News from Associates

Senior Master Dan Anderson and Sifu Dee Childress host the Modern Arnis International  Camp in North Carolina, USA. June 16-19, 2005.
written by Barry McConnell

This camp was a watershed event. The focus was Modern Arnis. Not organizations, not approaches, not stick vs. blade, not who has the biggest ego or the highest rank or the most videos. It was ALL about the art in all of its glory and diversity and beauty.

The first night was action-packed already. The instructors said: "let's take a single strike and see how each instructor would approach it." That set the tone for the whole camp! Even though we saw disarms, traps, throws, abanikos, blade cuts, and block-counters from the different instructors, it was clear that they all came from the same root. Very cool! This went on for 3 hours. It was also interesting to watch how the various instructors bounced off of each other's ideas. One would show an abaniko taking out the attacking weapon, someone else would jump in and go "and here you can insert a <insert technique here>..." The energy was high voltage and we all went to bed jazzed.

During the camp, the participants were split into two to keep the classes small. Mr. Dee arranged the schedule so that every student had the same classes, just the order changed. It also allowed the instructors to watch each other's classes and not miss something just because they were teaching. (Way to go Mr. Dee!)

Some reflections and insights collected from everyone:
- Datu Dieter Knuttel taught disarms and locks... He's not just fast, he's sudden! Thank goodness, he doesn't drink coffee because he's also high energy. You can tell he loves the art so much he wants to pour all of his knowledge into you at once so you can play too! The next day, it  was tapi-tapi. I've decided that tapi-tapi actually means "Mom! He's hitting me again!"
- SM Dan Anderson took us back to basics and polished them to a higher level. He also taught Countering the Counter. Maybe now I can hold off Datu Dieter for a few more minutes... Any of you that haven't had the opportunity, attend a class with Dan, you're missing a rare treat. This man is a teacher's teacher. He and Datu Dieter also make a great comedy team. It was really fun to watch these two rag on each other mercilessly but always with the greatest respect and a spirit of fun.
- Master Robert Quinn led us in an exploration of the possibilites of the abaniko and ranging... This was really cool since we had been dazzled the night before by a display of Master Dulay's abaniko skills. About his Six-count. He has more ways of doing six-count than Baskin-Robbins has flavors!
- SM Bram Frank presented the sobering truth of the blade and its role in Modern Arnis. I especially liked his comments that stick shows the beauty of Modern Arnis while blade shows the deadliness. Datu Inocalla gave us insight into a side of Modern Arnis you don't hear often: the spiritual and healing components. Together Grasshopper (Greg Beeman), he gave us a whole new appreciation of the combat mindset behind Modern Arnis with the bolo. Anyone who has ever watched the Professor and wondered what the heck he meant when he said "he is cut already" has an A-ha moment when Bram moves that bolo...
- Master Bambit Dulay and the lovely Edessa Ramos showed just how far you can take abaniko. The two of them are simply poetry in motion. Everyone in the group had a new appreciation and inspiration for abaniko work after seeing them.
- We also had a special treat. Doug Perry Sensei gave us an introduction to Okinawan martial arts. A word of caution, his demonstration on me was accompanied by high levels of PAIN! Seriously, though, the level of power and skill coming from him is awesome. Doug Perry Sensei showed just how beautiful the Okinawan weapons could be. He is a rare gem.
- Datu Inocalla showed us his latest addition to the Modern Arnis arsenal: Sinawali Aerobics (my name for it). He took us through a workout based on Modern Arnis moves that would have the kickboxing crowd throwing up their lunch (good thing he was right before lunch). Just when we were good and exhausted, he explained arnis tournament fighting and had us go a few rounds. I crawled to the cafeteria.
- By the way, off to the side Ms. Edessa showed My Sweetie and I how it all fit in with tradtional dances as well. We had always known that there was more to arnis than meets the eye. And there it was, in all its beauty and splendor.

Did I mention that Datu Dieter was the Energizer Bunny? Well, after all the lessons were over, he organized an impromptu self-defense in a bar session. Everyone joined in and had a great time teasing Dieter about all the guys holding his hand and putting their arm around him, and commiserating with the poor slob when he slammed their head into the table... A word of caution, if you go drinking with Dieter, don't leave any drinking glasses near him.

Bottom line. If you couldn't be there get the DVD. Eight DVDs for $99 is a STEAL. George taped each 75-minute class (there were 7 classes per day) plus interviews with the instructors. That's a LOT of material just to condense into 8 DVDs. And make plans to be at next year's camp. I'll be there.

Thanks Mr. Dee and all the instructors for making it a memorable event.

Barry McConnell