This camp was a watershed event. The focus was Modern Arnis. Not organizations, not approaches, not stick vs. blade, not who has the biggest ego or the highest rank or the most videos. It was ALL about the art in all of its glory and diversity and beauty.
Thursday night.
GrandMaster Murphy was there from the start with the video crew not making it in time for the opening session, but he was no match for our team of instructors. They went to Plan B seamlessly. Plan B was "let's take a single strike and see how each instructor would approach it." Even though we saw disarms, traps, throws, abanikos, blade cuts, and block-counters from the different instructors, it was clear that they all came from the same root. Very cool! This went on for 3 hours. It was also interesting to watch how the various instructors bounced off of each other's ideas. One would show an abaniko taking out the attacking weapon, someone else would jump in and go "and here you can insert a <insert technique here>..." The energy was high voltage and we all went to bed jazzed.
Friday.
We were split into two groups to keep the classes small. Mr. Dee arranged the schedule so that every student had the same classes, just the order changed. It also allowed the instructors to watch each other's classes and not miss something just because they were teaching. (Way to go Mr. Dee!)
Leading off my group was Datu Dieter Knuttel doing disarms and locks. He's not just fast, he's sudden! :erg: Thank goodness, he doesn't drink coffee because he's also high energy. You can tell he loves the art so much he wants to pour all of his knowledge into you at once so you can play too!
After a great start we were treated to SM Dan Anderson taking us back to basics and polishing them to a higher level. Master Robert Quinn led us in an exploration of the possibilites of the abaniko and ranging. This was really cool since we had been dazzled the night before by a display of Master Dulay's abaniko skills. SM Bram Frank presented the sobering truth of the blade and its role in Modern Arnis. I especially liked his comments that stick shows the beauty of Modern Arnis while blade shows the deadliness. Datu Inocalla gave us insight into a side of Modern Arnis you don't hear often: the spiritual and healing components.
Following up on the abaniko work that Master Quinn showed us in the morning, Master Dulay and the lovely Edessa showed just how far you can take abaniko. The two of them are simply poetry in motion. Everyone in the group had a new appreciation and inspiration for abaniko work.
After dinner, came a special treat. Doug Perry Sensei gave us an introduction to Okinawan martial arts. A word of caution, his demonstration on me was accompanied by high levels of PAIN! :uhyeah: Seriously, though, the level of power and skill coming from him is awesome.
Saturday.
Somehow, we led the day off again with Datu Knuttel. This time it was tapi-tapi. I've decided that tapi-tapi actually means "Mom! He's hitting me again!" Thankfully, the next section was SM Anderson on Countering the Counter. Maybe now I can hold off Datu Dieter for a few more minutes... Any of you that haven't had the opportunity, attend a class with Dan, you're missing a rare treat. This man is a teacher's teacher. He and Datu Dieter also make a great comedy team. It was really fun to watch these two rag on each other mercilessly but always with the greatest respect and a spirit of fun.
Datu Inocalla then showed us his latest addition to the Modern Arnis arsenal: Sinawali Aerobics (my name for it). He took us through a workout based on Modern Arnis moves that would have the kickboxing crowd throwing up their lunch (good thing he was right
before lunch). Just when we were good and exhausted, he explained arnis tournament fighting and had us go a few rounds. I crawled to the cafeteria...
After lunch was Master Dulay. I thought I had seen the mountaintop of abaniko work yesterday. Man, was I wrong. Off to the side Ms. Edessa also showed My Sweetie and I how it all fit in with tradtional dances as well.
Going back to our roots, Bram and Grasshopper (Greg Beeman) gave us a whole new appreciation of the combat mindset behind Modern Arnis with the bolo. Anyone who has ever watched the Professor and wondered what the heck he meant when he said "he is cut already" has an A-ha moment when Bram moves that bolo...
The afternoon finished with Master Quinn and six-count. He has more ways of doing six-count than Baskin-Robbins has flavors! After he had us do six-count with blades, I had my own a-ha when I realized it was exactly the same drill as Bram's 1-4-12. All weekend there were moments like that for everyone. It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle that suddenly we started seeing the picture off the box.
The evening was another treat. Doug Perry Sensei showed just how beautiful the Okinawan weapons could be. He is a rare gem.
Did I mention that Datu Dieter was the Energizer Bunny? Well, after all the lessons were over, he organized an impromptu self-defense in a bar session. Everyone joined in and had a great time teasing Dieter about all the guys holding his hand and putting their arm around him, and commiserating with the poor slob when he slammed their head into the table... A word of caution, if you go drinking with Dieter, don't leave any drinking glasses near him. :uhyeah:
Sunday.
Bleary eyed, sore, dragging... and still eager for more. This time it was Ask the Instructors. For three hours they fielded all our questions. All of us were scribbling notes like mad. SM Dan gave a superb demonstration of timing and reading your opponent. Sorry, Boss, I still can't do the two-hop sneaker technique; my knees just aren't up to it.
The free-sparring match-up of SM Dan and Datu Dieter was worth the price of admission by itself.
Bottom line. If you couldn't be there get the DVD. Eight DVDs for $99 is a STEAL. George taped each 75-minute class (there were 7 classes per day) plus interviews with the instructors. That's a LOT of material just to condense into 8 DVDs. And make plans to be at next year's camp. I'll be there.
Thanks Mr. Dee and all the instructors for making it a memorable event.
I'm glad to hear it was preserved, but 8 DVDs is a whole lot of material--I'm a bit surprised!
