Yesterday was the 3rd annual FMA Brotherhood gathering in the DC Metro area. It was held in Gainesville, VA and featured teachers from a multitude of styles in the DC, VA, and MD areas. As luck would have it, it was on the same day as Day 1 of Guro Dan Inosanto's seminar in Woodbridge, VA. Day 2 is today. I'm hoping that Sunfish does a writeup of it later, and regretting that I didn't get to meet up with Sunfish. That said, there were representatives of (at least) the following: Kuntaw, Villabrille-Lacoste, Modern Arnis, Balintawak, and "Combate Eskrima Orehenal." A couple of those styles represented by two different parties presenting different takes on the material. There was knife, sword, "sinawali boxing," and a really interesting segment on classical espada y daga (using the kruzada pattern). Generally, it isn't fun being reminded of how very little you actually know. But in this case, it was. All proceeds went to benefit the "Wounded Warrior" program (for wounded veterans, if you aren't familiar). A good day.
There will be certainly. So far, just a few pictures have made it onto Facebook. But filming was encouraged, as was sharing. So it's just a matter of time, I'd think.
How many people were there, just curious? To my knowledge the WEKAF (World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation) is having their World Championship in Hungary and many eskrimadors are on their way there to compete. Many UFMAC (United Filipino Martial Arts Council) schools are sending some of their teams also to compete.
I regret as well and I will do a writeup tomorrow (too worn out today). I hope you had a good time, sounds like you did!
Thirty maybe. Give or take. Not sure that there were any WEKAF folks. Could have been, I suppose. It didn't come up. I used to compete in WEKAF tournies, but not in a long time. [/wistful obi wan kenobi voice]
Sounds like a great event. Guro Dan typically draws a large group at Trident, or at least he did back when I lived there. Hopefully next year the timing will work out in your favor and you can get more people to go.
Same, well I haven't competed in anything FMA in a couple years. I also stepped away from competing in sport karate, atleast the point fighting. I'm not fast enough for that stuff. I've gained a bit of pounds, plus my shoulder and knee are bugging me, my explosiveness has gone down a bit, sad. Forms I can still do. [/old man sipping on arnold palmers while rocking on his front porch voice]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et9D7_lpMwc"]3rd East Coast FMA Gathering 2014 Benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. - YouTube[/ame] There you go. The video features all of the day's presenters. And a bit of what each of them presented. If anyone's curious, there are some action shots of me 1) watching a demonstration intently and 2) propping up a doorframe in the background.
Funny. I've been known to do a pretty good job of holding the wall up from time to time myself. Looks like it was a good day of training.
More video clips of individual presentations have been posted here: https://www.facebook.com/events/685952401451401/741913609188613/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity
Did to me too, though I have to say that I'm more partial to a longer range and really enjoyed the presentation by an instructor named Kibo Kim. Arbitrary personal preference.
Interesting. I have never really considered whether or not I have a personal preference when it comes to range. Off the top of my head, I would say that I am probably better at medium to close range than I am long, but I will have to give that more thought. PTK has a very different approach to short range than Balintawak does, but I still appreciate seeing someone who has obviously achieved high levels of skill in their system.
Most of my background is in Doce Pares, which I'd describe as primarily medio (medium). But over the years, I've become more interested in a longer range. I imagine it's due to my increasing unwillingness to get bludgeoned myself in exchange for hitting the other guy. That's the thing. Guro Eugene is clearly a whiz at this. I'm not keen on that range naturally, but certainly not with a full-sized stick. I've never tried Serrada, but I'd find that more intuitive than using a regular olisi at close range. That said, yeah, it's as plain as the nose on my face that they knew what they were doing. And I'd be a happy eskrimador if I could evince that sort of skill at the moment.
My background prior to PTK is Modern Arnis and Lacoste-Inosanto Kali. One of the things I do enjoy about the mindset of PTK is that even though close range is emphasized, sacrificing a strike in order to land one is an unacceptable tactic. I totally agree. Regardless of how many people claim to be one, true masters are few and far between. Its an extremely cool experience when you get to see one in action or even better, to train with one. As for the rest, even though PTK has a totally different approach to close range, anyone who knows FMA history even a little bit knows that Balintawak has proven itself in terms of combative application, particularly in terms of solo baston.
Indeed. I'm of the mind that I'm never likely to actually need this stuff. So I focus on what interests me. And leave it at that.
