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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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 Posted: Tue 09 May, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject: I'm Going to Disneyworld (First Week of July) |
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If you have any money or time left after the Atlanta Blade Show in June, consider Disneyworld in the first week of July.
They are holding the WEKAF (World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation) Stickfighting World Championship Tournament at the Disneyworld Swan and Dolphin Resort (7/3/06 to 7/6/06) followed by World Invitational Stickfighting Tournament. Go to www.wekafusa.com for more details. They will have competition in both forms and fighting divisions.
I'll be there. I have the honor to represent the USA in Senior Men's (over 40) Middleweight Division in the fighting portion of the competition. The women, juniors and the seniors are scheduled to fight on July 4.
Whether you're there in body, or just in spirit, it would be great if you can root on the Team USA.
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Thomas McDonald
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Tue 09 May, 2006 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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Best of luck, Stephen .... I will be rooting for ya, and Team USA !!
Slàinte, Mac
'Gott Bewahr Die Oprechte Schotten'
XX ANDRIA XX FARARA XX
Mac's PictureTrail
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Ruel A. Macaraeg
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| Posted: Tue 09 May, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Senior Men's (over 40) |
"Senior" is over 40, now? Thank God. I thought I already got there at 30... 
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Steve Grisetti
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| Posted: Tue 09 May, 2006 5:52 pm Post subject: Re: I'm Going to Disneyworld (First Week of July) |
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| Stephen S. Han wrote: | | If you have any money or time left after the Atlanta Blade Show in June, consider Disneyworld in the first week of July.... |
Cool. For once, an event within reasonable driving distance!! Disneyworld is only about 45 miles from my house. I will try to be there to root you on.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Chuck Russell
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| Posted: Tue 09 May, 2006 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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40, yur soooooo old! hehe this coming from a guy that turned 30 in march 
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Carl Goff
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| Posted: Wed 10 May, 2006 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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Can't make it myself despite being in the proper state (no car), but here's hoping for good luck to augment your skill!
Oh, East of sands and sunlit gulf, your blood is thin, your gods are few;
You could not break the Northern wolf and now the wolf has turned on you.
The fires that light the coasts of Spain fling shadows on the Eastern strand.
Master, your slave has come again with torch and axe in his right hand!
-Robert E. Howard
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Thu 11 May, 2006 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks guys. I kinda felt strange being absent all these months and then post a rather self-aggrandizing topic upon my return. Hope you'll forgive the self-indulgence.
I've been lurking mostly lately. For one thing I've been in serious training for the last several months, so that took up a quite a bit of my free time.
This was actually unexpected, since I only won the Bronze at the Western Regionals in November. Only the gold and silver medalists qualify for the Nationals. At my Matatudlo's urging I entered Los Angeles Open Stickfighting Tournament in December and did very well there. So I said, "what the $%#$" and entered the Nationals as a wildcard along with my buddy Nick.
Beat my first round opponent, an instructor out of Colorado and a silver medalist from Rocky Mountain Region. And in the semis I got paired up with my buddy Nick, who beat the number 1 seed, a gold medalist from the Mid-west Region and an instructor for Four Winds Martial Arts, the hosting school for the Nationals in Milwaukee. Evidently, Nick beat this gentleman so badly that not even hometown judging could screw him.
We hated the pairing, but what can you do. We each did our best and I closely eked out a win, just like I did at the Regionals (yes, beat Nick for the Bronze then, the poor bastard).
Championship match was between me and the gold medalist out of the Western Region. Narrowly beat him in a split decision, and next thing you know, I'm referred to as the National Champion (geezer, runt division).
It's been a wild ride, and am happy to take my turn in it.
Thank you all for the good wishes, and I'll see some of you in July.
Go Team USA.
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J. Bedell
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| Posted: Fri 12 May, 2006 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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good luck and keep up the good work
GO TEAM USA
-james
The pen may be mighter, but the sword is much more fun.
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Steve Grisetti
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| Posted: Sat 13 May, 2006 7:22 am Post subject: |
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| Stephen S. Han wrote: | | ...and next thing you know, I'm referred to as the National Champion (geezer, runt division).... |
Geezer and runt, perhaps, but a DANGEROUS geezer and runt!
| Quote: | ...It's been a wild ride, and am happy to take my turn in it.
Thank you all for the good wishes, and I'll see some of you in July.
Go Team USA. |
GOOD LUCK TO YOU! I hope to make it there.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Tue 11 Jul, 2006 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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Got back from WEKAF World Championship. The nations turnout was disappointing, only 7 countries (US, Philippeans, Canada, Germany, Italy, UK, and Australia). The expense of the event, and the venue was blamed for some countries not even fielding a team this year. $325 to enter the tournament and $145 per night at the Disneyworld Swan and Dolphin Resort plus airfare and other expenses were just too much for some. Can't say I blame them.
As a result, only 2 showed up for my division. Me and the fella I beat at the nationals by a split decision, Ernie Gonzales. This time, he got me. I dropped my stick in the first round which is 1 point deduction on a 10-point must scoring system. I never could get that point back. In talking to Ernie afterwards, I have to say he earned it. It sounds like he trained much harder for this than I did, and of course he was hungry for revenge. :-) He's a great guy and a gracious winner, so I offered him my heartfelt congratulations. I'll get him next time, though, now that I'm the hungry one. A trifle disappointed in myself, but I'll get over it. Let's face it, there ARE worse things to be than being officially #2 in the world. Just wish there were more competitors to test myself against.
I did have a great time. My first international competition, and met some great people. My favorites were the Aussies. Great down-to-earth people and great partiers. I still cringe at the memory of my hangover. I made sure to get me a Team Aussie shirt in a team shirt swap. Italians were my next favorites (helped by the 2 female fighers who were VERY cute), followed by the PI team (but then again, I knew some of them), then UK team, then the Canadians, then the Germans. All were nice people, but I guess I had to rank them somehow.
I appreciate the support myArmoury members showed me. Thank you very much. I'll keep you guys updated in my tournament fighting career.
Stephen
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Steve Grisetti
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| Posted: Wed 12 Jul, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Stephen S. Han wrote: | | Got back from WEKAF World Championship ... officially #2 in the world.... |
Congratulations!! Just focus on the key points, Stephen. Did you get a trophy to show for it? If so, how about some photos?
I had meant to go down there to watch you, but somehow got the dates messed up. DRAT. And, to think I could have bragged that, "I know a World Silver Medalist" (or something like that).
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Wed 12 Jul, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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Congratulations, and Canadians second to last to the Germans.  Just teasing. 
Any skill crossover from stick fighting to longsword ? How do you think a good stick fighter would perform against a good swordsman if one put a sword in his hand without any sword specific training ? Don't know if this a good or answerable question, just curious ?
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Wed 12 Jul, 2006 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: | Congratulations, and Canadians second to last to the Germans. Just teasing.
Any skill crossover from stick fighting to longsword ? How do you think a good stick fighter would perform against a good swordsman if one put a sword in his hand without any sword specific training ? Don't know if this a good or answerable question, just curious ? |
I didn't get a chance to interact much with the Canadians, as I pretty much hung out with the Aussies and the Italians.
To answer your questions, let me first stress that the WEKAF fighting is a sport. If one exclusively trains for WEKAF type fighting, one will be a poor swordsman, indeed. My Magtutudlo Ramon Rubia always stresses the difference between the sport and the martial art. Let's face it no one should accept getting hit in the head with a stick to deliver a body strike, in real life.
That said, there is a great deal of cross over, if we are talking sword fighting with cut-and-thrust school, say George Silver. The techniques of the old ways started with the sword, Golok, which looks kinda like a machete. In San Miguel Eskrima, we stress the "blade concept" in our striking, with definite thought of striking with an imaginary "edge." Even the name Eskrima comes from the Spanish word for fencing. Indeed, we also train in double stick (analogous to two sword technique) and stick-and-dagger (Espada y dagga).
The idea behind our training is that the hand movement as we drill with sticks, should transfer from stick to sword to dagger to empty hand to whatever improvised weapon one can get a hold of. That is we don't get limited by the stick. We do "Sinawali" drills, which means "weaving." We "weave" our hands in complex movements, to coordinate them, and make sure they don't get in each other's way. With a sword and dagger, or two Japanese Waks, a skilled Eskrimador can really do damage. This actually is the core belief behind most of the schools of Eskrima that I know of be they Doce Pares, Balintawak, Bakbakkan or Lameco, etc., though some schools, admitted limit themselves to single stick.
I have reprints of old Western fencing manuals and the parrying illustrated in them, whether with empty hand or the dagger look remarkably like the "checking" we employ in Eskrima. This actually leads to the age old argument whether Eskrima we know today had been influenced by the Spanish fencing. Say that to some Pinoy and you're get a face full of stick  Not from me, though, it seems reasonable enough. Just how much influence is open to question, however.
We've seen the Eskrima mixed in with the "sword" art in movies. ****Spoiler Alert****
In the movie "Revenge of the Sith" Anakin chops off Count Dooku's hands with a classic Eskrima disarm move.
Hope this answers your questions.
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Wed 12 Jul, 2006 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Steve Grisetti wrote: | | Stephen S. Han wrote: | | Got back from WEKAF World Championship ... officially #2 in the world.... |
Congratulations!! Just focus on the key points, Stephen. Did you get a trophy to show for it? If so, how about some photos?
I had meant to go down there to watch you, but somehow got the dates messed up. DRAT. And, to think I could have bragged that, "I know a World Silver Medalist" (or something like that). |
Thanks, Steve. I did get a medal, a nice one. I'll see if I can work this computer to post them.
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I'm going to Disneyworld
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Going postal (My opponent here is a postal worker from Sacramento)
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I've got you now!
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Why are the guys in my division always so tall?
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From WEKAFUSA Nationals 2/06: Game face on, let's get it on!
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Wed 12 Jul, 2006 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, the pics above were in reverse order of what I wanted, oh well.
The pics from the world championship are below
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Got my gear, and ready to go down to the arena
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One of the world's deadliest stickfigher and HER groupie...I'm serious. She's a 5 time World Champion in forms and sparring.
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At medals podium. Yes, I AM standing up, wiseguy! Ernie's standing on the top step. Granted, he IS taller...mumble grumble
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 13 Jul, 2006 2:46 am Post subject: |
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Thank Stephen and yes it does answer my question. A sports form will make compromises for the sake of safety and have moves that would be suicidal in a real fight but work as a way to score points.
There is somewhat the same relationship between Judo and Jiujitsu ( Spelling ? ) and between Kendo and Kenjutsu I believe ? But only from what I have read and not practised.
Your detailed post was very interesting, thanks. 
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Thu 13 Jul, 2006 10:07 am Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: | Thank Stephen and yes it does answer my question. A sports form will make compromises for the sake of safety and have moves that would be suicidal in a real fight but work as a way to score points.
There is somewhat the same relationship between Judo and Jiujitsu ( Spelling ? ) and between Kendo and Kenjutsu I believe ? But only from what I have read and not practised.
Your detailed post was very interesting, thanks. |
You're quite welcome, Jean.
I forgot to add, that in our school, WEKAF training is a minor part of our curriculum. We spend most of our time drilling, and "control sparring" with no armour and "live" sticks. In that, God help a student who charges in "suicide" style. Ramon would chastise us, saying, "no, no, no! That's sport! You'll get killed on the street if you pull that."
There are other Eskrima competitions where the armoring is not as heavy. For liability reasons, they are not as prevalent. There are tournaments which use the "first cut" scoring system, which would be similar to fencing, but it really hasn't caught on. The spectators love the rapid action of WEKAF type fighting. In the Philippines they have "no armour" type tournaments. Now the hits are supposed to be "controlled" in those tournaments, but the term appears to be a flexible one. I've seen footage of such tournaments where heads got cracked open and blood flowed freely.
This year, WEKAF has tried to bridge the gap by introducing "padded stick" competition. Armors are lighter, and the stick (from a company called Smak-Sticks) have foam around the stick , covered w/ canvas type material. I thought it was a credible first attempt to find a middle ground. My criticism is that there is still too much armor, and still not enough respect for the weapon. The armor worn is hardshell plastic helmet (kinda like hocky helmet) with clear plastic face guard, padded throat guard, lacrosse gloves, and some sort of a soft padded shoulder and chest guard, elbow pad, knee pad, and for the men the "cup." Some competitiors also wore forearm pads. If Ihad my way (and if lawyers didn't exist), I'd do away with the helmet and shoulder/chest guard. I had in mind, eye protection, amateur wrestling head protection, throat guard, elbow and knee pads, and for the men the "cup" and that's it. I'm sure we'll see this version evolve over time.
One thing I did like about the padded stick concept was that they introduced multiple weapons. The padded sticks come in 3 sizes. A standard 28 incher, a long stick (looked to be about 38 inches with two handed handle), and a "dagger." The rules on "stick and dagger" allowed for thrusting, which was solely lacking in prior competitions. I'd like to see new strategy and training revolved around thrusting, and defending against same.
Hey, I wrote another novel! 
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Stephen S. Han
Location: Westminster, CA Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Posts: 211
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| Posted: Thu 13 Jul, 2006 10:18 am Post subject: Traditional Filipino Weapons |
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There is a company that market a "Espada y Dagga" set. Our stick-and-dagger training are designed to use these weapons, but in a slightly safer format. Yeah, you heard me, I said "slightly." You should see the bruises on our bodies, and sometimes our faces where the controlled sparring get a little less controlled.
http://www.traditionalfilipinoweapons.com/fil...y.daga.htm
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company and cannot attest to any quality or lack of same. I linked the site for the purposes of illustration/example.
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 13 Jul, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Stephen S. Han wrote: | | Hey, I wrote another novel! |
But a good one. And useful information.
Oh, looking at some very interesting longsword and other weapons sparring on this site:
http://www.ericwargo.com/sword/
One sees very good and typical training were one engages in an exchange of blows, separate and think for a few seconds about what just happened: Success or failure if it had been a real fight ? And then go on to another and another engagement.
Now, this is training and I think the only way to do it. I just wonder how different the approach would be if each encounter where life and death ! If one should remember every " practice " encountered where things would have ended with one's death or serious injury, I would think a fight in earnest would be very short, very hesitant to commit to an action while at the same time any action would have to be without hesitation once committed. With training this commitment to action is left to the subconscious mind because conscious action is usually TOO slow to decide or choose what to do.
One still has to think and make conscious decisions but I think a trained fighters mind knows how to leave the VETO to act to the wisdom of the body: One may still fail against a superior opponent, but one's odds of winning are better this way.
With pistol shooting the surprise release usually gives better results than trying to FORCE the timing of the shot: I try to just concentrate on the front sight, hold my breath, squeeze slowly and BE surprised by the shot, but not so surprised as to flinch ! A follow through helps even if the bullet has left the barrel of the pistol long before any movement would have any effect on bullet trajectory.
I think that all martial art and most sports or even computer games have this same mental thing in common: It's just the way our brains are wired.
OOOPS: Wrote a novel again, and I intended this to be short.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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