Hai Yang and Xingyi...

They say a Xingyi practitioner should have fast hands. Watching Hai Yang teach some of his students is a pleasure, and he is a blur sometimes. If I'm ever in Montreal, I'd love to attend some classes.

My First Sun-style Class...

I made it about 2-1/2 hours (still recovering from bronchitis and sinusitis - 5 weeks now!) of Saturday's 3-hour class with teacher Jamie Tan. A sudden muscle spasm in my back took me out...a repeat of one I had at work Wednesday. Grrr. The weather was getting a lot nastier right about then, so I think my muscles were getting cold and starting to stiffen.

I forgot to ask if we are doing the 73-movement Sun Taiji competition form or the original 98-movement one. He was very good at presenting the material and explaining all the little pieces that differentiate this "internal" art from the "external" ones. Boy, do I have a lot to practice...

I'm not sure whether it is called Huo Bu Jia Taijiquan (the Taijiquan Form of the Flowing Steps) or Kai He Huo Bu Taijiquan (the Opening Closing Active Step Taijiquan Form). Need to find out. I like to know all this kind of stuff.

Most of the class, for me, was spent learning these (I think I have them right):

1. Wu Ji Becomes Tai Ji (Wu Ji Bian Tai Ji)
2. Lazily Tying Clothes (Lan Zha Yi)
3. Opening Hands (Kai Shou)
4. Closing Hands (He Shou)
5. Single Whip Left (Dan Bian Zou)
6. Lifting Hands (Ti Shou)
7. White Swan Cools Its Wings (Bai He Liang Chi)
8. Opening Hands (Kai Shou)
9. Closing Hands (He Shou)

Only 64 (or 89) more to go! I'm looking forward to it!

A New Year...

2011 was...challenging. Lots of ill health, melodrama (family, friends, and work alike) and not a lot of time or inclination for blogging. Its done and gone now, though. Can I get an 'Amen'?!

Time to start putting fingers to keyboard again. Various external stressors, illness and/or injuries managed to sideline most of my martial arts and health goals last year. I'm trying to get beyond the last few months' worth of recurrent illnesses. They have left me really rather weak, in the stamina department. On the other hand, I've finally begun getting the weight off that I gained since I got out of the Army, during the difficult "find yourself again after the war" years: 22 pounds lost in about 2 to 2-1/2 months. That's without any dedicated effort - a combo, I think, of illness, stress (The Stress Diet? a bestseller, perhaps...*snort*), smaller portions, and lower calorie beverages.

The whole "training on my own thing" can get very lonely. My hopes for starting a training group ended up on hold last year. I would like to get it going this year, once I get back on my feet a bit, and I get the room in the garage set up for training - I need to clean and paint, put up a hanging bag, etc. A martial arts class of some sort had a great deal of appeal to help me start on the road to recovery. Its always nice to be with people who share the same interests. Sadly, I don't know of anyone in the Portland area within the silat community I wish to study from. Sacrilege, I know, considering who has a lot of people here, but I have my reasons and own inclinations. A Muay Thai class would be fun...there are several people who trained under Sirichai Sirisute, my teachers' one-time son-in-law, in Portland. With my current level of health, though, it'd probably kill me...lol. I decided on a Chinese internal arts class. The health benefits would be a nice bonus, and I've wanted to get some formal instruction for a long time. Did some looking online and found a teacher of Sun Taiji and Bagua, Jamie Tan, who teaches on the weekends in one of the local parks. Everyone said good things about him on the forums, so I took my first class yesterday. I enjoyed it a great deal. He is a very good teacher. Thorough. The fact that these are martial arts is clear from the beginning. The weather is crappy this morning...snow, ice and rain have been in the air and on the ground, so no class today, sadly. I'll be able to go every other weekend, and get as much as six hours of training between Saturdays and Sundays. Yay! He took me through the first nine moves of the Sun Taiji form yesterday, and introduced me to a little push hands, and offered to start me (and the other student who was there) on the jian (sword) if we bring one with us in the future. Yay!

On the personal training level, I intend to supplement his teaching with a bit of distance learning in Xingyi. There are a couple of good online programs available. I'll continue/resume with my training in Indonesian and Malaysian silat and kuntao, and Thai arts. There is a potential seminar coming in the spring from Guru Alvin Guinanao, of Silat Buka Lingkaran, down in San Francisco, while Pendekar William Sanders (Pencak Silat Pukulan Cimande Pusaka) now lives within five hours of me. Then there's Kun Kru Mike Walrath, at the Bigfoot Gym, in Eugene, with Muay Thai and Krabi Krabong. He trained, briefly, with my old Muay Thai teacher at Cal State San Bernardino, Tony Gneck. I just need to get a little healthier and make some repairs on our car.

I think this will be a better year. I've been sitting long enough: time to go get some exercise/training in, and get on with the day.

Time to Start Putting Fingers to Keyboard Again...

We have settled into our new home down in the Portland (OR) metro area, and its a much better place than where we were living up there in Woodland (WA). Less expensive, my drive to work is about 1/3 of what it was going in, and 1/5 on the way home at night, and we have easy access to so much more now. I'd planned to jump right back in to my martial arts training once we had relocated, but I ended up having a couple bouts of illness, hurt my knees trying to do too much too soon (just because you can keep up with the woman on the dvd demonstrating harimau warmups, who is much more fit than you, doesn't mean you should...Lol), and have been having issues with chronic pain and stiffness in much of my body (say a 4-7 on the 1-10 scale, routinely). Not too conducive to regular martial arts practice.

I was beginning to agree with my wife that a large part of my chronic pain was fibromyalgia. The symptoms certainly seemed to fit. After a particularly successful time helping one of my patients at work earlier this week, I found myself easily affected by exposure to strong emotions, beginning Wednesday. We were out doing some errands the next day and I could feel waves of energy rolling through my body, which was rather odd, almost a tidal feeling, if that makes any sense. I was much more "present" in my environment then I have been. It finally dawned on me that in helping my patient with her war-related issues, my heart chakra (Anahata Chakra, อนาหะตะ) must have opened. It had happened to me once before, in a rather dramatic fashion, when we were still in Woodland but the stress had been too much and I shut down again soon thereafter. I decided Thursday evening to try a seated breathing/energy exercise from the Seah Khao Kruasatoi Family System of Penang Silat Tua, and see if I could do something with that energy I was still feeling. If my understanding is correct, I believe I was able to repeatedly run the Microcosmic Orbit. It felt good, a little intoxicating almost (sort of...its hard to describe), and I was more energetic than I would have expected. I was running on about 12-13 hours of sleep over the previous 3 nights, much of it poor quality.

I realized yesterday that my body was feeling much better. Little pain, except in my lower to middle back, where I have some inflamed/strained muscles, but I can live with that. So far, it still is. Not ready for the splits yet, either, but I'm more flexible than I have been in months, maybe longer. It feels so good. I never expected this kind of a reaction in myself from helping someone. She told me when she was leaving the hospital that I had changed her life. It appears she has changed my life, too. I need to make sure I keep the ground I just gained, and build on it from here on out. Beginning a strong training regimen now feels within reach! YAY!!!

I'll be training hard as a distance student of Pendekar Sanders in his Pencak Silat Pukulan Cimande Pusaka (PCP). Looks like, by summer, that I will be able to go and train with him occasionally. I've also been accepted by Pakcik Zainal Abidin Sheikh Awab into his Seah Khao Krusuatoi Family System (SKK), which encompasses Silat Tua or Silat Pattani (Pattani is a former Malay kingdom in southern peninsular Thailand), traditional Thai martial arts, as well as some other styles of Silat and Kuntao. I'm quite excited to train in this pair of arts, and am looking forward to years of learning. I'm going to use a bodyweight training program to help build strength and conditioning, along with Yoga (Thai Yoga, Silat Yoga, Taoist Yoga, Power Yoga), Tim Caldwell's Xing Yi Nei Gong workout, and Senaman Tua (ST, Guru Azlan Ghanie's traditional Malay exercise/energy system) for flexibility and additional strength training. I am unaware of anyone in the greater Portland metro area with whom I wish to study Silat, so I am planning to sign up in May for some in-person training in Thai arts. They will get me in shape, building my endurance and taking off the pounds, and are a part of SKK, so that will help. It should also help me make contact with other people in the area who are interested in arts like these. Come summer, after I have trained for a couple of months, I will be starting a study group for both PCP and SKK.

This is going to keep me busy...and its going to be a blast.

The Village of the Keris: The Art of Bun Dai Sara

A couple of days ago, I received a first copy burn of Vincent Giordano's new DVD, "Village of the Keris: The Art of Bun Dai Sara" ( http://www.thaikeris.com/). It focuses on a village in southern peninsular Thailand that has been practising silat and forging keris (kris) knives for centuries, ever since an Indonesian empu (traditional smith) came to the mainland to forge a special presentation blade, and taught the villagers his art. Using special family texts, they continue to make traditional blades to this day. Guru Atabu talks of his craft and demonstrates some of the techniques of the village silat style. The video includes information on the traditional manufacture and uses of the keris; the traditional martial styles of the Thai people vs. the practice of silat by some in southern Thailand, and that of tomoi, a Thai-influenced art practiced by Malays. There is even a brief clip of soldiers practising lerd rit, a military expression of Thai martial arts. Some time is given to Azlan Ghanie and his Malay silat style, Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9, which makes extensive use of the keris, as well as some other Malay styles.

I enjoyed the DVD and found it interesting and informative. I've known for some time that silat was practiced in southern Thailand, but it gets little press in comparison to the "mainstream" Thai arts. I had no idea there was a village in Thailand preserving the traditional keris?! There are only a handful of empus still working in Indonesia! Also, while the Indonesians (and Dutch-Indo's) have been sharing some of their silat styles with the West, it seems its only recently we've been seeing Malay styles opening up to us. If you have any interest in the arts of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, Malay culture, keris blades, and traditional metalworking, I would recommend you pick up a copy of this DVD when it becomes available in the near future! Keep up the good work, Vincent! Its great to see someone making these things available here. Thanks again.

Catching Up...

Since that lone entry here in September, I've been experiencing a lot of chronic pain. I've had some long-term, low-key pain due to some chronic injuries...mostly my lower legs/feet and shoulders. Over time I dissociated to the pain, stopped being conscious to it. The PTSD from my time in Iraq only exacerbated that dissociation. When my wife talked me into asking for pain medicine from the doctor, I was skeptical, but being a good husband, did as I was told...*laughing*. Much to my surprise, about 45 minutes after I took the first pill, a bunch of "background noise" or "static" I'd been unaware of went away. That was cool, I liked it. I've been working on the PTSD, though, and my dissociation to chronic pain has been fading. Consequently, I've been feeling pain I'm unaccustomed to...*rueful chuckle*...and here I thought I had all this tolerance to pain. Its made it hard to want to get exercise. I know, however, that the only way its going to really get better is to get back in good shape. Sigh...

My plans to start training at a school down in Portland, and start a training group of my own are still pending. We haven't been able to move, due to a bunch of car repair bills. Also, I'll be moving from ICU to General Surgery in December, which messes with my ability to attend the school I'd wanted to, as my schedule will change. We're waiting to hear whether we've gotten the house that interests us. We hope to be moving in the next couple of weeks. Shoot, most of our stuff has been packed for a while now.

As I've decided that working out on my own is probably going to be my lot (and starting the study group after the move), at least for a time, I've decided to throw myself into the distance study available to me. I'm working with American Kuntao Silat, and am supplementing that with Ken Gullette's Online School of Internal Fighting Arts, adding some formal silk reeling, qigong, and xingyiquan to the kuntao silat work. On the silat side, I'm working on William Sanders' Pencak Silat Pukulan Cimande Pusaka, and beginning some basics for harimau silat. Plenty to keep me busy.

I recently got a tape of Tim Cartmell's Xing Yi Nei Gong tape, and performed the exercises this morning. It will be a good routine to do several times a week. It definitely was good for my shoulders and legs, and includes exercises similar to the Hindu squats and push-ups a lot of folks are familiar with these days.

I'm reading a book by Ori Hofmekler called "The Warrior Diet". It passes the common sense test for my wife and I. I've always been fond of the original "The Paleolithic Prescription", which goes along with this pretty well. My wife and I are going to start eating this way soon, the probably not until we get moved.

Haven't Been Blogging...

...for months now. I just didn't feel like it. Its been a rough year. I had bouts of pneumonia and pleurisy, and shingles. Perenially tired. Financial worries. PTSD issues that I'd managed to dodge for quite some time caught up to me. Things are looking a bit better now, and I'm feeling happier and a lot more optimistic than I have in a long time.

We'll be moving down into the Portland Metro area at the end of the month. That'll take a big chunk of time off my daily commute, plus save on wear-and-tear on the car and fuel. We expect to cut our rent by several hundred dollars a month, which will translate into paid-off bills and money in savings. We'll also have much easier access to services for our son, friends, shopping, and entertainment.

On the martial front, I haven't been very active. My stamina was shot after the illnesses and its been slow to return. I have been doing a lot of looking and reading and thinking, in regards to the martial arts. I've been in contact with a number of people in the silat community, both here in the States and overseas, especially in Malaysia. I'm looking forward to completing this move. I'm starting to practice again on my own, working to get in shape. Cimande and harimau silat, primarily. Some baji quan foundational exercises, and some kunlun quan. When we get settled in down south, though, I am going to start up a study group and see if I can get a group of people together to train and learn from one another, work with some of the distance training that's out there. I'm also going to be trying out the Kunlun Awakening process with some of Max's people in Portland. I think it will be a good thing.

Tony Jaa at the Wat Gym, NYC...

Here's a quick demo by Tony Jaa, a Muay Boran practitioner, and the star of Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong. He seems pretty quick, and goodness knows he's a tremendous athlete.

Yay!...

Looks like I might have found someone I can learn Krabi Krabong from. The school is a bit far away, so I probably won't be able to go train there more than a couple times a month, but its a start. Hmmm...need to get the car an oil change, I think. And order some Krabi Krabong sticks from Kombat Instruments (can't afford swords just yet...lol).

Returning to My Roots...

I watched the other two DVD's Vincent sent me...one was German seminar footage of General Amnat teaching a lot of Muay Boran basics, while the other was a group of Thai women practicing Thai yoga. Lots of information in both. I'm really glad I ordered these DVD's from him, and I'm looking forward to getting more.

I've been looking around at what options are available to me in the Pacific Northwest. And I have to say that I am, at least right now, unaware of anyone I wish to study Silat with in Portland. There may be some folks in places farther north. I looked at Aikido and Bujinkan Ninpo schools, of which there are quite a few, and at mainland SE Asian styles...Thai and Cambodian. At first, the Japanese arts sounded good, but upon reflection, I am more interested in SE Asia.

I'm going to go watch some classes next week, see if I like one of the local teachers of Muay Thai. Muay Thai is pretty much what I cut my martial teeth on, and I've been feeling that I wanted to resurrect the skills and techniques I learned, and push beyond to new things. There are also a couple of places offering instruction in traditional Thai Massage. It looks like a lot of it can be studied in weekend, and extended-weekend, classes, which is really cool.

As for the Silat, recent Unfortunate Events have impressed upon me that I wish to work with more traditional Indonesian and/or Malay Silat. Despite being a little under the weather today, I worked with a Cimande pedang form. I felt better afterwards, which was nice. Cimande was the first style of Silat in which I took classes and I have quite a bit of Cimande material, and am going to work with it at home. I'll add Harimau as my Yoga practice pays dividends. I do love the Sumatran tiger...

Cool Stuff!...

I just got some DVD's in the mail from Vincent Giordano's Vanishing Flame series. So far, I've already watched the Thaing Pung Pying (or Royal Thaing) DVD, which covers some traditional Burmese martial arts. There are demonstrations of empty hand, double swords and staff, all done from a basic box pattern (or lankah empat, if one wants to use the Indonesian term). The whole DVD is in Burmese, but I might well be able to get it translated. I know a Burmese woman who works at the VA Hospital. I just finished the Malay Silat DVD, which featured brief demonstrations of Silat Seni Gayong and Seni Silat Gayang Lian, plus a much more detailed section by Guru Azlan Ghanie and his art of Silat Melayu Keris Sembilan, including a fair amount of work with the keris. There's also a DVD of General Amnat teaching basics of Muay Boran in Germany, as well as a DVD of Thai Yoga. Lots of neat stuff! Love it!

Cat Kung Fu