Kali

[HITJKD]

Hi Burt!

Questions for ya!

I own your SBG JKDU series one and two tapes (excellent by the way) and am wondering whether your Kali has evolved any since their production. I read on the JKD forum at the Underground that you had been working with Karl Tanswell's material and were having some difficulties with it. Have you been able to overcome those difficulties or are you still having trouble with it?

Secondly, the Sayoc family is currently having a big splash in the martial arts scene with their particular approach to Kali, have you had the opportunity to see/train any of their material and if so is it going to affect the curriculum @ JKDU?

Thanks for any response.

[Burton]

I can see if you get an outside two on one against someone who is lighter than you, and they don't know what to do, you can cause do some damage. But, if they aren't feeling pain, it is going to be difficult to disarm. Regardless, it is very difficult to get to that position, at least when we train it at full power, speed, and resistance. That is my experience, others feel different. Best to try it youself (many times) at full-tilt.

I have no experience with Sayoc Kali. I would have to see it under Dog Brother style sparring to see what tactics and techniques they use under pressure. I would like to see that, as I am sure they have good ideas. Aloha!

[HITJKD]

Thanks for the quick reply Burton!
I am, however, going to re-ask part of my initial question, how has your own Kali training evolved lately? Any new developments?

Also - regarding the Sayoc's, I believe Tom Kier (a highly ranked Sayoc member) recently fought Top Dog at a Gathering. I'm not sure how well he did but he was a Sayoc member who used his system against a fully resisting opponent - argueably one of the "worst" opponents you could run into

Finally, have your experiences as a Dog Brother given you a level of confidence in your Kali that would have otherwise been unattainable with less arduous testing methodologies?

Thanks for any reply!

[Burton]

The main development since the tapes is just a better clinch game, takedowns, and ground with the stick. The striking part is pretty much the same.
I'm glad to hear that Kiers fought. That is great. I did not see this fight, but please remember that just because someone fights (even if they fight fairly well) it doesn't mean that they are using the "system" (regardless of which) effectively. People could have watched me fight and claim that I used this or that system that I was well versed in. Truth is I used what we found to work well in the realm of real fighting.
There is no doubt that fighting the way we do gives a very high level of confidence if you stick with it. In my case, it first dropped my confidence as I discovered that I didn't know how to fight. Eric was the only one who did, and fighting him repeatedly, month after month allowed me to change my methods and really be able to fight. I just stick sparred a few nights ago, and the same methods that are in those tapes worked very well.

[HITJKD]

Burt,

Very astute observation on the differention between a persons stated training methodology and their actual methodology upon commencement of an alive sparring session.
It used to amaze baffle me back in my Karate-do days when I would see people train for hours punching from the hip etc. and yet once sparring began they would immediately abandon those methods and use what worked. I remember asking instructors at the time - why are people doing this?, only to be told it was "sloppy technique". I guess if we had just trained harder and for longer we would have been able to use the 'proper techniques'.
Even now, where I share space with a TMA karate school I overhear comments such as "well it just ends up looking like kickboxing" when referring to TMA karate types who have moved into the K-1 arena, implying once again that if they were just to 'train harder and longer" they could use the techniques as taught in class.
Some people just seem incapable of 'getting it'.

Thanks for the rest of your reply, interesting reading as always.