Hello,
I live, and run a school in Manchester NH.
Gumagalang
Steve L.
www.Bujinkandojo.net
Hey Anything,
Guro Steve has been fully accredited by me to teach my stuff........so your in good hands if you visit him.
Plus the fact you get the added benefit of learning Sayoc Kali as well.
Raymond
As well as a genuine nice guy, and well worth the trip
Dale
Ray's reason for not releasing any instructional material is valid, in the wrong hands it could be dangerous. Most people I know though including myself don't own any knives or weapons outside of kitchen, dinning equipment and maybe a small key chain attachment of pepper spray, so the knife fighting material for most people would not be very helpful. But it would be great if Ray could release a DVD of defense aginst knife weilding attackers and other common weapon attacks. I guess the Carl Lewis defense is best if you are alone but with family or other people involved it could be difficult. Maybe ray could also release a DVD of his empty hand material that Lemon talked about in the other forums.
Interesting opinions on Ray's releasing videos. Let me weigh in, as an LEO, an instructor of LEOs, and as a student of FFS.
First -It is VERY complacent to assume that criminals will not have the patience, the wherewithal (sp), or the discipline to study MA or purchase instructional videos. In my career I have dealt with several trained martial artists in actual physical confrontations, and know other officers who have done so as well. Just yesterday we were talking about some local gang members in our area, one of whom is a state champion level martial artist.
I know one officer who was beat down by a Golden Gloves boxer and had his gun taken away. Another shot a state champion wrestler wanted on felony charges when the man came at him.
FBI statistics on serial killers may be very misleading: how do we know they even asked if the man had martial arts training? While I routinely ask such questions during investigations of violence, most law enforcement are not martial artists and have little interest in them and do not even "go there" in typical interviews.
And you cannot be certain WHERE someone may have gotten their training: many people spent time in the military and learned combatives, knife techniques, etc. Takes very little to turn even basic knowledge into effective practice when you go around ACTUALLY STABBING people, or as in the case of the interviews with a serial killer in these parts, preferring a rear naked choke as the means of killing his female victims. These guys, in fact, will have developed far more practical knowledge of killing and maiming techniques, and what does and does not work, than nearly 100% of martial artists, even instructors, who have never even killed or maimed one person at close quarters, let alone several.
CONTd
Second - the simple volume of edged weapons which people are carrying around on a regular basis is staggering. And I mean criminals. People carrying regular knives and all manner of hideaway knives, edged tools modified as weapons, and different creations meant to mimic medieval weapons and torture devices. Granted, for some of these people they double as sex toys, but that doesn't preclude them from using them as a weapon on you.
All this being said it sounds like an argument for BOTH sides - but let's take a common sense look at it. The idea that you will using ANY knife on knife stuff in a fight is pretty out there. MAYBE some of the guys in Iraq MIGHT come across a case or two where they would use them - but by and large this is fantasy for civilians and LEOs who are not active criminals expecting to get in prison shank fights.
Now Ray's knife defense stuff, then yeah, I think he would be helping people by releasing a DVD - though Ray would probably tell you to just get Red Zone, because that was what we have been working on and found actually works. Ray, Marc, and I have talked about stuff specifically related to LEO defense that takes the sidearm into account, and Marc is already teaching some of it, but that I would argue should probably remain within a structured class.
Otherwise, these days people get the tape and assume they "have" the stuff - or suddenly discover that their own art "had" it all along. It is a lot less about WHAT he is doing than it is HOW he is doing it, and you are only going to learn the HOW by being in the same room with him, experiencing what he is doing, and listening to him tell you what you are doing.
Most problematic, is the evolutionary cycle of the FFS. While the core principles stay the same, the methods seem to evolve and change constantly.
If Ray were to put a DVD out, in six months or a year what he would be doing would look very different than what was put on the DVD. Anyone purchasing a DVD on the FFS *may* be out of date within six months - and then just wait for the complaints that he "isn't teaching the real stuff" on the DVD. He was - but that would have been the "real stuff" then, not now.
Then again, he could REALLY cash in by releasing a new DVD on every change and nuance of the system, on every change and nuance within every type of weapons method in the system, plus DVD's on empty hand, knife defense etc.
He wouldn't be the first to come up with that idea...
*ouch*
re: the updated tapes - TacticalGrappler has just zinged some folks ;-)
(deservingly, too, IMO)
Now, to follow up on the idea of getting hands-on instruction - by any miracle, is anyone trained in this system located anywhere near the South (e.g., from Texas to Louisiana to Florida)?
It's all JKD. You guys don't need a FFS video. Just get a JKD video on kali because it's all JKD. :)
BTW, anybody interested in FFS in the Pac Northwest can drop me a line at tactical@stick-and-knife.com.
TG,
That was perfect.
To all those interested in learning Ray's stuff I highly recommend TG or Marc Scott.
Jerry
TG,
Completely nailed it with that post.
As for edged weapon defense Jerry's Redzone is the gold standard out there on video now.
Like TG said him and I have worked on edged weapon defense for the LEO, but that will stay in the LEO community and not on video only because it deals specifically with the POV of the cop on the street, and some details would not matter for civilians, nor would I not want to have complete control over who is taking the course or learning from them.
Marc
JKD and conditioning. Don't forget the conditioning.
(Were it not for disease and food-poisoning, you would be invincible!)
TG said it all...........
I believe Jerry is coming out with a Red Zone II DVD........now THAT'S worth getting.....I've already pre-ordered.
R