with Kelly Worden, Dr. Brett Jacques, and Joseph Simonet available through http://paladinpress.com Alternate review at http://www.alliancemartialarts.com Water and Steel is the yearly knife and empty hand fighting training camp headed by Kelly Worden and other various instructors in Washington state. Pete Kautz gave a great review for the tape, so I don't have much to add except that it's not exactly a seminar tape but 3 segments shot outside. For a refresher, here's the BD
The BD (90 min, 30 min each section)
Kelly Worden (Close and longe range espada y daga)
Dr. Brett Jacques (Street Sambo defences against empty hand and weapon attacks)
Joseph Simonet (Silat "Tiger Stick" and Doce Pares)
Production quality is good, sound is okay as it's filmed outdoors go. I admit I'm a fan of Worden's knife techniques more so than the stick, staff, JKD, and Silat. I've read Dr. Jacques online resume and and eh, he's got a lot of credentials including knife instructor under Worden and experience in Japanese and Chinese systems, definitely not your average grappling coach or Sambo guy. Joseph Simonet, is a Kenpo, Silat, FMA stylist, who's a bit of a controversial figure in FMA/Silat circles. Those in the Eskrima digest know what I'm talking about.
Datu Worden starts off first with C. Santiago (from the Practical Knife series) demonstrating 5 espada y daga sequences from mid-range
then shows knife vs knife and empty hand vs knife applications. Each
sequence allows the option of closing and takedowns or retreating into
long range. I wanted to see the weapons and groundwork more than
anything and Worden's method is equal parts pinning and passing the
weapon. Not my cup of tea but I like some of the options shown.
Weapon/Body monitoring, peeling/jerking cuts, locking and breaking,
stomping ala J. Grover and D. James are shown as well.
Dr. Brett Jacques and Brent Steiner are next, showing neck cranks and
guillotines, Shields (4 arm positions/entries) against weapons draws and bites. One of the shields is used by Hochheim and Grover in stickfighting, another by Simonet in the next section. Next is Attacks (flick kick/web hand combination, volleyball palm smash, Big Stir/neck manipulation) followed by Counters (defenses against kicks and shoves). The Volleyball Smash is real similar to Hsing Yi's palm strikes and one of the leg/knee locks is in one of K. Muniz' tapes.
Jacques takedown approach is pretty basic grappling (takedown while controlling a limb/establish position/lock or break) which favors cranks and using a crouch or the knee on stomach position. Kicks are dealt with from long range, caught, then the fight is taken to the ground.
Guru Joseph Simonet is next, joined by Addy Hernandez and Brandon Hart
showing the Matjan/Machan or "Tiger Stick" techniques of Tongkat Silat
with Doce Pares Eskrima. Simonet starts off with grips and the difference in stick size between Silat and FMA, and covers the basic Silat entry with both stick and empty hands. Hubud and entries are next, 5 entries introducing face smashes and an X lock with the stick while combining elements of both Tongkat and Doce Pares.
Matjan entries are next and Simonet says it's Djuru #7 from Tongkat Silat and Djuru #1 from Serak Silat (parent art to Tongkat).
Well, it's very similar to the knee attack sequence from Derobio Escrima seen in Dogbrothers Combining Stick and Footwork. Next is a Doce Pares Fig 8 drill, an interesting drill where all parts of the stick are used and the puter kepala throw introduced. Matjan Stick and Puter Kepala is next, Simonet reviews the basic entry this time including using the icepick grip before showing the common ways of doing puter kepala and the "real" version from Djuru #17 in Serak. Bottom line, commerical= a throw and real= a series of whiplash throws/neck breaks. Simonet really emphasizes the aggressive nature of close quarter range, which in Silat and a lot of internal arts is described as mental/physical commitment toward fighting. This coupled with the idea of expressing one's personality and the use of certain art-specific jargon, tends to confuse a lot of folks.
Anyhow, some really interesting stuff.
The material is for intermediate and advanced levels and goes well with materials by each of the presenters.
_________________________
The preceding review does not reflect the views of the owners of this site. As always, books and/or videos are not a substitute for
actual hands on instruction by a certified instructor.
The BD (90 min, 30 min each section)
Kelly Worden (Close and longe range espada y daga)
Dr. Brett Jacques (Street Sambo defences against empty hand and weapon attacks)
Joseph Simonet (Silat "Tiger Stick" and Doce Pares)
Production quality is good, sound is okay as it's filmed outdoors go. I admit I'm a fan of Worden's knife techniques more so than the stick, staff, JKD, and Silat. I've read Dr. Jacques online resume and and eh, he's got a lot of credentials including knife instructor under Worden and experience in Japanese and Chinese systems, definitely not your average grappling coach or Sambo guy. Joseph Simonet, is a Kenpo, Silat, FMA stylist, who's a bit of a controversial figure in FMA/Silat circles. Those in the Eskrima digest know what I'm talking about.
Datu Worden starts off first with C. Santiago (from the Practical Knife series) demonstrating 5 espada y daga sequences from mid-range
then shows knife vs knife and empty hand vs knife applications. Each
sequence allows the option of closing and takedowns or retreating into
long range. I wanted to see the weapons and groundwork more than
anything and Worden's method is equal parts pinning and passing the
weapon. Not my cup of tea but I like some of the options shown.
Weapon/Body monitoring, peeling/jerking cuts, locking and breaking,
stomping ala J. Grover and D. James are shown as well.
Dr. Brett Jacques and Brent Steiner are next, showing neck cranks and
guillotines, Shields (4 arm positions/entries) against weapons draws and bites. One of the shields is used by Hochheim and Grover in stickfighting, another by Simonet in the next section. Next is Attacks (flick kick/web hand combination, volleyball palm smash, Big Stir/neck manipulation) followed by Counters (defenses against kicks and shoves). The Volleyball Smash is real similar to Hsing Yi's palm strikes and one of the leg/knee locks is in one of K. Muniz' tapes.
Jacques takedown approach is pretty basic grappling (takedown while controlling a limb/establish position/lock or break) which favors cranks and using a crouch or the knee on stomach position. Kicks are dealt with from long range, caught, then the fight is taken to the ground.
Guru Joseph Simonet is next, joined by Addy Hernandez and Brandon Hart
showing the Matjan/Machan or "Tiger Stick" techniques of Tongkat Silat
with Doce Pares Eskrima. Simonet starts off with grips and the difference in stick size between Silat and FMA, and covers the basic Silat entry with both stick and empty hands. Hubud and entries are next, 5 entries introducing face smashes and an X lock with the stick while combining elements of both Tongkat and Doce Pares.
Matjan entries are next and Simonet says it's Djuru #7 from Tongkat Silat and Djuru #1 from Serak Silat (parent art to Tongkat).
Well, it's very similar to the knee attack sequence from Derobio Escrima seen in Dogbrothers Combining Stick and Footwork. Next is a Doce Pares Fig 8 drill, an interesting drill where all parts of the stick are used and the puter kepala throw introduced. Matjan Stick and Puter Kepala is next, Simonet reviews the basic entry this time including using the icepick grip before showing the common ways of doing puter kepala and the "real" version from Djuru #17 in Serak. Bottom line, commerical= a throw and real= a series of whiplash throws/neck breaks. Simonet really emphasizes the aggressive nature of close quarter range, which in Silat and a lot of internal arts is described as mental/physical commitment toward fighting. This coupled with the idea of expressing one's personality and the use of certain art-specific jargon, tends to confuse a lot of folks.
Anyhow, some really interesting stuff.
The material is for intermediate and advanced levels and goes well with materials by each of the presenters.
_________________________
The preceding review does not reflect the views of the owners of this site. As always, books and/or videos are not a substitute for
actual hands on instruction by a certified instructor.