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Robber Gunned Down
Motorcycle-riding robbers held-up a college girl last night, 11pm. Threatened her with a knife. Police caught-up with them at their hideout, 2am. One fled, the other put-up a fight. Recovered from the scene were the girl’s bag and the thief’s .38 revolver.
A young woman died yesterday. She just finished work and was at a sidewalk when two motorcycle-riding men tried to mug her for her bag. When she resisted, the passenger shot her. When she fell, he shot her 4 more times. It was 11:30AM.
Scientists say that Man has evolved from a brute to a thinking being. That this evolution has supposedly made Man into a peace-loving, knowledge-seeking, law-abiding, entity. That years of evolution, has created a “civilized” creature.
And yet, we are capable of doing horrendous things even the wildest of animals aren’t capable of doing.
She was a nurse. She cared for people.
As time goes, we have learned to help and care for another. But we have also become more devious in causing evil unto others. It is in our system. It is in our nature. We have become more cruel. We have found more ways in destroying one another rather than saving one another.
The world isn’t a nice place. Not everyone greeting you with a smile will have good intentions. Not all people have goodness in them.
She was 23.
Our society today has become complacent. As we progress, we become weak. Like fattened cattle for the slaughter. We have sought refuge in our gadgets and technology. Creating for ourselves an E-Utopia.
Not everyone, nowadays, know how to deal with hostility. After all, we have laws. We have our law-enforcers. We have our government to protect us. Some people believe that training at self-defense is more than enough. This IS an age of reason.
But criminals do not believe in the law. They do not fear our law-enforcers. The government will not be able to save us once it all goes down. Not all people are reasonable. And a self-defense mindset will only lead to complacency and to a false sense of security.
Life is a war. One must have combative mindset. Avoid. Escape. But if all else fails, kill. No mercy. For your enemy may show you none. Defending one’s self is not enough. One must learn how to kill.
Live for peace. But train for war.
Rest In Peace Marjorie.
I lost. Fourth championship that I’ve made it to the finals and AGAIN I lost. And compared to the first 3, I REALLY trained for this. Ouch. Always the groom’s man, never the groom. Hahaha! But I had fun. They said that was the most tense fight by far.
See, I fought with a fever. Really. My knees already felt like jello during the first bout (3 rounds, 1 minute each), started to burn-up during my second, and wanted to forfeit right then and there. But then I thought: “Ahh what the hell? Made it this far. If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.”
Well, I made it through the finals..again. But my performance was already going down hill after eliminating 3 contenders and during the first 3 rounds of the final match, we were freakin’ tied and had to be extended twice! To say that I was mind-numbingly exhausted is an understatement. My opponent got the drop on me during the 5th and my legs finally gave way after an exhausting fight. Still, despite all of these, I’m happy that I proved to myself that I am not a quitter.
So the following day, as I laid in bed sick, my buddy PM’d me about how bad ass I was fighting the way I did and that people thought it was a great fight. I smiled when I realized this:
I just pulled-off a Real Steel moment. Cool.;)
The worst thing I can do now is give-up. It’s back to the drawing board for me. I’m gonna train harder and smarter for next year. Cause maybe, 5th time’s the charm.:)
Creating A Monster
Posted: October 7, 2011 in Martial Arts, TrainingTags: Combat, kali, Tae Kwon Do
A friend whom I train in Kali with, approached me one day and asked me to train him for an upcoming Tae Kwon Do (WTF Rules) his coach asked him to join. Since I had a background in Tang Soo Do, he said, he thought he could get some training as well as some tips from me. I looked at him long and hard. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: “Your coach does know you study arnis right?”
Him: “Yep. That’s why he wanted me to join. Apparently, having a martial art background is enough for him.”
Me: “Your coach does realize that we don’t have a sports mind set right?”
Him: “Yep. I told him that. I told him that we have a combative mindset. That’d it’d be too dirty for sports.”
Me: “And?”
Him: “He said it was okay. Punching’s okay too.”
Me: “When’s it gonna be?”
Him: “Ohhh….next week.”
Me: “Do you expect to win or just beat people up?”
Him: “Beat people up.”
Me: “Let’s get started then.”
Now I don’t mean to diss Tae Kwon Do. It’s a wonderful sport. It creates self-discipline and develops confidence. Heck, when I have kids of my own, I wouldn’t train him/her on eskrima but rather on a combative sport like Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Capoeira, etc… BUT…they’re just that…sports. They are not combative. As my mentor always says: “Have you ever seen an army go to war without weapons? If you don’t have weapons, it’s not a combative art. “
Now, I’m sure there are a lot of martial arts out there that are very good for self-defense like Jiu Jitsu, Boxing, Karate, Muay Thai, etc. However, I do draw a fine line between defensive arts and combative arts. I would define a Defensive Art as an art which develops the physical, mental and to a degree, spiritual areas of a person in order to face an unarmed threat either by neutralizing the threat or by creating an opportunity for escape. Now although these arts have “unarmed vs. armed” techniques, they are not as effective and efficient as those practiced in Combative Arts such as those in Kali, Krav Maga, MCMAP, KAJUKENBO, etc. These systems have a combative mind set. And I would define a Combative Mindset as seeing a threat not just a situation to be neutralized and/or escaped but also having a life and death factor. Or, in easier terms, Kill or be killed. No half-assed techniques. No hesitations. The main thing that differentiates a Combat Art from a Self-Defense Art is precisely this mindset.
So…what happens when you put an inexperienced combatant in a competitive contact sport? Well…this:
My friend is the one in blue pants. He has since been banned from competing in his school until further notice.
Alrighty then! I just finished reading about soy being an alternative to whey protein as well viewing Manny Pacquiao’s core training video…
See, I don’t have a personal trainer or a coach for the Emerald Championship. So I’m busting my butt researching and trying out different workout routines and diets to hopefully improve my performance this year. Win or lose, I know I’m going to be a fitter and healthier person after this experiment.
This is the hand I’m currently dealt with:
- Tried Crossfit for more than a year
- Did and still occasionally do Bodyrock.
- Dabbled a bit in BJJ conditioning.
- Read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall.
- Read Never Gymless by Ross Enamait.
- Read 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferris.
- Viewed and reviewed Steve Cotter’s Kettlebell videos.
- Researched on Kettlbell training.
- Researched on Barefoot/ Minimalist Running.
- Scoured the net for various circuits (like the Tough Mudder routines, Gym Jones, Bruce Lee’s circuits, etc…)
With all these so-called research, I figured that there are 6 areas I need to focus on:
- Metabolic Conditioning
- Muscular Endurance/ Maximal Strength
- Explosive Strength/ Power
- Technical Training/ Agility
- Periodic Rest
- Diet and Nutrition
And after much thought, I figured my training sched’s going to be something like this:
- Sunday: Running (MetCon)
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: Kali Training (Technical/ Agility/ Power)
- Wednesday: Body Weight/ Free Weights Circuit/ Stickwork (Endurance/ Strength)
- Thursday: Rest
- Friday: Kettlebell/ Free Weights (Explosive Strength/ Power)
- Saturday: Kali Training (Technical/ Agility/ Power)
I might rotate some of the scheduled circuits save for the ones on Sundays, Tuesdays and Saturdays.Whew. It’s kind of hard to juggle training with work but I suppose it’s what makes the journey to the championship more meaningful. Man, I hope this works. See you on the other side.:)
It’s That Time Of the Year…Again.
Posted: August 22, 2011 in Martial ArtsTags: arnis, emerald championship, eskrima, esrima, kali, Mandirigmang Kaliradman, tournament
Once a year, my group holds a private tournament wherein players from different chapters of Mandirigmang Kaliradman meet and pit themselves against each until somebody is declared the champion. The Emerald Champion. His duty, which is whole year round, is to be the Sergeant-At-Arms of the group. If, by some bad luck, some idiot challenges the credibility of the group, it is the champion’s duty to defend the honor of the group. It’s also his duty to groom other players for next year’s tournament. Once his duty is done, and passes the wooden sword to the next champion, he would become part of the Council of Champions. There is no prize in this tournament, save for the bragging rights of being the bad ass of the year…and a bottle of rum.
This tournament would be my fourth. By the grace of God, hopefully, I’d win it this time. But until then, I’d be training my ass off. Here’s a short clip of last year’s match. Enjoy. 
