I know for some people the DB's gathering are a source of controversy as to whether they mimic reality(I don't really think so myself). None the less I will be fighting on the 23rd, hopefully a couple people will want to step up and do some knife sparring, I'll also try empty handed against blade, should be a laugh!
And of course we are expecting a blow by blow commentary............with pictures of blood and gore posted, and the traditional photo with the thumbs up!!!
"I know for some people the DB's gathering are a source of controversy as to whether they mimic reality(I don't really think so myself)."
Well, the only way to find out would be to have two guys fight it out using ironwood sticks with no protective gear.
I think the reality of weapons is that it usually occurs when one person has a weapon and the other person does not. I have never heard of or seen video footage of a streetfight with 2 guys facing off with sticks or knives. That may have happened in the "old days" when people had duels to settle their differences, but that's not now streetfights happen these days as far as I know.
Witnessed Coke bottle vs. windsheild scrapper down at Washington park as a kid. Coke bottle won.
Windsheild scrapper jumped in car, drove away fast.
Coke bottle chases. Coke bottles buddy,(mister smart) throws his Coke bottle at fleeing car, hits Mr. Coke bottle in the back of the head.
Mr. Coke bottle takes a knee, stands up, shakes it off, and introduces buddy to Coke bottle fu for about 30 seconds.
Honest truth, funny shit!!!
That Mr Coke Bottle wouldn't happen to have been you Absolute Jiu Jitsu..............has all the makings of your M.O ............LOL!!!!!
No, I was in the tennis court, throwing rocks at my brother.
What was stupid was Mr. windsheild scrapper was running at Mr.Coke bottle full out and then stopped right before he hit him and just stood there. Mr. Coke bottle cocked his head and then commenced to whoop that ass.
I couldn't stop laughing. I was about 10, they were probably 17-18 years old.
Marc,
Are you going to do the stick fights or just the knife fights?
I'd like to do both.
I saw a golf club vs. golf clup fight at a party in high school.
Marc, do the dog brothers have a 9-Iron division? :)
Good luck. Let me know how it goes.
-Jeff
I tend to think of the gathering as a ritual combat where one is testing one's skill and courage against another. It also provides a forum where one can test their techniques. Also, it's a laboratory, not a street fight. I want to experience a highly adrenalized state, and learn from it, not kill somebody. All in all I've learned alot from fighting at the gatherings and have made several good friends along the way, and if some people wish to criticize, c'est la vie. It's not a streetfight, but niether is cagefighting. Having a place where we can head-butt, whack each other as hard as we can, etc., and learn something about oneself and one's art, and still be friends at the end of the day is a good thing in this day and age. I for one have never understood the controvesy (it isn't real enough) that could be applied to any combat sports.
"Marc, do the dog brothers have a 9-Iron division?"
I know it's a joke, but if you can find a person to fight you, you can bring any weapon you want.
"ironwood sticks with no protective gear."
I can hurt people with rattan, and the protective gear is a good thing. It's not a deathmatch. The headgear allows one to develop good defensive skills without one having to worry about their brains being dashed onto the floor. That being said the headgear can't stop a blow, and there have been plenty of knockouts at the gathering.
Anyways, I've trained under Marc on two occassions and look forward to doing so again in the future. I really like the bladed material he has shared and the brief glimpse at a stick fighting structure he showed. I really look forward to seeing him fight this sunday.
Best of luck!
Brian Jung
Brian has struck the correctness up side the head with a horizontal backhand!
Respect and best of luck to those participating this weekend.
-Kev
ttt for Marc... I want stories. :)
ttt for the stories.
Unfortunately, Marc can't share his stories because some people take offense to hearing ilustrisimo success stories and can always find some way to downplay it.
Well as far as my experiences went they were really positive. It was nice to fight against someone who had no emotional investment in seeing *my* techniques work.
As for details basically the whole idea is that the gathering is a constructive training environment, and there are no winners or losers. All in all it was a very positive experience, I saw some great fighters as well in the end left very happy with the results of my Ilustrisimo training.
"Unfortunately, Marc can't share his stories because some people take offense to hearing ilustrisimo success stories and can always find some way to downplay it."No problem. ;)Just don't bring system/style/lineage into the discussion. I'd rather discuss what worked or didn't work, and what training methods are the most productive.Thanks.
-Kev
These discussions inevitably leads to questions in regards to the things you mentioned. It is simply unavoidable.
The more we try to promote this art, the more I don't want to do so. Before, I was very eager to make a website for the art and help Raymond make instructional videos. Now I have very little interest in doing so. I now see why the ilustrisimo masters are very skeptical of foreigners and wanted to keep this art for themselves.
Kevin,
I did three matches, one 2-on-2, one 3-on-1, and one empty hand vs. Knife.
I'll not bother with discussing the 3-on-1 match as it was little more than target practise for the three of us against the other opponent.
The 2-on-2 was interesting for a few reason, it was iluminating to see how you move when you have another fighter to concern yourself with.
I think I am very concious of the head shot,once I got the first solid head shot in I ended up in a clinch, I threw the guy with osoto-gari, I think this worked really well as was, but I decided to also work a submission, on the ground I took my opponents back, this lead to a weird situation where to apply the technique properly I would have had to loose control of his knife. In the end I went for thew choke, which opened me up to numerous leg cuts. We scrambled and in the end both lost our knifes and switched blades.
The second match was empty-hand angainst knife.
That went really quick. I shot for his knife bearing hand, tied him up threw him, from the ground I took his knife and stabbed him in the face, a pretty nice match which I came out of untouched.
Thanks...The empty hand vs the knife sparring particularly piqued my curiosity... I haven't really heard of this before at a gathering (although I am admittedly out of the loop). Were there other similar matches? Have there been others in previous gatherings?"I shot for his knife bearing hand, tied him..."Curious... did you control his weapon-bearing hand with both hands(or just one) before the osoto-gari? If so, was it two hands grabbing the wrist, or like a wrestling two on one? Did you have any major revelations?
Things you would do differently?
A different approach to training?Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks!
-Kev