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El Camino Martial Arts Magazine was born with the aim of promoting martial arts and reaching the largest number of people in a digital way, according to the times and technologies. We hope you like it and join us in this beautiful martial universe, with the love of always: Graphic Direction: Mario Segnini Fursa. Commercial address: Carlos Omar Urbina. Editorial Address: Javier Acosta Serrano. Main Editor (English Version): SM Guy E. Larke The opinions expressed in this magazine are the responsibility of each person who is published and promoted; is made and distributed with No.22-06 from Montevideo Uruguay for the month of June. Thank you.

INDICE: 02 - QUICKLY RANK... SBN Ramón Navarro 04 - THE RAID MAESTRO J. Ricardo Félix 06 - TRADITIONAL CENTER OF MARTIAL ARTS MÉXICO 07 - A NEW WORLD REQUIRES... SBN Javier Acosta 09 - FACETS OF JUDO PROF. Marcelo Ehrlich 11 - MATE and KARATE KSN Renso Perez 12 - TEUK GONG MOO SOOL GM No-Woo Park 13 - TEUK GONG MOO SUL (p7) SMASTER Guy E. Larke 17 - AN EXPLORATION OF TSD´s 8 KEY CONCEPTS: HUMILITY SBN Mary Cayte Reiland 18 -TRAINING METHODS.... SENSEI Cecilia Salbuchi

21 - TANG SOO DO URUGUAY SBN Mario Segnini Fursa 22 - CONGRESS WTTSDU PANAMÁ 26 - TANG SOO DO PANAMÁ SBN Carlos O. Urbina 30 - MAU RAKAU Freakie-Do 31 - MARCO RUAS 32 - MASTER CHAD BEHREND (p2) SMASTER Guy E. Larke 36 - DOJO STORIES SENSEI Gerardo Balves 41 - GM JUN DACAYANA (p2) SMASTER Guy E. Larke 44 - MA and ME (Cap.9) PROFESOR Carlos Damasco 48 - MARTIAL ARTS FILM Enter The Dragon

QUICKLY RANK YOUR STUDENTS OR WHAT? Sbn Ramón Navarro

Quickly Rank Your Students or What? One goes or is taken to a martial art school because the interested party would like to learn to defend himself, but it is possible that he has no idea what that is about. The normal thing is that when that new member starts his first class to not say the first lesson but class that this was not what he thought the most if he had never seen a martial art class. Well, this student as the days or weeks goes by, perhaps even a few months, when the time comes to hear about the exam. The exam is the moment in which a specific time must be met so that it is possible to pass from grade or stage to the next that follows, which will be normal to another ribbon of another color or a stripe or stripe that is given. adds to the color of the belt it brings. Not only has he spent that due time, but not only has he learned

what he should know, but he has had difficulties, annoyances, pains, frustrations, among others, and there are three types of that time in which a student passes his exam. These are the normal, slow time, that is, when the time comes for the group to take the exam, that student is not ready and because it is almost ready, it does not necessarily have to be that if it is 6 months, it has to wait for 6 months to pass. more to pass the stage or quickly in which the student if it is in 6 months but in three and a half more you can see the dedication and effort that he has put into his training with good morals and selfrespect can be evaluated when he is tested or that you only be given the authorization to use the new rank. We are no longer in those times of before but it is still time that like the one before, let's say in the 1970s and that it is true that the training has

changed but it still has a curriculum with which it is necessary to comply to which time has been dedicated and effort to achieve. Of course, this new rank your registration has a cost in addition to the dedication used in a fast, normal or slow time. That will be decided by the Master of that school or that class without mentioning the title of the examiner. This may be the owner of the school thinking that he is the highest ranking in that school, whether it is a Japanese, Chinese or Korean style martial art. So if you can achieve the black belt in 10 years or in two years and it will depend on various circumstances that if you experience this firsthand you will know but the important thing is that it is based on morality. This is that it can be passed from rank formally or informally. The normal procedure is the formal one in which if it is a large school it has a table of examiners and if it is not just that the line of the participants in training is one by one or together they show the teacher what they have learned and at the end they will grant them their new rank, which is validated by a certificate or can be informal, which is normally a student who is ready and the teacher does not want to delay their learning and that rank can be granted publicly, either by presenting an exam or only He says that he can now use his new rank and the delivery of the certificate publicly or not is organized. Each new rank equals the progress that student has made. Some take longer to prepare, others can do it in less time and the normal thing is that if you are prepared before the time they say is required, you will have to wait for the supposed time to arrive for the exam in the group that will be prepared in that proposed time. by the teacher or by the regulations

to be followed in his school so that if the student shows emotional and technical growth it is possible to advance earlier than normal. This intrigue, what would it be if that student was given the new degree? Not necessarily, but it is a sensitive issue in part since a format and regulations must be followed for that school and the organization to which it belongs. The important thing is that that teacher has not improperly achieved his rank and does not make his school what is known as the McDojo, which is normally for financial gain. This is good? Not really because it distorts why a martial art was made. The public is not aware of the differences between the various grading systems and people are often duped into Academies where black belts are awarded after a short period of training for obvious commercial purposes. This attitude is not only dangerous for the student himself, but also degrades the quality of the entire Martial Art. Every martial artist should know that the black belt is not a gift but a goal as well as a symbol of achievement with great effort within the highest

quality grading system, from which the student and the martial artist in general benefit. Normally the schools that have a regulated format usually propose a minimum number of hours of training to be eligible for the next exam and it is possible that when they comply with that decree and the student is not technically ready, then they will have to wait for the next test. However, there may be schools or organizations such as associations or federations in which if there are enough students to form a group to take the exam before the usual time that other Academies have, even one or two students who are ready to take the exam are advanced and there is no need to wait for the normal group to take the exam. Is this bad? Not really unless they are from those schools that without the students having learned what is due by the number of Gup in Korean or Kyu in Japanese etc. that are equivalent to the colored belts that they use in those schools or organizations or worse than without having taught them anything or just to keep them happy they give them a quick rank and even give them Dan ranks, that is, Black Belts. Thus, there are schools, associations or federations that, if the students work diligently and show that they

are ethical teachers and have a good example, they accept to teach them quickly and can pass them through the ranks before the normal time, which is from a minimum of 4 months to a maximum of 8 months, to allow the students to be examined.

Joe Taslim also appeared in the renowned Fast and Furious franchise. Definitely recommended, the film does not give time to breathe, constant fights, extreme violence, choreography rehearsed for months to fill just one minute of action. Sometimes the fights seem a bit fake and others quite realistic, although almost always in martial arts movies they have to rely on fantasy to give them an extra thrill.

THE RAID

Maestro Jesús Ricardo Félix

It is said that the cinema is the factory of dreams, but when it comes to a martial arts film, some are or are criticizing the level of realism or fiction of the combat scenes. If Bruce Lee really knew how to fight off the set, if Jackie Chan is more of a dancer than a fighter, if Jean Claude Van Damme's kicks can be used in a real fight. For those of us who are lovers of the genre, realism does not matter so much, if it were Karate kid it would not have become the success it represented for the eighties. Among the list of the best martial arts movies in history are films featuring actors who had barely thrown a punch in their lives. That does not mean that there are no great martial arts fighters within the genre such as the aforementioned Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, but also Chuck Norris, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, etc. I think that the audience, rather than looking for great fights, gets hooked on a good script within the genre, so it is understood that films from other countries are relegated to cult films, as is the case with The Raid. The Raid is a 2011 Indonesian film directed by Gareth Evans. The martial art that stands out or is used here is Silat, they are martial arts of indigenous origin from the region

of Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia. The Silat menu is so varied and exotic for us due to the fact that they are techniques that are passed from family to family, but it could be said that it is similar to Muay Thai in Thailand. Iko Uwais is the most recognized actor in the film along with Joe Taslim, who we will talk about later, Iko plays Rama, a rookie of an elite police force who is sent to attack a building in Jakarta controlled by gangsters. Tama Riyadi is the leader of the mafia who has turned the place into a fortress by renting the rooms to different criminals who work for his organization. Riyadi has eyes and ears all over the place like the big brother, plus he is protected by two trusted men: Andi and Mad Dog. This last character played by the martial artist and choreographer Yayan Ruhian, watch out for this character whose skills stand out from the rest of the cast. The elite group's mission is to catch Riyadi in order to end his reign of terror, at least that's what Lieutenant Wahyu claims. The truth is that nobody knows exactly why they are there or who gave the order to attack without a strategy in mind. Joe Taslim plays Sergeant Jaka who discovers the lieutenant's deception, he took them there apparently as bait to fulfill a personal revenge.

For example, in the scenes where Rama fights against men armed with machetes and throws roundhouse kicks that land on the knees, do you think that you should turn your back on an armed subject in the middle of a fight? The answer is obvious but in the film it looks good and there is no time to wonder. Sometimes the hero turns into Jackie Chan in the middle of a choreography, other times the villains get up like zombies to fight after hitting their heads against the wall. However, The Raid is a better option than Hollywood-style martial arts offerings. Trailer: h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=m6Q7KnXpNOg

The Traditional Center Martial Arts It is born from the idea of not establishing a single system as unique and the study and teaching of the enormous variety of martial arts around the earth, the study, the practice, the history, the technique, the philosophy and above all the orderly opening are the fundamental bases of this construction, which begins to forge in 2012, with the interest of Sbn Javier Acosta and the full support of his Kjn Eduardo Martínez V. the latter a world legend of martial arts.

the Ksn Melba Valenzuela and Ksn Taira Aguirre, all of them with the freedom to seek and bring to this project the ideas and concepts of those that orbit the same but are in different tribunes, some years ago the CTAM has crossed borders and has teaching relations with various countries, as well as its first subsidiary school in Las Tunas Cuba directed by Ksn Alexei Pérez who is also part e fundamental part of the study of martial arts, we have teachers endorsed by the CTAM in Uruguay and Argentina for Kick Boxing and Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo, today Sbn Javier Acosta, participates as a technical advisor to different organizations around the world in terms of teaching for the physical disability, thanks to his career as a volunteer teacher at the Mexico telethon foundation, he also directs the El Camino Podcast editorial and to this day remains faithful to his great teacher Kjn Eduardo Marinez who is part of the promotion of the Taekwondo Hall Of Fame 2019 and holds the highest degree in Mexico, as well as a Dan Bon Directo from Kjn Hwang Kee.

members, it is tangible and grows solid every day. Today, together with Sbn Mario Segnini from Uruguay, the learning and massification of martial arts through technology is studied and practiced fraternally, he is the one who today travels the do accompanying Sbn Acosta and learning at the same time for his students, As you can see, the important thing is not to be a giant, it is to walk with giants... SBN Javier Acosta Serrano

Accompanied over the years by masters of Japanese Jujitsu, Wing Shun, Aikido, Karate, Tkd, Kick Boxing, Muay Thai and Tang Soo Do and having practiced some of them for long periods and others for short periods, the doubt ideas are generated, aligned and this study center is formed that today offers its students the various variables of the Moo Duk Kwan school, as well as Aikido, Self Defense, Kick Boxing and a hybrid similar to MMA, that directs and studies Ksn Donovan Aguirre, in the studies of The traditional martial arts center weapons Ksn Dr. Daniel Rodríguez is the greatest achievement of and in the organizational support Sbn Javier Acosta and each of its

A NEW WORLD REQUIRES A NEW WAR SBN Javier Acosta

"A new world requires a new war." continue to shine and will not stop being interesting like the infinity that The most powerful banner on the you are about to discover by the hand martial path must be that of equality. of freedom, but if you are interested In that sense, it is of the first order in titles above martial transcendence to understand the history of a culture you will be condemned to be a that has survived centuries and follower, because the only way to get various social changes, in order to there today is to be part of a group find your real martial path hand in of power that drives you to that hand with practice and recover that place, at least in these parts (Mexico) sense of being and not of following. it works So, for that very reason I think that the negative part of the The moment you become a martial art is the practitioner, if you follower you become nothing... want to follow your training process and choose it over the forms that This is how power groups are born, society itself offers you today, I thank with the empty idea of recognition you, few come to understand this. through medals, trophies, plaques, Martial arts need to be covered titles and positions, that is where today by institutions organized in a the training process, however long hierarchical way, the problem is that it may be, is a farce made up of tiny we have converted that organizational ends such as positions fees with chart into positions of preserve of an expiration date, it is the ego power through noble titles that do not misunderstood as megalomania; transcend by themselves, due to their maybe outside of four walls I feel like intrinsic policy of smoke, titles that nobody and I only live my fantasy require a teacher convinced and with with my dream partners imitating academic freedom, titles that only the economists club, that is how it refer to the trust that your teachers has remained in the simple form and give you in favor of training. The the symbol has not been of any use. problem is when those titles become Every time one discovers something animations to fill egos that have new, it usually dazzles us, but when no place in something as beautiful you choose to walk your path that as martial education; Training is will stop impressing you, yes, it will life, it is transcendence, and the

greater the position, the greater the responsibility. We have remained in the form, in titles, medals, in uses and customs that have become law. Staying in the sign without transcending the symbol is worrying, this is going to end when we ourselves turn the past of martial arts to revitalize them, but not that past where idols were formed at the moment, but to the origins, to the process of ethical, moral and spiritual formation, through rituals, respect, practice and philosophical study, martial arts also form fanatics, that fanaticism that does not reflect and takes form at the point of dogmatic figures. There is a prevailing need for review in the training processes within the martial arts, but that would mean admitting that we have failed, there will be those who want to recognize this failure to correct and not continue training anachronistic and indoctrinated people, for the same reason this article It is published in the magazine “El camino”, in order to wait with love for the resistance of my peers, recognizing that with this idea we can become a rebel for many, but hasn't that been the story of the great

martial artists? , to be dissonant with the social nucleus, to be discordant figures that provoke reflection. It is not up to us to be a movement of renewal or applause, training costs, it comes from rebellion and reflection, that is why it is cathartic to have true artists, those who with romanticism and rebellion build inside and outside the dojos, or else become the artist of our work, with the help of teachers who evolve, who walk by your side and not covering you with their cloak, let's put aside a little that of "exemplary teachers" and move on to great teachers. The word example gives me chills, I am not an example of anything nor do I want to be, one of the things that drove me to be a martial artist for life was self-knowledge for freedom, but by becoming an example you become a slave to the demand for the others, for that very reason the word example makes me sting, our role is to teach the technique, polish its execution and from the philosophical side call for thought and reflection, break the status quo, free them from themselves; people have the right to make mistakes and recognize, besides, with fists and reflections, kicks and ideas, you will form yourself. Formation is painful and an internal process, formation is perennial, we are all in constant formation, knowing that if you move in the dark, how and with what sense would you say that you are already formed and have reached the light? Seriously, others are worth less than me? Outside the world of martial arts we can find impressive people and we also learn from them, martial arts are not the great transformer of humanity, although before they were, that generation so vital, strong and transformative of itself and its environment had its historical moment, now it is our turn to live

this moment, we are martial artists from another time, now there are no longer kings or shoguns, you do not have to hide because they assassinate you, nor do you push a world project of a new vision, now it is worth it fight from microcosms unified by leaders united for good purposes, fight against your own dogmas in order to have weapons loaded with virtues, you will not be able to fight without them without discovering your dark side, those weapons are in the past, in constant practice, in good teacher who explains beyond physical movements to spiritual trajectories, there you live and revive the symbol, it is the therapeutic side of martial arts,

it is the ritual al but not as a catechism. We need to resume the discipline of growing, through processes without constant interruptions, putting aside sterile struggles and empty battles, the true weapon of the teacher is transmutation, not presumptuous denial, life eats itself and does not wait for you, it is an illusion and a process of construction, destruction and renewal, the life that dies gives life to a new one. You know what you spend the most precious thing you have. It is how much. Sabomnin Javier Acosta Serrano CTAM World Director

DIFFERENT FACETS OF JUDO

Prof. Marcelo Ehrlich

Hello friends of the digital magazine of Martial Arts "El Camino". In this fourth installment, we will continue to show different facets of our activity, experienced personally, at a national and international level, plus the experience of all the Judoka friends we have around the world. In matters of fundamental Judo, there is much to keep writing and talking about, filling books and interviews -as we will continue to do-, but today we will touch on something more domestic, closer to daily life, to a known reality. Thanks to social networks, and the different media, we can know in most cases, where there is a place where they teach Judo. Years ago, we had to do a lot of research, visiting the big clubs, asking friends, and most of the time, when you arrived at the place that they had indicated to you, what they taught was Karate! And it also happened to those who wanted Karate and when they arrived, it was Judo or Aikido. And the misinformation was precisely because nobody informed about the differences and it was preferred that the Dojos have few practitioners! Everything has been changing and that is great, we have brought the activity closer to those who are looking for it, we have brought the information

closer to everyone and we have shown a worldwide development of Judo, as had never been seen before. Since I started in Judo, until today, Uruguay received the visit of International Teachers, Trainers and Competitors, from many parts of the world. Personally, in our Dojos, I received teachings from people from Japan, China, Korea, Israel, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Soviet Union, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, etc., etc., in most cases by agreements to through the Uruguayan Judo Federation and the Uruguayan Olympic Committee. I also went to numerous countries (in America and Europe), to receive teachings, to train with people of a higher level than ours, to clear up my doubts, to see other realities and to show what I did. And everywhere (With a few rare exceptions), I found camaraderie, mutual aid, and friendship. Every time he returned to the Country, he tried to teach everything he had learned. And so they do until today, everyone who goes to learn something elsewhere. When they ask me what Uruguayan Judo is like, what type of school it has (if it answers to the French or Japanese or Brazilian school), I answer that it does not follow any in

particular, that although the technical guidelines are from Kodokan, from the Federation International Judo and the Uruguayan Judo Federation, we have always received and put into practice everything learned. For many years, we have carried out courses and seminars of all kinds, through the National Commission of Physical Education, the Ministry of Sports, the National Secretary of Sports, the Uruguayan Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee, the South American Judo Confederation, the Pan American Judo Confederation, Judo and International Judo Federation. This speaks of official training, as very few activities in Uruguay can demonstrate. Of course we are talking more than anything about the sports part of Judo, the official competitions of all levels in Uruguay and the world, of a rich experience in South American, Pan American, World, Official International Championships and Olympic Games. The development of high-performance competitors, the training of Referees and Competition Officials and of all those who work in the development of a sports-competitive activity. We talk about the increasingly professional work and organization of the Uruguayan Judo Federation, to be in tune with the world! Of course, the foreign teachers who come to our country not only teach this sporting facet (only those who come exclusively for that purpose). It is very important to teach all the technical fundamentals, with their details, the teaching of Katas, the teaching of techniques for Security and Self-Defense, the teaching of inclusive judo, children's Judo, Social Judo, Traditional Judo. What about the categories mentioned in the previous paragraph, almost

unknown to the general public? That they don't have the promotional support that purely sports Judo has! The Olympic Judo, the Olympic Show, that of the great champions, the podiums, the medals, the sponsors, the brand clothing, the trips, the TV, the cables, the Networks… And is that wrong? No way! It is the visible face of a first class international activity! And now, going down to earth, and we can start from the bottom up, in any country: Children's Judo, for me, one of the most rewarding tasks that a good Teacher can have. Providing children with tools for their development, from order, discipline, effort, mutual help, self-confidence, seeing how Judo is progressing, how they are growing, belt pass exams, friendly competitions, trips to other friendly academies, prizes for everyone, recognition for everyone! The teaching of children's Judo, we find it in clubs, academies, schools, schools, social programs, etc. The Teacher must be qualified for this age group. The programs must be in accordance with the physical, intellectual and mental developments, the facilities must provide security to the practitioners, the Federation must supervise and support this type of enterprise. There are millions of children practicing Judo all over the world! But, if we only look for a competitive Judo at these ages, we already have the problem installed, instead of doing a Judo that helps the children, we have a Judo that is excluding many, who do not see the attractiveness of the competition like others , or that they do not have the psychological/ physical conditions, which causes tremendous pressure in their lives, and that these institutions (schools, clubs, etc.), use sports results to promote their extracurricular activities! One School against the

others, to be in the table of annual awards, the clubs vying for the children's podium by institutions, etc. And dropouts to Judo classes begin, already at that stage (tragic!). And the children question: I'm not cut out for this, and the parents question, I'll keep sending my son to Judo, he can't beat anyone! And I have heard this personally from a father and I had to make him see a reality that he did not take into account and his son continued in Judo, to this day! Today in Japan, the National Judo Championship for early ages has just been eliminated, since the pressure on children to provide the best sports results was such that

they realized the child desertion and the damage they were causing. . In the next installment, we will continue to break down this reality, from which our country is not exempt either. All excesses are bad, extremes are dangerous, that's why we must walk the Middle Path, the balance in our lives, that allows us to leave others, a better world! Judo for everyone! Judo for life! See you at the Dojo and in the magazine "El Camino". Prof. Marcelo Ehrlich

STIMULI... Addition Philosophy: Each student has the right and the obligation to be evaluated by her instructor in each class, in order to monitor and chart growth. Attitude both inside and outside the dojang will be taken into account, eg (behavior at home, school performance and conduct, extracurricular activities). The note will be divided into 5 points to consider: #1) ATTENDANCE: The simple fact of prioritizing training before another activity, is merit of value and therefore the student ADDS 1 POINT. #2) ATTITUDE: From greeting correctly, paying attention, performance in class, technical application and commitment to discipline, the student ACCESSES 1 POINT. #3) CONDUCT: Behavior inside and outside the dojang will be taken into account, for this a direct connection with the student's tutor is required; in case of presenting a positive behavior, the student ADDS 1 POINT. #4) APPLICATION: Unlike #2, here the technical development of the student is directly taken into account, from the ability to remember and/or recognize a command to the correct execution and application. The student will be judged according to her abilities or disabilities (if any) ... If the student does NOT present impairments, ADD 1 POINT. #5) SUM: As an extra bonus, if the student manages to meet the 4 previous conditions, SUM 1 POINT that is awarded for merit. In this way it is possible to keep the student

motivated and focused on doing a good job both inside and outside the Dojang. The philosophy of the addition consists in that the student ONLY ADD POINTS to his grade, that is: If the student DOES NOT MEET any of the requirements mentioned above, he simply WILL NOT ADD said point to his final grade, but MAY CLAIM HIMSELF by striving even harder for the next class (both inside and outside the Dojang). The purpose of this philosophy is to give the student POSITIVE INSENTIVES to be able to improve as a student and as an individual, and in this way help them discover THEIR BEST VERSION. Whoever obtains the highest score at the end of the month will receive the award and recognition of THE STUDENT OF THE MONTH, and in this way encouragement is maintained and selfimprovement is promoted, as well as a healthy silent competition among students. Stimuli (visual/verbal): Thanks to my teachers I have learned that NOT ALL OF US REACT TO THE SAME STIMULI, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, there are as many stimuli as there are students. In this way, what is favorable for one student may be counterproductive for another, and vice versa. Many times we meet people who test our patience, knowledge and make us exhaust every last resource; They are the ones who bring out the best in us

as an instructor, by demanding various ways of executing a task or exercise. Negative stimulus: A very common example in Parents (understood, father, mother or guardian) is to tell their children "you can't do that", "you're not going to achieve it", in order to appeal to the student's pride and that he strives to prove the opposite "YES I CAN"... But as the title expresses it, WE DON'T ALL REACT TO THE SAME STIMULUS. It is even more likely that this student feels minimized by the negative stimulus he finds on the part of who is supposed to be his emotional support (father, mother, tutor), so it would be better to avoid this "you can't" as a stimulus. . Appellative stimulus: If we find a student with a rebellious and stubborn nature, we could appeal to exactly that, stimulating his pride and stubbornness with phrases such as "let's see if you can" (give him a challenge) and let his pride take care of wanting clear that doubt, and regardless of the result, our response should have positive overtones, eg: (very good sir, although you should improve such aspect) In this way we make sure that the student gets a positive stimulus even if his work has not been excellent, and we mark points to correct to prevent him from continuing to execute with errors and it can also serve to keep his own EGO on the sidelines. Positive encouragement: A clear example of positive encouragement is telling the student "calm down, you can" accompanied by a harmonious, friendly, reliable but forceful tone of voice, with a slight nod of the head and/or a THUMBS UP sign; In this way, the student associates said phrase with positivism and can feel supported by his instructor. (If the objective is not achieved on the first attempt, "don't worry, it will come out, let's try again" and so on as many times as necessary, but bearing in mind NOT TO SUFFOCATE THE STUDENT WITH THE PRESSURE of having to achieve the objective quickly. obligatory). Stimulant variability: Study the student to see which stimulus goes best with their own way of learning; That also helps us find all the resources, even invent new methods if necessary. (the Montessori method) the complex

TEUK GONG MOO SOOL

GM No-Woo Park

Reach Out and Touch Someone Enter Teuk Gong Moo Sool (Part 7) by Master Guy Edward Larke Sometimes It’s Better to “Not” Get the Point… Out of all the threats man has faced from one time or another, one of the worst has to be the knife fighter. Even the mighty Samurai many times fell prey to their Shinobi counterparts who employed far shorter blades. Now with the martial arts revolution well established in the world, the average knife fighter is even better prepared than a few decades ago. The idea of doing jump spinning hook kicks to disable a knife fighter is a sure way to see an early grave. It should be no surprise that GM Park’s discipline has a strong knife defense component. The techniques for this method of defense are taught at the upper colour belt level. By the black belt level the focus is much more concept based as he firmly believes that when the time comes there is no time to consider exact combinations. The following concepts are in addition to all the other lessons discussed in previous articles from stances to breathing to body positioning. According to GM Park your senses are important. You cannot hear the fighter so you need to focus on your sight. You first have to consider which hand the blade is in. Secondly, what kind of grip is being employed. A third consideration is type of attack. In TGMS they are divided into 5 basic types: • Stab • Cut • Slash • Jab • Backslash A fourth consideration is the distance between you and the assailant. Number five would be if the intended target point is high, middle or low. With those considerations taken into account quickly you need to react. In TGMS stepping VS a knife is done forward, sideways or diagonally with blocks being employed downwards, sideways or upwards. The big decision you need to make quickly is whether you should put your bodyweight into the defense or just snap out a block. You get only one chance! If you decide you prefer to keep a distance you should check the technique quickly with a snapping motion and follow up with a few well placed kicks and/ or upper body blows. For this you use just one hand to check or block quickly and counter simultaneously. For those who prefer to keep close and gain control the weapon you obviously close in throwing your body weight in towards your aggressor, then grab, throw or subdue him. For this both hands are required. The 7 examples detailed hereafter are examples of simple defenses against the 5 basic knife strikes (and a few variants) listed previously. As stated these are concept based. More details would be explained in seminars.

Obviously if you had access to one or could gain control of an assailant’s, you would be far better off if there was a second antagonist. Another advantage to being armed with a knife yourself is that you don’t need to disarm him as quickly as if you were unarmed. As I mentioned last issue, at this level all the other skills that were covered before come into play. There isn’t much room for error in this game. The grips, strikes and appropriate targets that are typically employed in TGMS knife fighting are just a framework with which the practitioner can build on. Every attacker and every defender are different so one has to be flexible and dedicate a lot of time to experiment what works for him. For the atypical basic grip GM Park recommends cutting the hands or feet of an advancing assailant (set A).

One could also stab the body or neck (set B).

The reverse grip can be used to stab the sides of the torso (set C)

or slash or cut the front (set D).

The ice pick type grip is usually reserved for stabbing high targets (set E)

or the sides of the body (set F).

If the practitioner can time it properly, he or she can even spin and strike to the back or the sides of the enemy (set G).

With all grips and attacks some principles never change. They are as follows: 1. Always keep and angle while cutting. Never fully extend your arm. 2. Target pressure points at all times. 3. When striking attack like a snake. Basically, lash out then come back just as quickly. 4. Treat attack and defense as the same thing. 5. Do not think block then attack. Imagine a fencer performing a riposte. 6. Never lose your composure. Appear cool and emotionless. On a final note, GM Park would like to add these types of techniques are for when there is no other option. Too many fighters take what their masters teach them and get into drunken brawls or other types of trouble. As martial artists we are supposed to be above that. Furthermore, we are obligated to protect society. Regardless of the arts you practice he wishes you well and dearly hope that none of you have to actually go into this kind of situation. The following issue will cover defenses vs. a handgun. Until then… TEUK GONG! Anyone interested in learning more about this neoclassical military art can contact me or the association at http://www. tgms.or.kr. Seminars can be arranged and there are books and DVDs available for sale. Master Guy Edward Larke has dedicated his life from a young age to the pursuit of the martial arts, Asian culture and hoplology. It led him to Korea in 2000 and has lived there since then. He lives in Seongnam city with his wife Gi-Ryung and son Alexander. He holds black belts in Taekwondo, Hapkido, Taekgyeon, Bon Kuk Kumdo, Korean kickboxing, Karate-do, Wushu, Cheonji-muye-do, and various other arts. Currently he teaches Teuk Gong Moo Sool, Karate and Cheonji-muye-do full time in addition to writing for various magazines and running Kisa-Do Muye & Marketing. He can be contacted at kisadomuye@gmail.com..

An Exploration of Tang Soo Do's Eight Key Concepts: Kyum Son

SBN Mary Cayte Reiland

Tang soo readers, happy June! This month, we continue with the discussion of the fifth of the Tang Soo Do Eight Key Concepts. Up next is Kyum Son, also known as humility. According to the dictionary, humility is defined as “a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness.” I’ve said countless times to various people that I’m one of the least important people on the planet, and I believe that, not to downplay my life or that I truly have a low opinion of myself. Compared to the vastness of this world, we are all small insignificant specks by comparison. Think about it, one life in billions, how small can you get? Within the last year, I’ve had countless opportunities to exercise humility. When I switched schools, my new instructors were very critical and corrected me often (hell, they still do). At first, I thought they were picking at me because they wanted me to do things their way rather than the way I was originally taught, but I was wrong. It’s not personal at all, all they want is for me to improve and reach my potential, as a student and teacher. Exercising

humility, I am receptive to their teachings and corrections. Here’s another thought on humility. One instructor once said that we should exercise a higher level of conscious awareness in our lives. At the time, I thought he meant that we should grow eyes in the back of our heads so we can see if people are following us on the streets, so we’ll always be wary and thus safe in any situation. Looking back on it now, I can see where it would also apply to humility. To exercise conscious awareness, we need to be aware of ourselves as well as others. Know your strengths and weaknesses, own them, and always try to improve. Humility is at the crux of learning martial arts. When you begin, you know nothing, so it’s easy to let your instructors guide you. However, when you get to a certain level, for some it’s around red belt, getting ready to test for black belt, that you think you know everything. I’ve seen it time and time again, people who get bored with basics or combinations because they think they have mastered them already. They couldn’t be farther from the mastering of anything

without the humility to recognize it. You will never grow to your full potential unless you drop your ego and open up to the teachings of others. Having had varying experiences of learning, trust me, you’ll never truly be open to see what’s out there unless you open up to it. Five down, three to go! Take care and Tang Soo!

SBN Mary Cayte Reiland, USA

KATA TRAINING METHODS (FORMS) IN KARATE WITH A VIEW TO REAL SELF-DEFENSE Sensei Cecilia Salbuchi

Kata training methods (forms) in Level 2: Intermediate Once the Karate with a view to real self-defense student is already "soaked" in the subject, mastering several bunkai It is known that all martial arts and exercises (let's say brown belt) we are for self-defense, but for a can move on to the next instance. It's matter of methodology, different not enough to develop sophisticated levels of bunkai (analysis) are not variants of bunkai, with beautiful always taught in the ways we train. locks and throws... what we need Perhaps it is to reinforce a technically to change is the attack! Attacks correct attack by uke, where a neat with shomen/mae geri, mawashi or attack is requested, usually a chudan yoko geri come into play here, fast tsuki that starts from a guard or combinations of tsuki that are more ready position and after being like a real combat (even with a return announced first moves the base to automatic kamae, no leaving your to finish in the attack technique. partner's arm!). We need to make We strongly emphasize this type the exercise more spontaneous and of attack because we want both the less collaborative, otherwise we will attacker and the defending player to stagnate in an exercise that does be able to hone their technique. But not pressure our reaction capacity. this instance must apply to when our In this instance it is very necessary students are at an initial level. So how to maintain the highest possible do we take them to the next level? technical level when executing

the analysis, trying to respect the trajectories, the order of the movements, and if possible the turns and displacements. Regarding the latter, we have to understand that the displacement of a segment or unit of the kata will not be the same when we have to defend a tsuki, as when we need to use the same part to defend a keri. The first thing that becomes more flexible is precisely this issue. Level 3: Advanced One of the biggest fallacies in martial arts is to practice our defenses against basic martial arts attacks: a tsuki, a grab that is not followed by a punch, a kick executed under our technical principles. So for our kata to be effective as self defense we need to change the attack. A good exercise for the group is to make together, using a blackboard, a list of frequent attacks on the street. You can even make a selection of YouTube videos of bar fights, robberies that get out of control, fights after a car crash, etc. Together, observe and extract what the initial attacks were, what chain of movements the attacker executes, balance of the attacker's body, etc. Now with this list, let's locate the segments of our kata that we want to analyze and try to apply all the attacks to each part. Depending on the form and style, the defenses will not always fit well for some attacks, but it is necessary to experience for oneself the complications that arise. Here it is important to allow flexibility in changing the order of techniques and changes in displacement. The priority is lateral thinking (think out of the box), where we will discover that several movements have more than one reading. A block is a lock, is a blow, is a throw… You will see that today there are hundreds of masters on YouTube showing off their bunkai and its

immense variety. Some more realistic, others more tending to the show. I do not discredit anyone. The realists are rougher and are necessary for our combat ability to level up. And those that seem to be a show develop other less frequent skills in karate, such as complex locks, projections, etc. A teaching method that I heard from Jesse Enkamp (the Karate Nerd) and appropriated for my classes is to take each block first as a block, then as a lock, then as a strike, and finally as a throw or takedown. Uechi Ryu, the style I practice, has a limited variety of native locks, with most being circular (in and out) and very few straight. We have to subject each block to this idea: use it as a block, as a key, as a blow and as a takedown. In that order. And once we can do this work, which is very entertaining and challenging, follow the same path but with the punches: Every punch is a block or a deflection, and immediately afterwards the punch also serves to throw, and can serve to close a wrench or torque. If we get this far then we can really say that we are scholars of karate. Let's keep practising!

HISTORIA DEL KICKBOXING EN JAPÓN, DEL MUAY THAI AL K-1. Este libro supone la primera publicación en occidente de una obra dedicada en exclusiva a la narración de la apasionante historia del kickboxing japonés. Una crónica que comienza con las primeras interacciones entre el karate y el muay thai, y que nos lleva a revivir la épica de los primeros desafíos entre ambos estilos. El kickboxing fue el resultado de la importación y adaptación del muay thai a Japón, realizada por el promotor Osamu Noguchi en los años 60. En el presente trabajo, descubriremos los antecedentes, el nacimiento, y las diferentes fases de crecimiento y evolución del kickboxing en el país del sol naciente. Veremos también su posterior globalización, y llegaremos hasta la última revolución del kickboxing, el lanzamiento del K-1, por el maestro Kazuyoshi Ishii, en los primeros años 90. Un vibrante relato, repleto

de datos inéditos fuera de Asia, que sorprenderá, y hará cambiar al lector la percepción que hasta ahora tenía de la historia de este deporte marcial. David Leonardo Bárcena tras 10 años de recopilar exhaustivamente, la Historia del KickBoxing nos lo resume en un excelente libro autoeditado.

Puedes adquirirlo en AMAZON Detalles del producto Editorial : Independently published (18 Diciembre 2020) Idioma : Español Tapa blanda : 291 páginas ISBN-10 : 1549802879 ISBN-13 : 978-1549802874

Why Tang Soo Do? You have come this far, and that means then that you have opened your world of possibilities regarding martial arts, they are no longer those "few you knew". Today you have the opportunity to offer in your recognized institution an innovative and original proposal, until now non-existent in Uruguay. At the same time, offering ancient values and teachings through an art such as TSD, which has been transmitting a philosophy of life from generation to generation for hundreds of years. You come to our meeting at a time when two of the best ingredients that an organization can offer you are combined: youth: we have been operating in Uruguay for approximately four years with sustained growth, and experience: the Uruguayan TSD is made up of a team of instructors who average more than fifteen years of being at the forefront of martial arts schools, working together with other institutions and betting on permanent training both within martial arts, as well as in various areas (first aid, education, nutrition and more). Our commitment:

Without a doubt, the world is a different place from the one you and I remember from our childhood, even more so from that world that gave rise to martial arts. It is then necessary to take on the challenge and take charge of the role that we have in society when it comes to transmitting our teachings. Today we talk about some concepts that we believe are key: Bullying - The reality of school and other areas is a fact and our attention is directed to that focus when it comes to the little ones Self-defense - Of course, when thinking about daily activities, from leaving our homes, to the various situations that can also arise there, it is fair to think of tools to be able to solve these situations. Sport - Leaving aside the great variety of devices that offer us "entertainment", the endless hours of work, in short, the routine. It can be a challenge, but we have decided to say NO to a sedentary lifestyle. Meditation - Exclusive benefit for Tang Soo Do practitioners. It has not been placed on this list by chance, it represents everything that makes us unique as human beings, meeting our feelings, emotions, who we are, pursuing harmony and achieving

self-control in the broadest sense of the concept. Values - We could mention endless articles on this list, but it is true that the fundamental basis of martial arts is values, act as a reinforcement and in some cases as a source of inspiration. - Respect - Trust - Selfcontrol If we could summarize all this in a dream, we would then speak of integration in the broadest sense, people of all ages, genders, creeds practicing in harmony to take today's society to another level, where coexistence and peace are the common denominator. . But we clarify, we need you in the process, you, EVERYONE. Contact: SBN Mario Segnini: +598 98 731 076

PRIMER CONGRESO DE LA WORLD TRADITIONAL TANG SOO DO UNION 2022 28, 29 Y 30 OCTUBRE VIERNES 28 DE OCTUBRE

HORA

Palabras de bienvenida - Palabras de KJN Patricio Saavedra

4:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Metodología de enseñanza en las Artes Marciales para niños de 3 a 5 años

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Marketing de las Artes marciales - KJN Patricio Saavedra

5:00 pm – 5:30 pm

**Coffe Break**

5:30 pm – 5:40 pm

Formas tradicionales de Tang Soo Do (Formas originales)

5:40 pm – 7:00 pm

SABADO 29 DE OCTUBRE Inauguración del evento y Presentación de las delegaciones – Palabras de KJN Patricio Saavedra

8:00 am – 8:10 am

Practica general de Tang Soo Do Tradicional - KJN Patricio Saavedra

8:10 am – 9:00 am

Armas Nunchako, Kali y Bo (principiantes) KSN Fabian Saavedra y SBN Mary Cayte Reiland

9:00 am – 10:30 am

**Coffe Break**

10:30 am – 10:40 am

Acrobacias para Artes Marciales (introducción y elementos básicos) SBN Edgar Quiroz

10:40 am – 12:00 md

RECESO PARA ALMORZAR

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Armas Nunchako, Kali y Bo (Avanzadas) KSN Fabian Saavedra y SBN Mary Cayte Reiland

1:00 pm – 4:00pm

**Coffe Break**

4:00 pm – 4:10 pm

Acrobacias para Artes Marciales (Metodología de enseñanza y progresiones) SBN Edgar Quiroz

4:10 pm - 6:10 pm

Receso

6:10 pm – 7:30 pm

**Cena de gala** (Participan Maestros, estudiantes y padres de familia)

7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Entrega de reconocimientos.

8:30 p. m.

DOMINGO 30 DE OCTUBRE Examen de Cinturones Negros y certificación para Instructores.

8:00 am – 11:00 am

Fin del congreso

11:00 a. m.

Web: wttsdu.com Facebook: @worldtraditionaltangsoodounion Correo: worldtraditionaltangsoodounion@gmail.com

TANG SOO DO PANAMÁ SabomNim Carlos Omar Urbina Panamá 2022 A young Panamanian from the province of Bocas del Toro on his main island Isla Colon where growing up I saw Sawamura El Campeón on television that I liked him a lot and wanted to be like him and as I remember there were no martial art schools on my beautiful island Colon. I grew up and went to school, but suddenly I traveled to the capital, Panama City where I finished school and then went on to university. Still in school I think starting high school I wondered if I could learn martial arts, Karate was the best known, but I don't know why I saw a couple of Karate classes and I didn't feel that it was what I wanted to learn. On the way to school and returning home one day I discovered that passing in front of the entrance to a neighborhood called La Cresta there were some locals and I saw an advertisement for TangSooDo – Korean Karate and decided to get off the bus or public transport and I visited it, I said to myself “I like this”, I went to find out the data and tell my relatives to be able to pay for the classes and enroll, but I think in two or three months the TangSooDo school closed. I

wanted to continue learning, but I didn't want Karate and I didn't think there were more Dojang's of TangSooDo, but a fellow classmate told me that if I wanted to continue learning there was an Academy in a place called Rio Abajo but that the classes were very strong and maybe I wouldn't stand them. I wanted so much to continue learning TangSooDo that I found out how to get to that place, the Colegio Episcopal de San Cristóbal in Rio Abajo (it is known as such), but it is in Parque Lefevre. At the San Cristóbal school there was a gym and these classes were held there. When I arrived I saw that on this basketball court, that is, in this gym, the space of the court was full of students and a student from Black Belt approached me and asked me how he could help me and well, I will not say that the rest is history. I saw the class and immediately knew and said to myself “this is my thing”. The thing was that these classes were three days a week, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the man who was the Master, a dark man, his name was Alfonso Jesse, but I found out that to address him it had to be like this: SabomNim Jesse (RIP). He was sick and passed away in November 2020 but when I started in the classes of the SabomNim Alfonso Jesse in the early 1980s and I started with fear that I would not stand the classes, well I realized that there were few black belts and over time I found out that not everyone could achieve the Black Belt. Well, this is not exactly the case, but what is true was that for him Sabonim Jesse well, it should be said SabomNim, to rise from the grades or ranks of the colored belts to those of the Black Belts, the student had to show several things such as the endurance of how strict these classes were also the emotional growth and development of the student's character to the point that more than 50 years of teaching SabomNim Jesse until God called him on November 6, 2020 only 8 students achieved this award. Thank you SabomNim Alfonso Jesse for having taught me, for tolerating me for so long and even after his departure from this world I remember him as if he were

still alive, I thank him that I was the 7th Black Belt in 1989 that he did. I SabomNim Carlos Omar Urbina until 9 years ago I started teaching on my own

with the authorization of my Master the SabomNim Alfonso Jesse in a gym in the Betania urbanization. Before and after I achieve the Black Belt with my teacher, help support instruction if my teacher needed it. Now with the passing of time I have learned in TangSooDo for almost 33 years of being a Black Belt. I am 4th Dan and I lead the representation of the World Traditional TangSooDo Union. I train my students with combat all classes as I learned from SabomNim Alfonso Jesse. In Panama City, every time there are open Karate or TaeKwonDo tournaments or competitions, I take my students who are prepared and want to not say that they can go to the competitions. I teach classes to children from the age of 4, as well as teenagers and adults. We train with warm-ups, kicks, blocks and punches like with Hyong, that is, we form what they call Kata in Karate and a lot in sparring, that is, in combat. The truth is that I teach what we call physics, that is, calisthenics and stretching, etc. and not always in the same order, but in the different ways that the Chinese Hand Martial Art or TangSooDo can be taught. Tang symbolizes the Tang dynasty of China, Soo is hand and Do

addition to helping them almost like minors, it helps against stress, control weight, maintain physical condition and improve health, etc. I can train with adults, practicing easier and improving, since in the street it would be adults who would be the aggressors, either to assault us or just to attack us. Now I will introduce a student of mine who shows interest and makes the effort, in addition to fulfilling all the commitments she has, she always coordinates the time to come to receive

SabomNim Alfonso Jesse is the path to follow in this martial learning. I teach TangSooDo for the street, not to score points, although as a school we participate in competitions we will continue to do so only that I teach lessons that my students learn this is not for competitions but to save their lives in situations where there would be no rules and the only thing what is worth is to save the lifetime. They know that it is not that they are learning a fake MooDukKwan, it is just that this part they learn cannot be used in a competition or tournament. They know that the TangSooDo they learn is so that if they have to defend themselves in the street, they know how to control force and technique depending on the situation. The MooDukKwan school thus means Moo is martial art, Duk is virtue and Kwan is school or style and this was its translation ´School of Martial Art of Virtue´ of ´Art of the Chinese Hand´ or TangSooDo. I love teaching children and adolescents, of course, adults, but when teaching the youngest from 4 years to 21 years old, they remind me of when I started, which helped me as a person in general, sharing this benefit with them in addition to self-defense . For adults because in

the classes, she even trains to go to the competition despite being a beginner, so I I asked her to write her experience training TangSooDo, her name is Andrea Olaciregui: My history in martial arts and Tang Soo Do began when I was 23 years old thanks to some friends who practiced it and seeing me on some occasions doing exercises in the same gym that they eventually also attended, they invited me very often already that occasionally I joined them to practice some techniques that I saw them doing and they told me “Andrea, these techniques, although you don't practice them, come out quite smoothly, you should enroll in our academy. You can come as our guest to a class, see if you like it and stay”, however, as a result of the pandemic, my arrival to officially practice it was delayed a little over a year later and I started thanks to my mother and grandmother who felt that it would be very beneficial to me and they were delighted when I mentioned

it to them. Starting this martial art (Tang Soo Do), meant a new challenge for me since although I do it with great enthusiasm and enthusiasm, it was a new commitment that I was acquiring and I already had my university classes, the projects of the that I am part and a part-time job, however, despite being a new challenge, bumps and bruises, falls and other situations that occur while practicing, tang soo do has become one of my greatest admirations and a great I like being able to practice it and go to my classes. In a certain way, and although it doesn't sound very professional, I became my own superhero like the ones I've seen since I was little and wanted to be, something that amuses me and motivates me to continue, even if I'm tired. I have been able to strengthen my security by going outside and now at this moment it is also a very special memory that I have with my grandmother, since she went to accompany the angels to heaven, but she gave me the money to register and every time When I came home from my practices, he sat down and said to me, “What did you learn today? Teach me and show me your kick.”

At the beginning, many told me that I would not be able to endure the training, however, in 1989, after many training sessions and difficult tests, I was able to obtain my black belt in Tang Soo Do, from the hand of SabomNim Jesse. Currently, I impart the knowledge that my teacher left me at the Iron Kick Academy, where he trained martial artists who also have a passion for Tang Soo Do. For more information to the Mobile or Whatsapp: +507 6636 – 5917 with pleasure.

CONTINUED THE LEGACY OF THE SABOMNIM ALPHONSO JESSE Academy Iron Kick Forming Martial Artists that also feel passion for him Tang Soo Do. Movil: +507 6636 - 5917

“El Efímero Observador”

and continues in his social causes from his own trench, the traditional martial arts center.

Entrepreneur, Neurosales Trainer, Apprentice of life. Montevideo, Uruguay.

is a reflective philosophical work, its author exposes topics as controversial as common, taking them to extreme points, and always looking for a healthy individual balance in thought, no dogmas, death to radicalism and without hypocrisy or contracts, a look at the daily life of each of us who inhabit the planet and the worn concepts and customs waiting to be destroyed with a hammer.

ENDORSEMENTS:

"The Ephemeral Observer", a recommended reading in these times where the generation gap seems to get bigger and bigger. Finding oneself, the importance of keeping the values and roots of each being strong. Observe, describe, understand and never judge. Daniel Rodriguez Garcia Medical Specialist in Rehabilitation Master of Martial Arts

BIOGRAPHY: He was born in the city of Hermosillo, in 1976, the son of Juan Manuel Acosta and Yolanda Serrano (+), he developed in a context of traditional education, his early social relationship took place in a certainly different way, attached to having friends from the elderly, always questioning the social changes that were seen in their contemporaries, as well as the prejudices and value judgments that occurred in an era overwhelmed by capitalism and consumerism in Mexico. A child with a lot of imagination, and even the inventor of nonexistent events, someone who, based on fantastic odysseys, captured the messages that his teachers gave him, sometimes harsh, many others with laughter in between. Married to Melba Valenzuela since 1998, with whom he had four children, a student of society and its behavior, an insatiable reader and lover of balanced thinking, a volunteer for various social causes, a martial arts teacher, a seminarian and an international competitor in Peru. Argentina, Uruguay, etc. Today he makes his debut as a writer

“I recommend reading this book, which reminds us of the values that are currently being lost, the forms of teaching, the factors that influence one's personality and good customs. The order in your life as a fundamental stone, find your place in the world, meet your inner self and always seek the truth. Mario Marcelo Segnini Fursa martial arts teacher Graphic Designer, Radio Panelist and Entrepreneur. Montevideo, Uruguay. “Whenever we talk about teaching, it is easy for us to think of colleges, secondary schools, universities, but… What if the path we travel in our lives is marked by many more ingredients than those? You have to read this work then, and rediscover information that sleeps in your mind. I invite you to recognize and change old patterns.” John Suarez martial arts teacher

MAU RAKAU Freakie-Do

as tactics to deceive the opponent. The original Mau Rakau had a wide variety of white weapons and canes of different lengths and uses such as the Mere, Kotiate, Patu, Pouwhenua, Tewhatewha, Leiomano and Wahaika, among others. The Mau Rakau is a Martial Art that today is presented in exhibitions, especially in New Zealand and from there its followers try to make it known in a massive way.

Here we leave you a video about a Mau Rakau practice: h t t p s : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / Originally from New Zealand, the after that they began to learn watch?v=7ZvZGHyFoI8 Mau Rakau is a very old martial art the different techniques that at that is characterized by its specialty that time were considered secret. in handling the most traditional weapons of this region and that were Today the Mau Rakau follows the used by the warriors of the time with traditional rules and is a fighting the aim of defending themselves or combat system complemented against men and also animals. by Mau, which is precisely the handling of the hand-to-hand Thus, the Maori, an ethnic group combat weapon that is practiced from Polynesia, arrived in New as a ceremonial and religious rite. Zealand and developed the Mau Rakau, a martial art that was However, what most characterizes becoming extinct and that today the Mau Rakau is not its is becoming known so that this documentation, since it was ancient tradition does not disappear. taught orally, but mainly by referring to the use of skills for According to an ancient Maori handling weapons that were tradition, the weapons were given taught in the so-called War School. to them by the god of war named TU and also by the god of the Among the most used weapons in jungle whom they called TANE this martial discipline is the Taiaha and the training began with the with a handle called Mau Taiaha, a children at a very early age through long stick made of solid wood that a game made with sticks and that has one of its ends is thicker and allowed them to become familiar facilitates the blow with that area. with the use of weapons that they would later use in their adulthood. Within the learning, basic attack techniques are also taught, such All aspiring warriors had to go as defense and postures that through an initiation rite and facilitate the counterattack, as well

MARCO RUAS The King of Street´s

I want to prove that striking is important in MMA.” That’s why Ruas refused to acquiesce to the requests of his manager at the time, who wanted him to represent Carlson Gracie in the octagon. After creating what he considered his own style, he wanted to make sure his own brand was the one being represented. “I said, ‘I’m sorry, but it’s not fair,’” Ruas recalled. “Because I train totally different MMA, now I defend the Gracies? People didn’t like me. I fought a long time ago some guy from Gracie, a Gracie student, (Fernando) Pinduka, now I’m defending jiu-jitsu?

Few fighter aliases seem more adequate than that of “The King of Streets” Marco Ruas – and it’s not just because of the wordplay (Ruas means “streets” in Portuguese). Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern MMA, the Brazilian legend had his fair share of violent encounters on the streets – and beaches, and gyms, and restaurants, and bars – of Rio de Janeiro at a time when regulated “vale tudo” competition wasn’t quite as available as it is now. Recalling his early steps to MMAjunkie Radio, Ruas (9-4) guarantees that not only was he a fixture of the streetfighting scene – he ruled it, too. “In the streets, I’m undefeated,” Ruas said. “Nobody beat me.” Asked to point out a specific amount of fights – around 100, maybe? – Ruas responded with a laugh. “Oh yeah, a lot more (than 100),” Ruas said. Although he couldn’t come up with an exact figure, it would seem to gravitate somewhere between 300 and 1,000 – or, simply put: “Yeah, a lot of fights.” Ruas, of course, ended up taking his skills to more glamorous stages – including the octagon, where he most

notably became the UFC 7 tournament champion at 34 after overcoming a severe reach disadvantage to take down the 6-foot-8 “Polar Bear,” Paul Varelans. One of Ruas’ most effective weapons was his vicious leg kicks, a technique he’d pass on to heavyweight pupil Pedro Rizzo and later – through student and now Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras – to UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. At a time when Brazil’s “vale tudo” scene was dominated mostly by Brazilian jiujitsu – and, of course, by its royal Gracie family – Ruas became a fierce advocate for incorporating striking and other techniques to form the well-rounded fighting style that has come to be MMA. After changing the landscape of the sport with his cross-training techniques, being a trailblazer is a label that Ruas will gladly accept. “At that time, nobody believed in striking, only jiu-jitsu,” Ruas said. “In Brazil, it was hard for me to gain my space because everybody was jiu-jitsu. The media, sponsors, they said jiu-jitsu was complete, the best martial art. I said no, jiu-jitsu is only ground. No striking.

“Sorry, but I’m defending my name in vale tudo. So I put the style Ruas vale tudo, now mixed martial arts. But I only put this name because I think about everything, I think about the mixed martial arts. I trained everything, a long time before everybody. I trained judo, I trained karate, I trained capoeira, luta livre, jiu-jitsu. I trained everything.” In spite of his legend status, Ruas’ didn’t have that many octagon outings. After beating three rivals to become UFC 7’s tournament winner, he fought twice at the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 tourney – losing his second scrap to Oleg Taktarov in a decision that he contested. He would only return to the UFC almost four years later, at UFC 21, suffering a TKO loss to Maurice Smith. Ruas says that, after the second tournament, he wanted to continue his path in the UFC and pursue super fights. His manager, however, had different plans and, after telling Ruas the promotion wasn’t willing to pay good money to have him, he lured him to fight for his own event in Brazil. Blaming his manager for why things with the UFC went sour, Ruas wishes he’d had more opportunities in the octagon. “I feel mad for that,” Ruas said. “I wanted to fight more fights.”

MASTER CHAD BEHREND – PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF By Master Guy Edward Larke

Part Two

What was your first black belt test like? step,two step,three step sparring, then self-defense. Right after, we had to do Oh, well, in one of my articles. I talked weapons routines, followed by free about my first white belt test where sparring, one person, two person, GM Cho had me do the flying side three against one. Last was board kids through a full board. Now, that breaking. GM Cho was also very big was my white belt testing. So that was on the Korean terminology. You could really interesting. Then I got frustrated and would be asked Korean culture and upset because I couldn't break the and History questions by surprise. board. He said to me, No try! Break You had better know the answers. board! Which was his mentality, you So, part of testing you also to know the meaning of your highest forms know? My Black Belt testing was 1988. I want and what it stood for. And one that I to say there were probably 25 of us. remember, in my mind was that Kwang It was on concrete floors, no mats, Gae Toh Dae Wang (Dae Wang = great the floor carpeting smelled of sweaty king) was the 19th king of the Koreo feet. It was also winter time and I Dynasty. And then on and on and on, feel that the heat was turned to about so he would have you recite this stuff. 55 degrees. Needed to heat up by He's very strict on Korean terminology working out before testing. GM Pong and history. He had us recite, the 10 Ki Kim was there during that test. He tenants of Taekwondo and the 10 and GM Cho had us doing all these articles of faith for the Moo Duk Kwan, kicks, in combinations and jumping and other terminology depending on variations. So, we were all completely what rank you were. Sometimes he exhausted. We did, 30 minutes of would ask you something he knew combination kicking before we even you didn’t know. Then he'd go, Now, started anything else. Then all the you're gonna have to go home and forms (26). That was followed by one study it and write an article on it and

I'm gonna ask you about it at the next testing. You had to do it because if he asked you to produce it and you didn’t, it wasn't going to fly. I think a lot of modern instructors probably have gotten away from that. I think it's a very good thing to learn about Korean history. GM Cho also liked talking about his training in Korea. On his seventh-degree black belt test. He said, he had to report to this area that was in the middle of winter, and there was a tent set up outside. He thought he was going to be going through all of his forms and techniques and stuff like that. Instead for his testing, he had to sit there on the ground and meditate for hours without moving. That's what his test was. He said he got so cold, he got up and he had to run out of the tent because he was freezing, so they flunked him for seventh-degree black belt. So, he had to go back and do it again. It wasn't even anything physical. It was all mental discipline. And talk about mental training. One of my other black belt test scenes, I don't know I might have been third or fourth degree black belt. GM Pong Ki Kim was conducting black belt testing .GM Kim was at the desk giving a lecture and Master Cho was standing in front of him at attention wearing his fancy dress suit. There was a fly flying around the room and it was bothering

all the forms, I say there's probably 40 Hyung.

What made you decide to leave your last instructor?

all of us by landing on us and we were all brushing it off and shooing it away. It was flying around Master Cho and landed on his face. He was standing in front of his master and never moved one muscle. He stood there for like a half an hour and listened to the lecture from GM Kim. He didn't blink, he didn't move a muscle with the fly all over his face- strict discipline.

Oh, that's amazing focus. So, out of the ITF, WTF and then Moo Duk Kwan, what are your favorite forms? I really like the ITF forms. The WTF Poomsae, I never liked any of those. Not even the black belt ones. There's little to no application for WTF hyung. There were people who made stuff up. But at that time, there was no application.. Even up to fourth degree black belt, we did very little application of what the techniques were actually for. With Tang Soo Do hyungs there was always a lot of training in applications-I enjoyed that greatly. I really like the Tang Soo Do forms because there you can definitely see the Chinese influence and application of technique in them. I still practice all the hyung actuallyITF,WTF,Tang Soo Do. So, I do all of them yet. There's probably between

My Grand Master Byung Kon Cho had one of the largest school systems in the Midwest during the 80’s, 90’s. As the martial arts groups expanded in the Wisconsin area over time/ and frigid winters, it was decided that he would move out of that area being that it was becoming less profitable , and moved Virginia. I continued to run the school in Appleton, WI for many years, having the satisfaction of training high caliber martial artists through black belt and beyond. We talked frequently, and GM Cho would come back twice a year to teach and do seminars for the students. As the years passed a decision had to be made whether to continue to operate the dojang or to work full time at the hospital in Radiology doing CT scanning. A way to support my lifestyle of International travel and a cabin. I continue to work full time doing Radiology CT scanning.

What attracted you to the World Tang Soo Do General Federation? I started training in Tae Kwon Do 1984- during seminars and training with Grand Master Cho he would talk about his training in Korea, and talking about the Moo Duk Kwan, and his Master Pong Ki Kim. The history of Moo Duk Kwan, was covered in depth every year when all of the schools would combine for a yearly seminar. Gm Kim of course would be in attendance too. As I got much older and time passed, I wanted to dig deeper into the history of the MDK, Tang Soo Do, the founder, training methods, etc. That’s when I learned that the art was originally Tang Soo Do and not Tae Kwon Do. I thought how could this be? Tae Kwon Do was 2000 years old. I had a lot to learn! And so my digging deeper led me to World Moo Duk Kwan General Federation in Korea. The President at the time was GM Choi Hee Seok. The team at that time consisted of Kim Yong Duk, Choi Hee Seok, KoeWoong Choung, and Master Jae-Joong Kwon. The name has now changed to World Tang Soo Do General Federation, with GM Choung being the President of the federation in Korea. I wanted to get back to the roots of Moo Duk Kwan through the training

and teachings of Tang Soo Do. It has become an incredible experience working and learning from a large group of Korean Grand Masters. For more information on the federation in Korea please email info@ moodukwonkorea.org

What were your impressions when you visited? I had contacted GM Choung in Korea, and we organized a time for me to visit Korea to discuss the future of Tang Soo Do, Moo Duk Kwan. It was an incredible experience. I had previously been to China exploring history and martial arts teachings, but now I was finally in Korea- about the meet the president, GM Choung. As I was getting out of the taxi at headquarters, GM Choung and GM Kim were there to welcome me to Korea. I bowed in a show of great respect for these men. We arrived inside headquarters and there was a very large group of senior Grand Masters there waiting for our meeting and training. There was a huge banner welcoming me to Korea and the federation. You were there with your beautiful wife Gina was there to translate. My time in Korea was amazing I will never forget that experience. I’ve met and trained, and looking forward to train much more with senior grand masters.

the bills and allowed me to travel the world much better than running my dojang. I still teach and do seminars several times a year, I’m but hoping to return to full-time teaching in the near future. My martial arts uniform business MooDo Yea Premium Uniforms is really starting to pick up. It’s nice to be able to provide a superior product at a reasonable price. Currently I have the Moo Duk Kwan stye uniforms in Black trim, Midnight Blue trim, and plain white for Karate practitioners. For more information moodoyeapremiumuniforms.com

What led you to make your own specialty uniforms?

Company, and creating a business logo that would express my uniform brand accordingly. MooDo Yea LLC. Premium Uniforms was created. Next was the challenge to have my own blended fabric made to my specifications. Most other companies sell twill uniforms or 100% cotton gi. I could have easily taken the easy route and sold the same 100% cotton fabric, but I do not, and have never liked plain cotton. It’s too bulky, holds too much perspiration, sticks to the skin, lacks durability, and after every single wash- needs to be heavily ironed or its completely full of wrinkles and looks far from professional. So, I finally found a factory that would make the weight and blend of polyester/cotton fibers for canvas. Production sample after production sample had to be made and then once I received it- I tested it, washed it, made sure the trim didn’t’ fade, fray, etc. this process lasted months. Once the fabric met my satisfaction(and that’s not an easy task) I worked on the features of the uniform that I thought needed correcting. Additional room in the jacket to allow for more freedom of movement without your jacket pulling out of your belt. American cut sizing. Next, ventilation was added in the

What attracted you to teaching? Did it Over the last 37 years, I’ve attended many different special events to change your paradigm of the arts? include black belt testings, Ko Dan Ja, Coming up through the ranks-I summer camps, all weekend training always wanted to teach. My instructor camps, tournaments that last for 12 Mrs Zillmer would often hear me ask hours or more, visiting temples in to warm up the class with stretching Seoul Korea etc. Poorly fitting, Sweaty and basic techniques. Teaching was sticky uniforms, no place to put so gratifying to see students start anything without carrying a backpack. from white and continue to black and There needed to be a change. beyond. I really do miss teaching full February 2021, I decided to start my time, but as an adult I had to decide own uniform company, which was to focus on healthcare which people a MUCH larger undertaking than needed (being that they were in a sickly I had originally thought. I Started or deathly state) and CT scanning paid off by creating a Limited Liability

jacket, and two additional areas within the pants. Moisture wicking fabric was added throughout to help control temperatures during extreme workouts. This allows the heat and moisture to be wicked away from the body to help you keep cool. Pockets were then added to the top and the bottom of the dobok. Anyone that spends all day in a uniform during a 12 hour a day seminar, event , or tournament knows the importance of these features. Midnight Blue and Black collar trim which resists wear, fading, and fraying during many washings was another undertaking. The uniforms needed huge upgrades as the original uniforms were the same low-quality fabric and cut as was used in 1950. Changes had to be made and MooDo Yea LLC Premium uniforms was the one to make that happen. The next step was to file patents with Patent and Trademark offices. This again was no small undertaking. My attorneys, and graphic artists were needed to draw up the uniform design, and legal paperwork to protect my intellectual property. It is very expensive to do this, but a crucial step in the protection process for MooDo Yea Premium Uniforms.

Senior Master Guy Edward Larke has spent most of his life enamored with the martial arts of Asia and Asian cultures in general. These led him to move to South Korea 20 years ago where he continued to study, research, and write about the various disciplines that shaped his life. In addition to teaching martial arts in Korea,

USA, Malaysia and Denmark, he has written over 800 articles in over 20 magazines. He named the synthesis of his pilgrimage Kisa-Do Muye (the Knights Way Martial Arts). Larke can be found on Facebook or by e-mail at kisadomuye@gmail.com.

Moo Do Yea doboks are being worn by many Black Belts, and Senior Grand Masters throughout the USA, UK, Korea, Netherlands, and Sweden. We plan to attend as many tradeshows and tournaments in 2022 as possible. If you would like us to attend-please email us below. For more information please contact Master Chad at Cwbehrend@ gmail.com (920)217-6846 or at moodoyeapremiumuniforms.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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DOJO STORIES

Sensei Gerardo Balves

DOJO STORIES ON KO CHI SHIN: GOING BACK TO THE ROOTS, A QUESTION OF IDENTITY…. It is impossible for me to think about interpreting the Path that I follow, if I do not know elements that help me to value what the great Masters did to give life to our art. Long, but at the same time enlightening reading that aims to shed light (to those who want to be enlightened, of course), to an already very dark panorama. As the saying goes: ¨...knowledge does not take up space...¨ What is a Ryu?... (Occasionally I already commented on it, but it is always good to refresh the memory) The easy answer is to translate it as "style", as a certain way of doing something. Certainly "style" is a good definition of Ryu. But upon further reflection, Ryu attached to a martial arts system encompasses much more than a "style" or way of doing things. Not all martial arts were alike, there are many differences in all BUDO. This is the wonder of Asian (especially Japanese) fighting arts. There are lots of variations. You might think that there may be very few ways in which one's body can be used as weapons to take down an enemy,

considering that our human physiology is much the same, but Asian fighting arts have developed to take advantage of the subtle variations studying basic concepts. It is this subtlety that is the hallmark of a Ryu or Ryuha, but I am getting ahead of myself. First of all, the term Ryu in Japanese comes from the pronunciation of Chinese characters or nogare as an alternative reading and it means "flowing and/or flowing". In Japan, when Ryu is attached to a word as part of an art school or as in our case of martial arts, it means a particular system of art development. Thus, we have ShorinRyu karate, or the Young Forest "system" of karate, the Shinto Kashima-ryu, or "school" centered on the Kashima Shinto shrine, the Sogetsu-ryu of ikebana, or arrangement system. of Sogetsu flowers, and so on. In many traditional Japanese arts that began in what can be crudely correlated to medieval times, the founder of the style experienced what amounts to a divine revelation. These experts had already developed a vast repertoire of technical knowledge through a study of martial methods and through actual experience on the battlefield. But having exhausted and reached the limits of their technical knowledge, they consciously

underwent shugyo, a rigorous training that tested their mind, body and spirit. Often enacted in the far reaches of sacred ground, such as a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, or in a hidden religious haven, in the desert or on top of a mountain. Shugyo is understood as the breach through the surface layer of the physical world, laying bare the secrets of the spiritual universe. Like the intensity of Zen training, after exhausting the usual avenues of consciousness, the shugyo martial arts candidate attains new and enlightening insight. After this period of intense training, prayer, and some form of fasting and/or abstention, a vision appears to the founder which would give him the key to his true mastery of the art. Often a single phrase or a very rudimentary technique(s) is considered the revelation that will unlock all the methods the founder would later develop. As such, the revelation will be the "tenshin shoden", or the knowledge bestowed by the Heavens, or muso; the knowledge acquired thanks to a heavenly dream. Something that has definitely been completely distorted in our days giving way to a purely commercial or marketing issue far from those mystical beginnings... The knowledge, therefore, was purely divine when it passed from the gods to the first generation. If you want to keep it as a divinely inspired system, then you always have to go back to this person, the founder. Therefore, the term Ryu, or nogare, is a flow back to the sources of the style, which was divinely inspired. There is a difference in conceptualization here, one that a modern (current) man must understand. Much of modern intellectual thought posits that we are moving toward an ever better and more wonderful future, unless you are existentialist, nihilist, or just plain depressed. As a society, we may not necessarily believe in the glorious Christian doomsday, but instead tend to think of knowledge and history as linear. But for many Asian cultures, time may not necessarily be linear. It can repeat a circle or a kind of spiral, in which the centuries repeat themselves endlessly, just like the way monsoon rains fall every year on the rice fields of Southeast Asia. Some years it rained some years are plentiful, other years are dry, but time seems to be a repeating spiral. This spiral pattern was cut by the Buddha, who ended the repeating chain of reincarnation with his enlightenment. Since his time, however, Buddhist philosophy has held that we have entered an age called mappo, or a time when the wisdom of the

ancients was declining. Thus, the future, therefore, is not necessarily better than the past. At mappo, recent innovations can't be better than the original teachings. Everything after Buddha is slightly less than Buddha. To the Japanese, and to some extent the Chinese, especially when in the midst of a civil war, the world certainly looked like it was headed for destruction. The concept of decay and entropy has an impact on what a Ryu is. Unless it can be claimed that a pure current is followed from the source, the direct transmission (jikiden) of the methods and concepts of the founder, who received divine guidance, will say that your martial practices today are a degeneration. Therefore, innovation for the sake of "modernizing" or updating the Ryu is considered a downgrade. That is the reason why a Ryu strives to maintain its defined characteristics, just as they were postulated by its founder. For example, I can put Higa Yuchoku Sensei as an example for what corresponds to me, who having received knowledge of the Naha te on the one hand and on the other being a student of Chibana Chosin (Kobayashi) of the Shorin Ryu on the other, defined his Kyudokan school as a continuation of the Ti of Matsumura sensei (probable founder of the Ryu), even more than that of Itosu Sensei. Thus marking a return to the original interpretation of Ti. This is not to say that the classical martial arts Ryu are immutable, like a museum piece. Using the analogy of a spring fed by various currents, if the waters of the river stop, it stagnates and becomes a well. The river must "flow through time. Each Ryu leader, who is supposed to receive direct transmission, has the prerogative to redefine the Ryu teachings, as long as he remains faithful to the inherent philosophical and technical foundations." Thus, Shimizu Takaji, one of the greatest exponents of Shinto Muso-Ryujo in the 20th century, was able to develop Kihon techniques (basic exercises) to enhance the modern instruction of students without losing the personal art inspired by the vision of Muso Gonnosuke while meditating on top of Mount Homan. Shimizu systematized various movements common to many kata and developed a series of basic techniques that help training; with this he did not alter the movements of the katas themselves. I return to the example of the school to which I belong so as not to fall into the intrinsic ignorance of the absolute and thus be able to express that this school (Kyudokan Kobayashi) has in itself the concept of circularity and the definitive

technique that it gave ' Bushi Matsumura” to his Ryu. While other lines stemming from the same Ryu have a different system of kata that goes back to other Chinese systems that went in other directions. The original kata remain relatively unchanged, but due to exchanges with other Ryu and revelations discovered in the ordinary course of training, teachers and higher level students are encouraged to craft various Kihons to enhance the training of future students. This overlapping of techniques, in my opinion, if done clearly and for good reasons, is a good encouragement to keep the purpose of Ryu alive. Nothing is being invented, it is only being given an extension to the criteria for better learning. Depending on the School, different classifications of such complements are used, one term is Gaiden ('foreign' learning, that is, techniques developed outside the vision of the founder himself). You can see how, therefore, a typical classic Ryu is different from a modern “Do”. The official kata were crafted by committees of human beings, whose efforts are in tune with the modernist trend that things can always be improved with time and human ingenuity. Even in Karate-do as a modern system, it is clearly seen that while maintaining the natural variations of Ryu, it tries to develop a basic standardization with the implementation of new forms created for this purpose, such as the Pinan katas (Heian ). A Ryuha is a faction of a faction, that is, it is a variation of a Ryu created by one of his outstanding disciples. The disciple has not completely broken with the teachings of Ryu, but has developed a variant that is markedly different from the original line, but retains the basic characteristics of Ryu. This Ryuha then, it becomes a different lineage than the original line, a tributary, if you will. This can be considered in popular understanding as a School, it follows the original Ryu, but has variants attached to it. STYLE AND PATH (RYU AND DO) Because of the huge differences between newly developed systems, karate-do as a modern art retains within itself its Ryu systems. Thus, while a school like Shito-ryu may have the Kushanku kata, it is different from a Shotokan Kanku, which will be different from a Shorin-Ryu Kushanku. Judo, as a form of "do" that is neither more nor less than a "modern" type of martial art and that emphasizes the development of the mind, body and spirit over self-defense or combat methods, but that it's just judo. You can have a Kodokan style of judo, a Japanese college style, an Olympic style, but because

all of these are lumped together, there is no Ryu in judo. Judo is so malleable in technique, and so reasonable in its scientific use of competition-oriented grappling methods, that it continues to grow and innovate in its technical complexity. In fact, it is really difficult to innovate and create something "completely new under the sun". Most martial artists in this day and age are simply not capable of such originality. The same in kendo. Kendo is even older than judo as a "modern" form organized by committee, resurrected by modern artists for sporting and philosophical purposes. While there may be Ryu in kenjutsu, in kendo there is only kendo, and the particular variations of the teachers. Aikido originally began as a consolidation of techniques compiled by Ueshiba Morihei from various ryu, but this modern form has since fissured and separated, and as it can be seen, has 'factionalized' into legitimately different groups of so-called ryu. But in general, one can still see a similar tone linking a Tomikistyle practitioner, for example, a Yoshinkanstyle practitioner, to an Aikikai-style practitioner; all of which are markedly different from Daito-ryu, for example. Iaidō is an interesting art; Zen Nihon Seitei Gata are the standardized forms to which most of the practitioners of Iaidō adhere, and which are above the different Ryu of existing iai. This does not happen with the current fashion in martial arts (called mix martial arts) established in the USA or Europe, which encompass the mixture of techniques, thinking that if they put all the systems together, better techniques will be obtained due to the sum of their parts... a traditionalist like me, however, what I see is only a hodgepodge that, without denying its effectiveness, does not find cost-benefit principles beyond the show that it provides in the best Roman circus style. A matter of points of view, since the richness of a Ryu's technique means that life may not be enough for us to master it in its entirety, with which adding more does not complement it, but rather distorts it... Always remembering that the effectiveness It will have the individual as its fundamental element, this will definitely be the unbalancing factor and who should be able to achieve the best result with the minimum effort. In sport, innovation is good. Olympic Judo, for example, is constantly modified by the influence of other forms of hand-to-hand fighting, which are incorporated within the framework of competition rules and regulations of the "randori" type. Karate-do has benefited

(although there will be those of us who believe that it has also suffered) with the exchange of methods in open tournaments between markedly different exponents; Korean style practitioners can learn hand techniques from Okinawan style practitioners, Japanese style practitioners can learn kicking techniques from Korean style practitioners, etc. When done properly, such cross fertilization is good for the growth of modern forms. It is usually disastrous, however, when some enlightened ones with only a cursory understanding of the techniques try to mix and match different methods to create their own "innovative" style, instantly "classic", which usually ends up on the deck. from some martial arts magazine and then vanishes when the next fad excites the reading audience. It is a bit more complex when this innovation comes from within a Ryu koryu or classical and ancient martial system. Remember that a Ryu is the flow from a source. If you innovate too much, the Ryu's link to its origins is severed. You can also change it so much that it is unrecognizable as a particular style. Unfortunately today that is observed very often... We can see with increasing and sad frequency that the contemporary "Great Masters" denigrate the classical styles, but nevertheless maintain they have all the paraphernalia of classic Asian martial arts, including the black belt, training suit, and (above all) the redundancy of titles and nominations for oriental sound and performance. Something markedly hypocritical if you look closely. A classic Ryu ceases to be a classic if the innovation makes it totally unrecognizable. Those with a more practical approach may argue that the maintenance of classical forms is irrelevant in this day and age. They argue that learning the skill of fighting with classical kobudo weapons and that it was the perfect complement to the warrior is meaningless in this day and age, claiming that their way is better. This generally means that they are teaching a combination of “street useful” items but with unrelated techniques, perhaps using modern props such as bicycle chains, fighting knives, etc. Of course this is not to my taste, in my own elitist opinion, I think that such strange thoughts out of logic, attack the real reason why "Ryu" has survived in time. The fact of having been theorized and extracted from contemporary practical situations does not replace it. Classic "Ryu" is timeless, not punctual. The Ryu barely changes, it flows, no longer from the present, but from the

past to the present, and into the future, no matter what it may hold. This, in an age when fleeting fame is measured in minutes, if not seconds, is an encouraging thought. REVIEW OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RYU WITHOUT ENTERING SPECIFICALLY INTO SCHOOLS, WHICH WOULD MAKE IT ENDLESS: There are currently more than three hundred different Karate Ryu, most of them in Japan, which gives an idea of the complexity of naming them all, therefore, I will only do it with the best known or those that have given rise to other Ryu or Ryu Ha. This large number of ways of practicing Karate is due to the different ways of interpreting the techniques or the personality of the founding masters. In this case the best known in ALPHABETICAL ORDER: CHITO-RYU Style created in Japan in 1946 by Tsuyoshi Chitose (1898-1984). One of his students is Masami Tsuroka who is the father of Canadian Karate. Contains elements of Shuri te and Naha te. Chitose had trained with Miyagi and Mabuni. Miyagi was the first to introduce Karate in Japan, followed by Funakoshi. CHOBU-SHORIN-RYU Middle Pine Forest School. Okinawan style founded in 1947 by Zenryo Shimabukuro (1904-1969). This style is also called Seibun Ryu. His current representative is Katsuhide Kochi, in 1955 he created his own dojo where he teaches a Kata created by his father, the ARAN-NO-KATA. GOJU-RYU Okinawan style founded in 1930 by Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953). It is one of the best known and most widespread styles in the world. There are currently three branches, the Okinawa Goju-Ryu, the Nihon Goju-kai, and the American branch of the U.S. Gojukai. The Okinawan branch gives rise to the SHODOKAN by Seiko Higa, the MEIBUKAN by Meitoku Yagi, the JUNDOKAN created by Eiichi Miyazato, and the SHOREIKAN by Seikichi Toguchi. The Japanese branch is represented by Gogen Yamaguchi. This master entered the legend of Karate, where he wrote his name in gold letters. A very famous student of his was Masutatsu Oyama, founder of the Kyokushinkai. In 1980 Masafumi Suzuki creates a new branch in Japanese Goju-Ryu, the SEIBUKAN (the sacred martial temple GENSEI-RYU Created in Okinawa by Seiken Sukumine. It is the school that seeks to find the profound reason for karate-do. Shurite style. ISSHIN-RYU One Heart School. Okinawan style created by Tatsuo Shimabuku in the 1950s. His son

Kiichiro Shimabuko is the current grandmaster. He has 8 barehand kata and 7 Kobudo kata. Those of bare hand are: Chinto, Kushanku, Naihanchi, Sanchin, Seiunchin (Seienchin), Sesan, Unsu and Wanshu. ISHIMINE-RYU Okinawan style created by Shinei Kaneshima. A student of a teacher named Ishimine. It has three kata: Kamate-sanchin, Naihanchi and Passai. KOBAYASHI-RYU It was created in 1929 by Chosin Chibana, in the city of Shuri (he is the heir to Itosu – Matsumura –Sakugawa). This name in Japanese is Shorin ryu or small forest. Various schools stem from the style, such as: Higa Yuchoku's Kyudokan, Miyahira Katsuya's Shidokan, Nakama Chozo's Shobukan, and Shugoro Nakazato's Shorinkan.KUSHIN-RYU Created in 1937 by Kensei Kinjo (Chibana's student and Chibana's fifth graduate as ninth dan), in Osaka. A disciple of his Shintaro Yoshizato introduces the style in Okinawa in 1960.KOJO-RYU Created in Okinawa. It is a family creation, the founder of the tradition was Kojo-Uekata. He studies different forms of fighting in China, when he returns to Okinawa he continues to teach Chinese Kenpo. He possesses six barehanded kata: Haku-ryu (white dragon), Hakko (white tiger), Hako-Tsuro (white heron), Ten (heaven), Ku, Chi (earth) and two weapon kata. KOEIKAN-RYU Created in 1952 by Eizo Onishi it means temple of honor. Characteristics are respect for honor, courage, humility, self-discipline, etc. The Kata are from Naha te and Shuri te. Practice full contact combat, but with safety protections. KYOKUSHINKAI KAN “School of the ultimate truth”. It is one of the hardest styles of Japanese karate. Created in the 1950s by Matsutatsu Oyama, Korean by birth but Japanese by adoption. Countless are the branches detached from this trunk after the disappearance of Oyama Sensei... It is estimated that about 70. MATSUBYASHI-RYU Pine forest school. Created in 1947 by Shoshin Nagamine. Many kata are found in this style in their original Tomari-te form. Upon the death of the natural successor Takayoshi Nagamine, son of the founder, the style suffered several fractures. MUSHINDO-RYU Created by Ryusho Otomo in Okinawa in 1950. He studied Uechi-Ryu and Pangai-Noon, the Chinese boxing ancestor of Uechi-Ryu. REMBUKAI Association for the training of martial arts. It was founded in 1940 in Tokyo and was originally called Kanbukan (Korean martial

arts training ground). The founder was a Korean school teacher named Geka Yung. In 1949 this teacher returns to Korea. Another teacher was Hiroyasu Tamae born in 1906. He was a student of Shiroma Gukusuma. He also trains Chinese Kempo in Beijing, in Okinawa the Naha te and the Bo. This teacher is the one who has had the most influence on the development of Rembukai. In 1945 two young men, Norio Nakamura 4th dan in Kempo and 2nd dan in Judo, and Minuro Okamoto began studying at the Kanbukan and became leaders of the Rembukai. RY U - K Y U - SHOR I N - RY U Created in Okinawa by Seijin Inamine, Ryusho Goya, Kojun Nakishi, Hiroshi Shinya, and Soko Toguchi. They were students of the founder of SHIMABUKU SHORIN RYU. RYUEI-RYU Created in Okinawa by Nakaima Kenko (1911-1990). It also teaches the handling of all traditional Okinawan weapons. A disciple of Nakaima is the famous Sakumoto Tsuguo. S H I N D O - S H I Z E N - R Y U Created in 1934 in Japan by Yasuhiro Konishi. Disciple of Funakoshi and Choki Motobu. SHIROMA SHITO-RYU Created in Okinawa by Shiroma Shinpan. Characteristics of Naha-te and Shurite. The katas of the style are the 5 Pinan, 3 Naihanchi, Kushanku Dai and Sho, Sanchin and Chinto. SHITO-RYU Created by Kenwa Mabuni in 1934. Receives teaching from Anko Itosu for Shuri te and Kanryo Higaonna for Naha te. From the Shuri you get the speed, the shuto uke and the kakete, from the Naha you get the power, the strength of the tanden, the specific bodybuilding. The Sanchin kata is very representative of this school. This style comprises three aspects: Shin, Gi, Tai (the heart, the technique, the body). A fair balance must be sought between these three aspects. The most important feature of the style is fidelity to the original forms. You work with weapons, starting from the basis that if you know how to handle them, it is easier to defend yourself against them. This style was divided into several groups, the most representative are: Kenei Mabuni group, Eiji Ogasahara group, Tani group (Tani-HaShito-Ryu or Shukokai), Tsuneyoshi Ogura group (Genbukai), Teruo Hayashi group (Hayashi-Ha- Shito-Ryu) and the Seishin-kai (Motobu-Ha-Shito-Ryu). SHUKOKAI-RYU Created in 1948 in Japan by Chojiro Tani. Disciple of Kenwa Mabuni. Also called Tani-Ha-Shito-Ryu. SHOBAYASHI-RYU Created in Okinawa by Kyan Chotoku. Chotoku's main students were: Nakazato

Joen founder of Shorinji-Ryu, Shimabuku Tatsuo founder of Isshin-Ryu, Nagamine Shoshin founder of Matsubayashi Ryu and Shimabuku Eizo founder of Shimabuku Shorin-Ryu. SHORINJI-RYU KENKOKAN Created by Kori Hisataka in 1946. They created the Koshiki karate, they fight with protections on the chest and on the head, hands without gloves. SHOTOKAI Created by Egami Shigeru Sensei upon breaking away from Shotokan. He is considered the heir to Funakoshi's karate. He says that JKA karate moves in the opposite direction from the master's teachings. He does not accept the competition, he says that it goes against the spirit of karate-do. His practice generates a work of strength and tension against what Funakoshi practiced, who, for example, gave the tsuki in decontraction. Master Egami says: "if the body is limited, your spirit can go further". The postures are very low, total relaxation, you have to act naturally. The Kata are the same as in Shotokan, the flowing chains, without interruption. The teacher dies in 1981. SHOTOKAN Shotokan is the designation for Funakoshi's dojo. It is the most widespread style. It was popularized by Funakoshi's son Yoshitaka. Great masters have passed through Shotokan before creating their own styles, Otsuka (Wado-Ryu), Egami (Shotokai), Oyama (Kyokushinkai). A style with great internal conflicts, some students followed Funakoshi (Egami, Kamata, Obata) and others his son who was more in favor of the physical and sports line, this line is headed by Nakayama, considered the father of Shotokan. Currently the JKA has instructors in the four corners of the world. The J.K.A. (Japan Karate Association) has numerous divisions, but the most important is SKIF, directed by Hirokazu Kanazawa. This teacher has introduced Tai-Chi in Shotokan, has returned to the sources of art, is interested in other styles such as Shorin-Ryu. SHORIN-RYU Supposedly created by Sokon "Bushi" Matsumura, officially nominated as such by Chibana Choshin, it was the first style of Tode or Karate Jutsu as such. It has three main branches: Sakunai Hayashi-Ryu, Kobayashi-Ryu, and Matsubayashi-Ryu. SHORINJI-RYU Founded by Joen Nakazato in 1952. MATSUMURA SEITO KARATE Created in Okinawa by Hohan Soken. Later it gave rise to what is now known as Shorin Ryu Kenshinkan of Sensei Kise Fusei. TOZAN-RYU Founded by Shinsuke Kaneshima.

UECHI-RYU Created by Kambun Uechi between 1942 and 1945. It is inspired by the Chinese Pan Gai Non style (natural heir Kanei Uechi) inspired in turn by tiger, crane and dragon boxing, it never uses a closed hand. Kambun Uechi only taught three kata: Sanchin, Seisan and Sanseiryu. His son Kanei creates new bunkai and introduces other kata. The current kata are: Sanchin, Kanshiwa, Kanshu, Sochin, Sesan, Seiryu, Kanchin and Sanseryu. WADO-RYU Founded by Hironori Otsuka. It is created from Shotokan, to which Ju-Jitsu techniques were added. It is the school of the path of peace. His symbol is the dove, the universal symbol of peace. It is a fluid, aesthetic style, whose movements respect the natural possibilities of the body. The notion of dodging predominates, which he does in three ways: Nagasu (inhale like water), Inasu (let go) and Noru (roll up). For some it is a Ju-Jitsu with some Karate, for others it is a mixture of the two creating a separate martial art. The truth is that today it is a very widespread style, especially in Japanese universities. Gerard Balves 7th Dan Kobayashi-ryu Kyudokan Coordinator of the International Group of Dojos Kyudo Mugen Kyudokan https://www.facebook.com/gerardo.balves

By hand, foot, stick or blade... Who can stop Jun Dacayana? Part Two Maestro Guy Edward Larke

above only Eskrima, Arnis, kutsilyo punyal and saguidas still exist when it comes into training All the rest of the weapons have gone.

4. How important is the type of material in the weapons? Especially sticks. It is important to have the best one specifically in Eskrima wherein we are using the best quality of rattan or uway in order to be able survive even during training.

The duel has existed for centuries in a wide number of countries, from gladiators to gypsies to British gentlemen settling a matter of honour. Hollywood has taken the reality away from these lethal exchanges and led us to believe it can last for minutes at a time with a bizarre chance of survival for the protagonist. To make things worse some martial art schools teach defenses vs. attacks a teenager might come up with. This instills a sense of bravado which is sure to cost lives. On the other end of the spectrum there are a number of effective knifefighting systems and implements to suit one’s tastes and preferences. Sadly, however the “bad guys” are picking up on our tricks and are getting more dangerous. More than ever FAST and decisive techniques to control the knife fighter are needed. Last issue I introduced you to Grandmaster Jun Dacayana to you. It is my sincere hope that over the next few issues, that you will find his combat method to be unique and deserving its own place in the just the FMA community, but the martial arts world in general! This issue will cover the common and lesser-known weapons in his arsenal.

common in FMA? The question is very interesting. But in FMA specially here in my place Toledo City and Cebu City we are using a lot of weapons such as: * Sundang * Pinuti * Kutsilyo or Punyal * Guikay blade * Garotte or Olisi best known as Eskrima/Arnis * Gapasan or Indian Pana * Tirador * Saguidas commonly known as Pocket Stick

2. Why those particular weapons? That is actually depends the origin. Like for example in Cebu City so seldom to find someone who is using the tirador, sundang and gapasan or Indian pana but if you go to any part of the provinces Northern and Southern Province of Cebu the said weapon still exists.

3. Have any weapons disappeared from modern FMA?

5. What kinds of wood or rattan do you use? I am using both magkuno and rattan tumalin and palasan

6. What weapons do you teach? Which is taught first? I am teaching the following weapons: * Eskrima weapons * olisi kutsilyo * military combat knife fighting * saguidas pocket stick * sarong We teach based on the interest of the students. All they need to do is to find which of the lessons they want to learn. 7. What are the differences between the weapons? All weapons has its own beauty and its own effectiveness when used in actual combat, but for the benefits of having an idea about the differences.... it is safe to say that there are weapons where you can carry it with you anywhere you go while other weapons are not safe to bring it with you.

As far as I know in the Modern FMA 8. What is better vs multiple opponents 1. Historically what weapons were out of so many weapons mentioned and so on?

Honestly, in my over 30 years of experience in FMA Cebuano martial culture I don't remember anything about fighting against multiple attackers using those different type of weapons. I don't want to make people believe that those weapons are very effective against multiple attackers where in fact I never tried using it in reality. I just want to be honest about this question but if time comes that I don't have other choice but to choose which one is the best I would prepare to use olisi kutsilyo.

9. You use different kinds of wood for your weapons? How do they differ?

has spent most of his life enamored with the martial arts of Asia and Asian cultures in general. These led him to move to South Korea 20 years ago where he continued to study, research, and write about the various disciplines that shaped his life. In addition to teaching martial arts in Korea, USA, Malaysia and Denmark he has written over 800 articles in over 20 magazines. He named the synthesis of his pilgrimage Kisa-Do Muye (the Knights Way Martial Arts). Larke can be found on Facebook or by e-mail at kisadomuye@gmail.com.

It only differs only the quality and weight. Like for an example the magkuno wood is very heavy, very strong and obviously expensive.

10. Now that COVID is slowly going away, how can people train with yourself? How can they get certified? I really like this question. We have offered different approach when it comes into teaching though I love to teach via virtual training but actual training in person is always the best. There are lots of foreign Eskrima enthusiasts abroad who really wants to learn and the best thing to do of course to come over to Philippines. However, vice versa they can invite me to go to their respective places instead of coming over to Cebu Philippines. In order to get certified they need to stay with me for at least 15 days to undergo an intensive training. It is a 100% money back guarantee if after that period they have learned nothing. Any inquiries about GM Dacayana’s system or armaments can be directed to the author. Senior Master Guy Edward Larke

MARTIAL ARTS and ME (p. 9) Professor Carlos Damasco

Today I am going to write a different note. It will be from the instructors and teachers who have accompanied me over time and who have taught me things about the martial arts that I have practiced and still practice and they bring me good things for me. I always rescue the best things. In reality it is the man and his circumstances.We all have lights and shadows as human beings that we are. I have already said in previous notes that back in early 1973 I started with Karate Goju Ryu, Japanese style of the cat Gogen Yamaguchi.My first instructor was Mr. Ricardo Sosa Ferreira, now deceased. We were

practicing with him for a year and for reasons that are irrelevant, but rather we are going to give the explanation, he went to Brazil to perfect himself a little more with his teacher and he himself told him that he was going to settle in Mexico, something that It was very difficult at that time to go to see him frequently. He invited him to get involved with the Kyokushinkaikan style, a style that has its principles in Goju Ryu.There he was introduced. He was tested and etc, etc, other times, other things and he was recognized for the first dan that he was, the one he had. He came here to Montevideo, he explained the whole situation to us. The students accepted, we really liked the style. A much stronger style. It is more or less known what Kyokushinkaikan is. With him I have learned many things, very important things, I had a great admiration for him. When I was very young, we changed that style, we gave a lot of things. I was one of the first graduates, that is, with the blue or light blue belt, which is the first degree after the white that Kyokushin has to. I was a Goju Ryu green bar belt and

spent years with Ricardo Sosa. He had the opportunity to go to Japan more than once, he practiced with Master Masutatsu Oyama, with great masters such as Seiji Isobe, who is still alive in São Paulo, and great masters, some who have disappeared, others who are out there, such as Master Shigeru Oyama, who later created his Oyama style in the United States. I have seen him here, bringing Japanese, filling the Peñarol Palace, being the line judge of that participation that was made, of having taken advantage of many things, I am even saying that Mr. Sosa was a witness at my wedding, I will tell you a question Barbara. Coming to the media at that time to the press. Something very important. A standout in martial arts. With his lights, with his shadows. Years later, unfortunately, he lost the representation of Kyokushinkaikan due to things that were not very clear, but in these cases it is always about money, money, the famous money. He continued to teach, but at a much lower level, he lost that popularity that he had. Many of his students (I had already stopped practicing at that

time) who had been my classmates were dividing groups territorially and belonging to the same association, later there were already divisions, how are they now and how is it happening in the pyramidal styles that when the creator of the style dies is divided into several issues. I say I continued to maintain that affection for Ricardo Sosa beyond things, because I say, I am talking about the man, the instructor, the one he taught me and what I feel. Years later I was able to have contact with him, he lived in Spain and he passed away a few years ago, but I have great memories of him. There are people who remember him, he was an innovator. There is a before and after in Uruguayan Karate with Ricardo Sosa. Well, after that, I always played a lot of soccer, I had a big fracture of the tibia and fibula, I was away from many things. A few years I was in a cast for almost seven months with a permanent limp. For almost a year I recovered and started doing things again. I had gained weight, a series of things and near my house I saw that there was a place that taught Taekwondo and I went there without much effort, simply to practice. I was in my early twenties, but I started with that story and I met Professor Andrés Ríos, who was second dan of the WTF, as it was called at that time today WT, representing the Uruguayan Taekwondo Federation, directed by the Technical Director at that time Byung Sup Lee sublime introducer of Taekwondo here in Uruguay. And that is to make a special chapter, but he was the one who introduced Taekwondo, which was not really the word taekwondo what he did. He actually comes from Moo Duk Kwan's Tang Soo Do. Then there is a story that I do not want to tell, that the Koreans who lived in the countries, all switched to taekwondo and what they basically did was use the forms, the poomsaes, as they say in WT. I was a student of his for a few years, I graduated with

Master Lee, that is, we are going to say collaterally, I was a little student of Master Lee and I met many people. I met Professor Rubén González, and I have a separate chapter for him, also the one commonly known as Petaca, which is Leonardo Priore, Daniel Sena, Milton Garrido, Álvaro Rodríguez and a few more that I have left along the way, a few black belts that I frequented when I went to give exams at Master Lee's, back on May 25 and Colón, at the Academy that still exists today and is run by one of his sons.The story is that I practiced with Maestro Rivas reaching the Red Point Blue belt graduation and there was a political problem here, like all things that happen, money, politics, politics, money and there were some expulsions from the Federation of many teachers , among them Andres Rivas. I continued for a while, they went to the International, that is, to the ITF. Kwang Duk Chung came here, changed a series of things, from degrees, etc., a country was changed by degrees in short, that's where things are going. I was there for a while, I did not like certain performances on personal issues and I relate to Rubén González, who was not in the Uruguayan Federation but followed the WT style. He depended on Argentina, on the Chung Do Kwan

Association of Master (today Grand Master) Oscar Tajes. I linked up with him at the Belvedere Bocce Club, there by Carlos María Ramírez almost Agraciada in front of the police station that is there. I already knew him, but I didn't trust him, finally I started doing various things, practicing and learning a lot about the sporting style. Rubén González is someone very special in the sense that he was a brilliant competitor, he was the South American champion in the category beating the best Argentine competitor of the time, Juan Carlos Mangoni and that can be corroborated there, if I am not mistaken, around the year 1985 in the 58 to 64 kg category in a brilliant fight. They had a great technical advance of themselves with respect to the competition. I graduated with him as a red belt. At the time I traveled with him to Argentina. I had the chance to teach somewhere. I linked up with Master Oscar Tajes and was authorized to give classes as a black belt, like Dan Bo, which they called him there at the time and later to take the exam for first dan. That was at the end of 1986. I ended up taking the exam for First Dan in 1987. I got to know Master Tajes a lot with great didactics, a very technical man who had already traveled to Korea several times at that time and then continued

to travel many more times. . Even today he travels, he is 9th Dan and the Master of knowledge gives us a great imprint, he is Advisor for South America, also with his lights and shadows. A man who is very distant from people, he is a man who does not take first-class terms, he has an old Korean style, let's say and a more martial man. At the time of his change, that is, I still have contact with Master Oscar Tajes, for the Seng Do association, which was the largest in Argentina until recently under Master Carlos Filipa. I follow Rubén González, we changed, I wasn't convinced about the subject, but well, following my teacher. Also the lights and shadows of Rubén González, who soon stopped teaching and left me with the legacy of Seng Do, but I was left alone there. His students scattered, he devoted himself to work. He didn't want to know anything else. Also issues, in this case of money. A chosen one. I always say with all due respect that I have a great friendship with Rubén Gonzalez "Rubén, what is left over from your feet has sometimes been a little lacking in your head" and with all due respect because in Argentina he would have been a always big. And I told him to take a little root there, but he never did those things. That is why I say the man and his circumstances. The man with

his lights and his shadows. I continued with Master Filipa and learned many things. He was coach of the Argentine National Team in the sports part. A lot of things. Unfortunately, the teacher Carlos Filipa, who came here to Uruguay, brought him a lot of very interesting things, but unfortunately he has had a legal problem that I know little about. He has been accused of child abuse on trips he was on and well, and I leave it out there because I don't have a notice and I'm not a lawyer to mess around with those things. But that happened, sadly. I have been separated from the teacher for years. I have continued with my stories, at the time, stopping giving taekwondo, never practicing it, giving taekwondo classes, but always practicing, always firm. I dabbled a lot in boxing, nine years of boxing. I went to learn as just another practitioner, because honestly, for better or worse, I didn't want to be in the Uruguayan Taekwondo Federation here. I disagree with a lot of things and they are personal, I tell them as they happen, I think that in the end it does not bring anything better to anyone. I met wonderful people in Boxing. A great coach that I had, just without knowing, lives very close to my house, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, known as El Cabeza. A great trainer. I learned a lot with him. I was with him for years and after he retired from teaching I was at the "Seconds Out" academy for a case exceptional, the owner, Chiquito Pereira, who was a professional boxer, today very old, over 80 years old, his son William Pereyra is with his wife Mayra Moneo, a boxing great today, he has two titles, he has recently fought again and won in Argentina. A Rosseau and Governor Viana are there. A special chapter for them, for the little one, for the great admiration. They have behaved very well with me. I was able to take the boxing coach course led by them. A course that a Cuban came here, the methodologist

Michel Álvarez, a great who gave an exceptional course endorsed by "Knockout Drugs" the Ministry of Sports and the Uruguayan Boxing Federation. I had the opportunity to do two courses and I ended up doing the advanced course, which has also given me a lot, because I consider boxing to be a martial art or I consider it to be similar to that. It is from the line of that story, because I really say that boxing has sometimes been despised, you have to practice it and you have to do the training that is great and very sacrificial, because boxing can be fought or it can be done recreationally. This is also like martial arts, one does not need to compete, I say, that goes according to the taste of each one, but it can be practiced very well and it is a great sport, trainer of many things. So good, I remember these very important people. A few years ago, now going on six, I did Hapkido, a Korean martial art, basically self-defense with the 4th Dan master, Mario Da Silva, a great teacher, a great friend. And we are also going to say a little in the autumn of my life facing this story that I like very much. Those circular self-defense movements that Hapkido has with a certain similarity, although they are shorter movements to Aikido, all in the Korean style, big kicks. Something

that really costs so much. And it costs me a bit being a little older in this story. And a few years ago I returned at the insistence of Master Mario da Silva to teach Taekwondo and I returned to that story. I already knew the teacher Alexandre Gomes from Porto Alegre, who is 8th dan of WT taekwondo and at the same time is a hapkido teacher also 8th dan and he gave me the representation of the Chang Moo Kwan school, which is one of the original Kwans of Korea, Despite the fact that today there are kwans, let's say, as if they were clubs or private entities, everything is governed by the Kukkiwon, but each one has their pride in belonging to a Kwan. In this case I belonged to a Chung Do Kwan, which was the first school, the first Kwan that taught something similar to taekwondo without the name of taekwondo, which was actually Shotokan Karate, because that is also nice to talk about. Taekwondo arises from the majority of Shotokan Karate practitioners during the Japanese occupation, that many people studied in Japan, children of Koreans and, well, they learned there. So a great value for Master Alexandre Gomes, who is a great master this year, will surely be here in Uruguay. I will soon travel to Porto Alegre to take classes with him. He has already been here in Uruguay and I have met him on trips to Argentina, a great person and a great teacher. More or less I have made a course of people, things, lights and shadows. As I have my lights and my shadows and one gives the best, but often makes mistakes. So I think this was a note to feel human, to know that teachers are human beings, with that history, with that imprint, the good and the bad. We are not all gold coins so that everyone loves us, but many endure in memory. Andrés Rivas too, which I didn't want to say, he has already physically disappeared, he also contributed his things to me, I already

said sometimes you agree with something, at other times you don't agree, but basically something is always left, the good is left and the bad and always from that you really learn. Last case, I am graduated by the master of 4th dan, that's why I still want to go with him to develop and perfect some technique and for him to see me at this moment live and direct, because we have seen each other through Zoom cameras, which it's not the same, so okay, this is a different note. I wanted, I was inspired to do this, I hope you like it and that it is enjoyable. In all measure. Until next time.

Martial Arts FILM

ENTER THE DRAGON The martial arts genre, kung fu cinema, as it was exploited in Hong Kong and China for many years (mainly in the 60s and 70s) achieved an unusual success that did not go unnoticed by the Hollywood machinery. A budding star like Bruce Lee was the ideal target to embody the martial artist hero capable of surprising the oriental audience to transfer that astonishment to the North American and international public. Warner Bros. took the risk to test how such a simple but effective cinema could work. Using the Hong Kong formula but applying the ingredients of made in Hollywood cinema, Warner signed Bruce Lee to star in a film that would meet those canons. It was risky, but the charisma and the proper application of the pieces at stake gave rise to a film of enormous popularity, and became the springboard for the genre. Amen, to turn Bruce Lee into a world-renowned icon. Although unfortunately, he passed away (as we all know in strange circumstances) and did not get to see the premiere of the surprising, effective and at

times sublime 'Enter the Dragon' ('Enter the Dragon', 1973). An impossible cocktail with an incomparable flavor 'Enter the Dragon' successfully combines ingredients in the purest style of agent 007 (especially a plot that could have been carried out perfectly by Bond, as well as a villain worthy of the Ian Fleming saga), mixed with action cinema, arts martial, without giving up the exoticism provided by a touch of pulp, flashes of blaxploitation and with kitch elements that are as screeching as they are fascinating and iconic. Screenwriter Michael Allin brings a story that is as simple as it is predictable. The director, Robert Clouse, offers a production without brilliance, but without setbacks. The Americans (John Saxon and Jim Kelly) provide the connection, the necessary link to be able to export the product (although in the end they are almost expendable). Lalo Schifrin an outstanding soundtrack that knows how to merge both worlds with the setting, the plot and the martial violence. And Bruce Lee gives us a charismatic protagonist, cocky to say the least, fast like no one seen before and accompanied by a not inconsiderable philosophy.

All this gave rise to one of the cult films of the genre, a milestone at the time and that, despite its defects (a common note in this type of cinema, but which is assumed by the amateur viewer in pursuit of the show), get a movie full of brilliant dialogues, with amazing choreography (for the time) and some memorable scenes that achieve a result of absolute entertainment. Excitement from the first shot (the Shaolin temple) to the last (that hairy claw is pure fetish). Zero in argument, ten in charisma ‘Operation Dragon’ presents us with a well-woven, simple, effective, to the point plot but above all designed so that its leading star shines. And as every film of this type boasts, we have a tall villain. Han is a ruthless character, fascinating, very Jamesbondish (excuse me for the word, but I think it defines him exactly) and, above all, a much-needed charisma. Which is a complete success. Especially since the good guy on duty (although he contains as much anger, thirst for revenge and contained violence as his opponent, yes, well channeled and spiritualized) offers an overdose of charisma in each shot. But also of the traits that would make Lee famous: his impenetrable gaze, his amazing agility, his unforgettable screams and a cocky attitude (that even a fierce Cobra has to suffer) is a trademark of the house. Many filmmakers, producers, screenwriters and actors have made an effort in their careers to achieve what Lee displays in such a short time: an unmatched charisma. It was no coincidence that he succeeded in the cinema, beyond becoming a myth due to his unexpected and sudden death. Lee helped choreograph all the fight scenes, brought his extraordinary vision of the martial arts spectacle, although perhaps fortunately (according to the result) he did not

anecdotal, although it would deserve an analysis and its subsequent influence, we cannot forget the brightest moments. Especially that famous and well-known tremendous scene, the final duel face to face, in a room full of mirrors and Bruce Lee extracting within himself the most lethal, deadly and vengeful side of him. Nothing tremendously original, like the rest of the film, but with an amazing result full of emotion. That game of mirrors offers an outstanding show and is

the very essence of the entire film. To deny martial arts cinema and this unforgettable 'Enter the Dragon' by considering it a subgenre or a lowclass cinema is to miss out on the show offered by a Bruce Lee who managed to embroider a role that captures a good part of his own personality, and that, not without reason, manage to project internationally and turn it into an icon of cinema. And it is that ‘Enter Dragon’ is a classic that exceeds its genre.

display more influence and was able to focus on endowing his character with his aforementioned qualities and that They are perfectly drawn. The director and the screenwriter already took care of the rest. Like the secondary ones, true puppets to cover the moments in which Lee disappears from the screen. 'Enter the Dragon': pulp, martial arts, blaxploitation, spies in a kitch package One of the most striking aspects of Enter the Dragon is its condition as a fusion film. Impossible mix of elements that, despite the fact that they could distort and produce a shocking and even repulsive effect, achieve the opposite: they endow the film with fascinating icons. From the showcases with the hands (weapons) of Han, opium laboratories, human guinea pigs, not to forget the underground where the true machinery of the villain is hidden and his its darkest side: half-zombie women, terrified prisoners, poorly qualified subjects and a female personal guard whose intentions are barely outlined (intentions are not important here, nor are the consequences, just suggesting and well it succeeds). Beyond this, which remains