>AK)RLD'S LEADING IVIAGAZINE OF SELF DEFENSE! USPS 985 - 820 " B O 47432

UJ

FOR THE MARTIAL ARTIST

AIKIDOS

MODERN ARNIS-SIMPLY EFFECTIVE

71896"47432

BIACK BELT SEPTEMBE= f : - . 19. NO. 9

Michael James, Publisher CIRCULATION Geri Simon, Assistant PubJisher Joan LaMarr

BLACK BELT STAFF CONTRIBUTORS John Hanson, Executive Editor Loren Christensen Albar Genesta, Art Director Gary Goldstein James Nail, Assistant Editor Mark Grabiner Jack Vaughn, Copy Editor Tom Hughes Greg Potenza, Editorial Assistant James Logue Jan Wilhelm, Typography James Lorlega Marcia Mack, Photographer Dave Lowry

Alex Sternberg ADVERTISING Grant Wilson Barbara Lessard

Contents

FEATURES

22 MODERN ARNIS: SIMPLY EFFECTIVE-Widely known as Filipino stick fighting, amis offers a witde range of techniques of particuiar vaiue to persons seeking a quick course in seif-defense.

28 0-SENSEI: AIKIDO'S UYESHIBA—A master of many of oid Japan's martiai traditions, a capabie philosopher and theologian, and founder of aikido.

36 BIOMECHANICS FOR THE MARTIAL ARTIST—Researchers from the University of iiiinois Bio­mechanics Research Laboratory offer the karateka important information on response and reac­tion time.

40 CHOKES AND SLEEPERS—Street techniques that quickiy render an attacker unconscious have become all the more important due to the growing popularity of the body-numbing, strength-en­hancing drug PCP.

48 JUDGING: A PRACTICAL SOLUTION TO AN ON-GOING PROBLEM-A look at the Amateur Athletic Associatioh's solution for producing fair and impartial judging at tournaments.

54 HOW TO ORGANIZE A SELF-DEFENSE COURSE—A common sense approach to physical and psychological conditioning aimed at giving the non-martiai artist a fighting chance in the streets.

58 THE SECRET OF MOMOCHI (Part II)—Rebuffed by Fujibayashi and Momochi, Jintaro Sato ap­proaches Mitsuhide Akechi with a method for "killing two birds with one stone."

62 RYUKYU KEMPO—With roots in Okinawan bushi, ryukyu kempo features a unique biend of empty-hand and weapons techniques particuiariy weii-suited for fuii-contact sparring.

68 KING OF THE HILL: A STUDY IN ORGANIZED BRAWLING-Aithough the results are far from conclusive, the current rash of "cross discipline" fighting events poses an interesting format for the controversy over what tighting style is best.

DEPARTMENTS

ABOUT THE COVER: Remy Presas defends nimself m n-.ock battle against assistants Bruce Juc^" iCk ifo'eground) and Michael Replogle ibacKg'oundi, See page 22. Photo by Marcia MacK.

6 EDITORIAL 9 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

10 INSTRUCTORS' FORUM 12 BLACK BELT TIMES 46 READERS' SURVEY 90 LIBRARY OF BACK ISSUES 92 Kl CALENDAR OF RATED EVENTS 97 DOJO DIRECTORY

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And All You Have To Do Is . . . Act Naturally

by John Hanson

robably the most universal truth in the martial arts is that no one can agree on anything.

If there is an exception to this iron-clad credo—a concept on which most everyone could safely stamp their embossed seal of ap­proval—It would be that the primary goal of any self-defense training is the ability to react without thinking 22

in a life-threatening situation. Although each art has its own stylized blueprint for achieving this goal, the basic idea is to somehow convince the student that he really can defend himself.

For the most part, this is ac­complished through the theory that the student must first master the basics and become natural with the often unnatural movements of a

particular style. Through endless repetitions and hours of practice, the student will —somewhere down the line—become comfortable with his new-found self-defense system.

This traditional "building block" concept of instruction has indeed proven successful with students who are totally willing to invest the required time, interest and gut com­mitment to their art.

"The problem," according to modern amis founder Remy Presas, "is that many students are not ready to commit themselves so thoroughly to a self-defense pro­gram. Many people need quick results, or at least a reasonable system of rewards where they can actually see the results of their labor. This is where amis training differs ffom most traditional con­

cepts of instruction. Basically, amis deals with the simplicity of a per­son's natural movement. Instead of reprograming a person's natural movement to fit the art, amis is adapted to fit the student's natural movement. The idea here is to give the student an immediate sense of accomplishment—to give him something useful that he feels con­fident with. If the movement is not"

natural, a person will have to stop and think, 'Alright, if he grabs me here I do this, but if he punches me there I do that.' With amis, the goal is to develop an individualized sys­tem of self-defense based on a per­son's inherent physical character­istics."

If amis is so personalized, so easily adaptable and subject to in­dividual modification, is there such

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a th ing as true amis? Is there a classic or pure form of the art? The answer, according to Presas, is that there is an essence of amis , a com­mon denominator of combat prin­ciples that weaves Its way through the more than 100 different styles of Fi l ip ino mart ial arts. These prin­ciples are based on a pattern of at­tack angles common to all f ight ing, regardless of style. A l though amis is probably best known for its use of rat tan st icks and native broad­swords, it is actual ly a complete mart ial art system which features both weapons and empty-hand com­bat. Thus, a biock/parry/throw/jab technique wi l l uti l ize the same basic angles whether the defender is armed or unarmed.

"The key to any f ight ing is in learning how to defend against speci f ic angles of at tack," says Presas. "Unl ike most other martial arts, amis does not so much con­cern itself wi th learning speci f ic defensive moves, as it does wi th developing an internal sense for what your opponent is about to do. Al though th is flow is akin to the concept of ki or ch i , it really is nothing myst ica l . The pract ical ap­pl icat ion is to understand the angles of at tack and avoid them by using your own natural movement and rhythm. As wi th anyth ing physical , once a student pract ices long enough, he begins to tran­scend the obvious mechanical char­acter ist ics of react ion. He is sud­denly able to feel what his oppo­nent is about to do and he can an­t ic ipate, react and counterat tack in a single mot ion.

"But what 's nice about amis is how quickly most students are able to pick it up," Presas cont inued. "Over the last few years I've been concentrat ing primari ly on seminars at universit ies and studios all over the United States. Usually I'll run a two-day, eight-hour-a-day program of concentrated inst ruct ion. The idea is to get the students im­mediately involved in the 12 basic angles of block and slash tech­niques. After one session the stu­dent wi l l have learned the basics In single st ick and double-st ick pat­terns, as well as a few disarming techniques. Best of ai l , he wi l l walk out w i th a tangib le piece of self-defense—someth ing that he can take home and pract ice on his own and even teach his fami ly and fr iends, i encourage people to take

24

ARMED DEFENSE against an armed attacker begins with a parry-like block on

the Incoming, overhead attack. Presas then slides through the block, catching

the attacker's forearm with a down-around-and-upward circular motion.

Catching the attacker at the base of the neck, Presas has his opponent twisted,

off-balance and on the mat In one smooth motion.

EMPTY-HAND technique against an Incoming punch Incorporates the same

motion as Is used with a weapon. A forearm block catches the attacker's

punch. With an Inside/out circular motion, Presas swings the outstretched

arm down, around and upward, sliding through to grab and twist the attacker's

head for the takedown throw.

the seminar and then just pract ice on their own with various partners. It's really amazing how adept a f i rst-t ime student can become if he (pardon the pun) st icks wi th i t ."

Presas insists that because amis is so s imple to learn and requires no special physical condi t ioning or raw physical strength, it is par-t iculary well-suited for senior cit izens or persons who are only in­terested in self-defense. Through federal CETA and state grants, Presas has conducted seminars for seniors a imed at discouraging mug­gers.

He points out that a l though con­ventional karate training is great, it could do elderly persons more harm than good, since their bones tend to be bri t t le and their reflexes con­siderably slower than a younger at­tacker.

" A m i s is smoother and less rigid than karate and it is therefore less of a strain on an older body," ex­plained Presas. "Plus, amis teaches you that anything can be a weapon. An umbrel la, a cane, a purse or a pen can give you the added advan­tage of extension—an extra reach and degree of leverage that could be the dif ference between life and death. "

Presas has been a student of Fi l ipino mart ial arts for 20 years. He holds a bachelor 's degree f rom Mani la 's National College of Physical Education where amis has been offered as a major course since 1969.

According to Fi l ipino history, ar-nis (also known as kali or escrima) dates back to the seventh century. In 1521, the Islands were invaded by Spanish forces led by Magel lan. On the smal l is land of Mactan in what is now the province of Gebu, Magel lan was slain by the chief tan Lapu Lapu, thus marking the Philip-pine's f irst successful s tand against a foreign invader.

The Fi l ip inos were impressed wi th the Spanish sword-and-dagger style of f ight ing and modif ied it to employ a long and a short st ick. The system, known as espada y daga (meaning sword and dagger in Spanish) became one of three classic forms of amis f ight ing, which include solo baston (single stick) and sinawall (two st icks).

When the Spanish returned and f inal ly conquered the Phil ippines, they out lawed st ick f ight ing alto­gether, forcing pract i t ioners to

25

why it is starting to gain in popularity is because it can be readily adapted as a training sup­plement by most other styles without contradicting what a stu­dent has already learned.

"I'm not trying to change the way people think or the way they train," concluded Presas, "and I'm not concerned about turning out a lot of clones who do everything ex­actly the way that I do. What I teach is that the foundation of the art is in the individual, and through amis, anyone can reach their own potential as a martial artist, simply and effectively."

study their art "underground," much in the same manner that the Okina-wans carried on their art during Japanese insurgence.

"Today, close to half-a-milllon Filipinos are actively involved in ar-nis as sport, and it is required study in all public schools In the Philip­pines," says Presas.

"The amis you see today has evolved from centuries of outside influence. On close examination you can see elements of tai chi, wing Chun, aikido, judo, jujitsu, karate and kendo. Like kempo, it in­corporates techniques from many arts. I think that part of the reason