20 May 2023 Training Journal

Sword Class A small group of us meet early on Saturday, in remembrance of our late teacher, Bancroft, to work on the swordplay he taught us. This week we held a sword class where we covered knife and how it relates to our sword training and blade vs empty hands-training. We wanted to check ifContinue reading “20 May 2023 Training Journal”

6/7 May 2023 Training Journal

Saturday started a little differently as I woke up with a back spasm. Which was probably a result of some grappling. This meant I missed sword sparring. After rehab exercises and some yoga flows, I could train in and teach my class. KORA Class We did a quick ten-minute review of some things James, myContinue reading “6/7 May 2023 Training Journal”

2022 KORA Research Group Review

2022 was supposed to be the year we got out, and about a little more, visiting friends in Ireland, Amsterdam and Spain, but not all our plans came together. Sword I progressed with my Ilustrisimo sword training over the year but still struggled to get it right 100% of the time; I dropped my stickContinue reading “2022 KORA Research Group Review”

9 July 2022 Training Journal

Third group class back after six weeks off due to holidays and research in Spain. Minimal numbers this week as lots of people are either away or dealing with emergencies. Bancroft came early, and we worked about an hour and a half on the Ilustrisimo sword. We got to train outside instead of my garageContinue reading “9 July 2022 Training Journal”

KORA Class Update

I have had many inquiries about training post-pandemic, so I thought it would be easiest to post my current class. I currently teach two separate arts; the first is Sera, a Pukulan Silat system. Our branch comes to us via Earnest (Ventje) De Vries and is currently more of a closed door, friends and familyContinue reading “KORA Class Update”

Solo Training

I have about a week’s worth of enforced solo training ahead of me, which is not really a problem as I have a lot of solo work to draw from. Today’s session was a mixture of Sera jurus, Karbi Krabong modified for my stick fighting and some sword strokes combined with footwork. Yes, before anyoneContinue reading “Solo Training”

Logging Flight Time

Throughout the 1970s, 1980’s and 1990’s I logged every martial arts training opportunity and workout session, tracking the total number of minutes each month. At some point in the early 2000s, I gave up, probably because I was no longer competing. I also lost all my training logs during a house move, which means IContinue reading “Logging Flight Time”

Research Journey

In 1986 I attended a seminar with Guro Dan Inosanto partly because I wanted to meet him again and partly because I was bored with martial arts. My previous experience was mainly around boxing, fencing and Muay Thai with some grappling (Judo/Wresting) and a small amount of what we would call Combatives today. Mainly sportContinue reading “Research Journey”

Sticks – Kombat Instruments Limited

Several people ask me where I get my beautiful sticks, and I thought I would do a quick write-up. When I popped over to the Dog Brother gathering in 1998, I picked up a replacement pair of sticks from Nick Papadakis at Kombat Instruments. I got to use them the next day at some informalContinue reading “Sticks – Kombat Instruments Limited”