- Joined
- Oct 14, 2000
- Messages
- 56
thekuntawman
Hello my friends. Today is my lucky day! As some of you know, I have
been searching for a training partner to work out with me with the
Cane and Knife. It seems that I am a slow learner when it comes to
memorizing kata and techniques from video tapes. This may be a viable
medium for many of you, but I learn best by being shown something in
person.
Some of you may have heard of the controversial and arrogant person
who calls himself "thekuntawman" in some of the Knife and FMA forums.
FMA = Filipino Martial Arts.
His bedside manner may be a little rough around the edges, but he
refers to the system handed down to him from his grandfather (papa)
as "fighting", not martial arts or self defense! He is the only one
I know of who says, "Come to my school in Sacramento, California
and test out your style/system with me, personally." This is a
tradition from the old days.
A couple of weeks ago I emailed thekuntawman (Maurice Gatdula) to
ask if he had a beginning student (like me) who might be interested
in working out together. I mentioned that I am aged 57, beer belly,
out of shape, low pain tolerance, bad knees, etc. To my amazement,
he offered to take me on as a closed-door, private student as a
"challenge". <very big grin> Of course, I was stunned as this type
of offer usually comes along "never in a lifetime".
Well, I arrived at my first lesson earlier today full of hope,
excitement, and some nervousness and trepidation! I thought, "Damn,
this guy must be about 75 years old and weigh 300 pounds! I was
very pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a 31 year old man,
about 5'7" tall, who is soft-spoken, has a great friendly smile,
and a genuine desire to help others. He may be a little embarrassed
by me telling you this, but he devotes a portion of his time to
working with juvenile delinquents, and in a half-way house to help
those who are trying to become members of society, once again.
Well, he seems to think that he can transform this sow's ear into
a silk purse! We shall see!
Although it takes somewhere around
5 years to train someone to be fully qualified in the Kuntaw Kali
system, he says that I will be a "fighter" in 2-3 months. I only
hope that I am not a bigger "challenge" than he anticipated.
To keep this on-topic to the members of the PerfectWeapon list
and the Cane Forum on www.Knifeforums.com, Master Gatdula is *very
interested* in adding Cane techniques to his cirriculum in his
school. So, if Dave McNeill and Mark Shuey have no objections, I
will be loaning him some of my Cane Masters and Goju-Shorei Weapons
Systems instructional video tapes to look over.
Even though the advanced levels of the system are geared to the
knife, Master Gatdula is fascinated with the prospect that many
of the stick techniques can be directly, or indirectly, used by
the person who is used to having a rattan cane in his hand. I
mentioned the statement that "If you can't carry your weapon with
you, then what good is it?"
In some instances, after he taught me a strike or technique, I
demonstrated how it could be adapted to the Cane. On our next
meeting, next week, I will be presenting him with a cane! Who
knows, I may just become the world's first Kuntaw-Kali-Cane
fighter. <only kidding>
For those who may be interested in the Kuntaw-Kali system, Master
Gatdula will be opening schools in Salt Lake City, Utah and in
Dallas, Texas in the very near future. For more information on
this you can email him directly at: thekuntawman@yahoo.com
This message was originally posted to the PerfectWeapon mailing
list on December 1st, 2000.
Ray
Hello my friends. Today is my lucky day! As some of you know, I have
been searching for a training partner to work out with me with the
Cane and Knife. It seems that I am a slow learner when it comes to
memorizing kata and techniques from video tapes. This may be a viable
medium for many of you, but I learn best by being shown something in
person.
Some of you may have heard of the controversial and arrogant person
who calls himself "thekuntawman" in some of the Knife and FMA forums.
FMA = Filipino Martial Arts.
His bedside manner may be a little rough around the edges, but he
refers to the system handed down to him from his grandfather (papa)
as "fighting", not martial arts or self defense! He is the only one
I know of who says, "Come to my school in Sacramento, California
and test out your style/system with me, personally." This is a
tradition from the old days.
A couple of weeks ago I emailed thekuntawman (Maurice Gatdula) to
ask if he had a beginning student (like me) who might be interested
in working out together. I mentioned that I am aged 57, beer belly,
out of shape, low pain tolerance, bad knees, etc. To my amazement,
he offered to take me on as a closed-door, private student as a
"challenge". <very big grin> Of course, I was stunned as this type
of offer usually comes along "never in a lifetime".
Well, I arrived at my first lesson earlier today full of hope,
excitement, and some nervousness and trepidation! I thought, "Damn,
this guy must be about 75 years old and weigh 300 pounds! I was
very pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a 31 year old man,
about 5'7" tall, who is soft-spoken, has a great friendly smile,
and a genuine desire to help others. He may be a little embarrassed
by me telling you this, but he devotes a portion of his time to
working with juvenile delinquents, and in a half-way house to help
those who are trying to become members of society, once again.
Well, he seems to think that he can transform this sow's ear into
a silk purse! We shall see!
Although it takes somewhere around5 years to train someone to be fully qualified in the Kuntaw Kali
system, he says that I will be a "fighter" in 2-3 months. I only
hope that I am not a bigger "challenge" than he anticipated.
To keep this on-topic to the members of the PerfectWeapon list
and the Cane Forum on www.Knifeforums.com, Master Gatdula is *very
interested* in adding Cane techniques to his cirriculum in his
school. So, if Dave McNeill and Mark Shuey have no objections, I
will be loaning him some of my Cane Masters and Goju-Shorei Weapons
Systems instructional video tapes to look over.
Even though the advanced levels of the system are geared to the
knife, Master Gatdula is fascinated with the prospect that many
of the stick techniques can be directly, or indirectly, used by
the person who is used to having a rattan cane in his hand. I
mentioned the statement that "If you can't carry your weapon with
you, then what good is it?"
In some instances, after he taught me a strike or technique, I
demonstrated how it could be adapted to the Cane. On our next
meeting, next week, I will be presenting him with a cane! Who
knows, I may just become the world's first Kuntaw-Kali-Cane
fighter. <only kidding>
For those who may be interested in the Kuntaw-Kali system, Master
Gatdula will be opening schools in Salt Lake City, Utah and in
Dallas, Texas in the very near future. For more information on
this you can email him directly at: thekuntawman@yahoo.com
This message was originally posted to the PerfectWeapon mailing
list on December 1st, 2000.
Ray