden 0:02.46
Dan Anderson 0:24.46
Paul Martin 0:45.23
Awards 1:04

Kaith, I have only done a couple of seminars for Jerome as I have also done a number of seminars that Tim has set up for me. As I have a personal relationship with each, please don't lump me into any real or unreal faction here (except the MA-80 Boosters Club. I'm a proud member of that fine group. Wonderful fellows, they are.). That's all, folks.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

 

[arnisador]

Thanks for the info. Mr. Anderson!

 

[Dan Anderson]

Arnisador,
You're welcome.

Gents,
The Symposium was what it was. As a presenter and student, it went well. It was the first of its kind so there were flies in the ointment but there was ointment. Lots of different perspectives on basically the same art. It wasn't totally and strictly Modern Arnis. It wasn't totally and strictly FMA with no Modern Arnis. There were instructors who said they'd make it and then didn't. First event blues. But there was good training to be had.

A big hats of to both Dieter Knuettel who came in from Germany and to Bram Frank who commands a much higher fee than pro bono work.

Also, the non-famous did as good a job as the "infamous" (I couldn't resist that one :rofl: ).

We can all *****, piss and moan about who said what and what wasn't there but I prefer to think about what we did and who was there. The DVDs reflect the training at the camp and I still say for the price, they are a steal.

Yours,
Dan Anderson

PS - My teaching section was the best. That's worth the price of the discs set alone!
PPS - It's time to lighten up guys...but it really was the best.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Instructors crossed continents and oceans to arrive and teach for nothing.

Students came from more than half across the continent to train.

I was able to meet old friends and make new ones.

 

[DoxN4cer]

Originally posted by Rich Parsons
Instructors crossed continents and oceans to arrive and teach for nothing.

That in itself is truly remarkable and rare. You don't see that every day.



Tim Kashino

 

[Rich Parsons]

Please let us all keep this thread to reviews of the DVD's only.

A separate thread Ramblings . . . DVD

has the other discussions.