It’s that time again.. Tuhon Tim Waid fresh off the plane from his Philippines camp will be in the Bay Area for a seminar. Tuhon Tim will also be conducting 2 private seminars during the week for a Military and Police client in the area.

Not sure what Tim wants to cover this time but the material will be presented so that there is something for all levels - from absolute beginner to guys with several years experience. With several new groups popping up - mainly Oakland/Berkeley and Sacramento PTK is gaining steam in the Bay Area. Thanks to PTK-SF’s Larry Brown for taking the initiative to build these groups as well as organizing the seminars with Tim in April.

The new groups are learning fast and eager to learn PTK as a real combat art. They are ready to learn an art and the training methods that will prepare them for the streets. This system is unparalleled in it’s simple and practical approach to combat.

Tim will cover material from the Doce Methodos and Contradas portions of Pekiti Tirsia Kali.

We might even have some guys from PTK Socal and some from Texas as well come up to join the fun.

Here is an article from Combat Tactics a few years ago that was shot at Tim’s first seminar here. Right click and ‘Save Link As’ to save a copy.

For info on the seminar or Authentic Pekiti Tirsia Kali training in the bay area email ptksanfrancisco at g mail dot com for more info.

Thanks,

Mike

Last year Dino went in depth into the abecedario system as well as some advanced footwork methods.

This year Dino went into the method of Pekiti-Pekiti (’very’ close range - trapping/clinch range) as well as a meaty section on basic footwork, striking and blending the two. The material was presented so there was something for students of all levels.

The footwork section dealt mainly with broken footwork - the seemingly innocuous ‘boring’ movement we practice at the beginning of class.. because our teacher tells us to.. Turns out broken footwork is the most important footwork as it is the most fundamental footwork. Before you can step and move you have to be able to lift your leg and switch from right to left with perfect balance and fluidity. You have to be able to switch from a right to left lead (broken ‘double’) and lift your leg and set it back down (broken ’single’) perfectly before you can hope to have balance covering large distances. If you don’t have balance you won’t have timing or power.

This broken footwork coordination is fundamental to striking as well. Specifically generating power on a vertical axis. Being on balance and being able to sink or raise your body weight slightly to put your weight into a strike is a big part of hitting with power. The genius and wealth of knowledge in PTK is the unique footwork system which is designed specifically for blade fighting.

The footwork much like everything in PTK system is a ’system’. Wikipedia says a system is a “whole compounded of several parts or members, system”, literary “composition”. The parts are the basic rudiments - forward triangle, take off, ranging, etc.. each of which has a very specific purpose. Combined and executed together you have ‘footwork’ - the ability to move around. The ability to put yourself where you want to be and your opponent doesn’t want you to be. Using angular footwork you learn to execute attacks within various aspects of distance and timing.

To learn footwork or anything else we break it down into pieces and master them one by one. Dino helped us understand some of the more advanced and as well as enriching our understand of the basic footwork. The advanced, by the way, are just the basics done better and in combination. The advanced is the basic. If you want to advance - master the basics.

The thing that fascinates me about PTK footwork, beyond the ability to quarter people who don’t have this footwork at will, is the deceptiveness. Take the take off for example - you can use it to gain distance quickly and hit - on a basic level. On a more advanced level you can set up your opponent by faking one direction, drawing his reaction then going the other way. When dealing with more advanced guys who know how to fight you have to utilize tactics like this.

Footwork by itself is just the foundation. Next the student learns footwork coordinated with striking mechanics. Dino covered the most fundamental and important movements in the system - broken footwork with angles #1 and #2. It’s deceptively simple, but a key movement to master. Actually its the first movement you should master and one you would be well served to hone to perfection. If you can’t do a #1 or #2 with broken footwork how will you do it with other footwork? How will you be able to move and strike? This is the base from which to expand on.

The stick control we practiced using the partner’s arm develops control necessary later for more advanced training methods. If you don’t have to you won’t be able to mine the system later for it’s real dynamic knowledge. You can’t tech spar if you can’t control your stick. You have to be able to go almost full speed and stop an inch from your partner’s head. In the old days - in Grand Tuhon’s day they didn’t have sparring equipment, gloves, masks, etc.. They didn’t use rattan. They used Bahi. For this who don’t know Bahi is an extremely heavy dense hardwood - almost like iron. Grand Tuhon and his Grandfather Conrado Tortal trained full speed and power with Bahi, often in the dark. One mistake and you were missing an eyeball. Like Grand Tuhon says ‘a mistake is a blunder’. The mentality was - it’s not a blade - how could it hurt you? It puts a perspective on things.. the very serious issue of weapon control.

The same broken footwork and fluid diagonals drill emphasizes the 90 degree principle. The 90 degree principle is an essential protective component of a slash or strike. Among other things it yields optimal cover in counter offense while keeping the point always in play ready for close range. The 90 degree principle is one component of proper stick mechanics.

Dino also got conceptual on us by expanding ‘multiple attacks 1-6′ into a conceptual framework. It can be looked at as a classification or taxonomy of striking methods. Three of the attacks cross centerline, and three do not..etc, etc.. As part of the abecedario method you have a origination of all the striking methods in PTK.

Multiple Attacks 1-6
1. Jab
2. Takedown
3. Slash and thrust
4. Overhead jab
5. Uppercut
6. Close spacing

The Pekiti-Pekiti portion was probably a little too comprehensive for the newer people but was great to see a survey a lot of the fundamental elements in that method. Pekiti-Pekiti is like a whole art in itself. There is richness to it that make ‘hubud’ not even a cliff’s notes of what’s all there in PTK. In PTK it is all blade oriented and tactical verses just being a conceptual ‘energy drill’. Take one simple example: the trap. If you do a wing chun pak sao like trap verses a knife you will have no protection or control of the blade. The pak sao might keep him from punching you for s second but it won’t keep him from extending his arm toward your abdomen or leg (femoral artery) in a back hand fashion and cutting or worse stabbing you. The proper way is to apply the trap palm up controlling the elbow where you can keep him from extending his arm into your body. From the palm up trap position you can transition into an arm bar, elbow smash or out balance him and run. Wing Chun is empty hand trapping and works great for that application. PTK trapping is designed around specifically trapping a hand with a blade in it. Don’t confuse the two. You don’t want to take an empty hand art tactic to a knife fight.

Sometimes mixing arts can be dangerous especially if you only have a partial understanding of the art. There are lots of other examples of this - the knife jab, etc.. which I’ll cover talk about another time. Seemingly innocuous details are there for very specific reasons.

The lessons I always enjoy the most lately involve how/why the Doce Methodos are arranged as they are. It’s not always obvious at first. There are a lot of things in this art that are like a puzzle you have to put together to get full understanding. There is a lot of genius in there - it takes time to comprehend it all. Dino explained how often times one method prepares you for the next. They are arranged in a very specific sequence.

As Dino explained - to understand and learn this system you have to have several elements. One is the methods themselves. The 12 methods that make up the fundamentals of the system from a contact to contact stand point. You might not think you do but you will be missing something if you don’t. You also need the proper mindset. See Grand Tuhon for the best examples of this… he will toughen you up mentally and develop a warrior’s mindset, if there is one in there. He will also smarten you up, if you pay attention. The next thing you need is the training method. How do you train this stuff? In very specific detail laid out ways, piece by piece, broken down then re-integrated until you can do it all in a dynamic combative context.

The ‘thought provoking process’ as Grand Tuhon calls it, will allow smart people the ability to problem solve and explore using the elements of the system to find out how and where they all fit together. You will discover things on your own once you have the proper training method and technology.

Dino made it a point to demo on several different guys giving people the opportunity to ‘feel’ the technique. This is a very important aspect of training. You have to feel it to understand it. In long to close range you need to feel the timing and distance pressure and it really close range you have to feel by contact.

All in all everyone had a great time and learned a lot. Thanks again to Larry for arranging this right before heading off to the Philippines for an intense 9 day training camp with Tuhon Tim.

Mike, PTK-SF

- Trained with Grand Tuhon in Long Beach (Hosted by Meynard PTK SoCal)
- Hosted Tuhon Tim for a doble daga seminar in SF
- Hosted Tuhon Philip Gelinas in SF
- Trained with Guro Dino in the south bay (hosted by Cris PTK-SV)
- Trained with Tuhon Mel (hosted by Cris PTK-SV)
- Mike, Larry, Reggie and Freddie fought at Dog Brothers
- New authorized instructors: Ferd, Reggie and Larry
- Completed the PTK-CQC Instructor’s Certification in Dallas with Tuhon Tim
- Hosted Grand Tuhon Gaje in SF
- Trained with Grand Tuhon Gaje in Montreal BC at Tuhon Loki’s
- Added two new groups to the PTK-SF family: PTK Oakland (Larry) and PTK Peninsula (Ferd) with more to come in 2012!.. Special Thanks to Larry for his initiative and leadership. Special thanks to Ferd for starting PTK Peninsula.

Mike PTK-SF

p.s. new website with new content/photos/video/etc. coming in 2012…

Students from San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley and as far as Seattle WA were in attendance. There were also representatives from several Bay Area Law Enforcement Agencies.

This is the 2nd time PTKSF has hosted Tim Waid at the Ralph Gracie Jiu jitsu Academy. in Berkeley. Last June we had 9 people, this there were around 30. We are already almost at capacity for this seminar location. I’m pretty happy with that
kind of growth. People are starting to find out about us.

Again, I’d like to extend a very special thanks to Ralph Gracie, Big Dave, Pete, and Eduardo for use of their excellent gym -
Ralph Gracie Berkeley Academy.

At this seminar Tim refined some of the PTK foundation skills aspects from prior seminars - going further into the 5 attacks method. Mr. Waid emphasized aggressive footwork, striking mechanics, set ups and introduced Contradas.

After that it was on to 5 attacks with the knife - using a hockey mitt drill to develop accuracy. Using the mitt we explored the concepts of tirsia largo and tirsia corto trap position

Doce Methodos - Pasugot
Contradas - Pasunod / Pasagay

Mano y Daga lock flow - emphasizing realism and flowing out of the resistance or counter of one lock into the next. Several blade reversals or ‘return to sender’ thechniques were part of this flow as well. This lock flow provides a solid vocabulary of locking. More importantly this method shows how to use the resistance of one lock to help flow into the next.

The difference in the Filipino locking is in the flow from one lock to another. As any good grappler will tell you you have to be able to flow from one move to anohter. It’s the same thing when you are grappling standing up against a knife. If you can’t flow from one lock to another against a resisting opponent you got nothing.

Tim teaches realistic blade fighting - not to teach people how to do seminar/demos or youtube videos. He passes on the details of the Pekiti Tirsia system, the intellectual property that was taught to him by Grand Tuhon Gaje in the Philippines. This is true Filipino Blade Fighting as developed by Grand Tuhon’s ancestors through countless real life blade encounters. This is the art Grand Tuhon Gaje was trained in from childhood as a warrior by his grandfather Conrado Tortal. The art has resisted commercialization and remains a true combat fighting art.

Here are some testimonials of students who went attaneded the May 15/16 seminar.

“Excellent seminar. Tim Waids style of teaching is clear, succinct, and very dynamic. I came away with much to think about and a lot of material to practice. I also enjoyed Tims sense of humor. He said next seminar we’ll use live blades. Can’t wait.”

“I have been training in martial arts for over fifteen years, and when one experiences simplictity and clear application of technique it is always a blessing. Tim Waid is truly amazing in openly sharing his vast knowledge and experience to empower you with knowledge that may just save your life.”

“This is the second Tim Waid seminar I’ve attended and it was just as awesome as the first. I personally
feel he’s an excellent instructor in PTK; he’s patient and exacting, making sure you understand the techniques and its applications before going further. Maginoo Tim Waid goes around and personally does partner drills with everyone and stays with you until you got it before moving to help another student, which to me is pretty amazing because it was a really large group.

We count ourselves very fortunate to have an PTK combat instructor like Maginoo Tim to come and teach this seminar in the Bay area. The same intensity in training can be found regularly in Mike’s classes on wednesdays and saturdays. I highly recommend anyone who can make it to attend his classes as well.

Pekiti Tirsia Kali is not sport… it is lethal and efficient combat.”

I recently purchased my first live-blade ginunting from Pekiti Tirsia Kali Organizer. Manufactured by Top Prado’s Shop in the Philippines, I gotta say I’m quite proud to own such a weapon. I’ve been practicing the system of Pekiti Tirsia Kali for several months now and as my understanding of the philosophy and tactics of this system develop, so does my understanding why this elegant weapon is a favorite of the Pekiti Tirsia Kali warrior.

The ginunting is the signature weapon of the Pekiti Tirsia Kali System and is a blade style that originated from the Visayan Islands of the Philippines. It is also a standard issue close-quarter combat weapon of the Philippine Marine Corps and Scout Rangers, who are trained in Pekiti Tirsia Kali.

This particular type is commonly known as a Force Recon Combat Ginunting, but I like to refer to it as a Prado Ginunting, since the blade and handle style was designed by Sergeant Manuel S. Prado Jr. For those unfamiliar with who he is watch the kali episode of Discovery’s “Fight Quest” TV show, whom Doug Anderson was assigned to fight. At the conclusion of the episode, Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr. presents Doug with one of Prado’s very own ginuntings as a gesture of friendship and brotherhood. Sgt. Prado is himself an active Force Recon Marine and master combat instructor of the Philippine Marine Corps.

Shortly after receiving my ginunting I had a brief conversation with Sgt. Prado via facebook chat (he’s on a tour of duty in Israel). According to him, he’s been developing and perfecting this blade and handle design for the last 20 or so years. Truly a warrior’s weapon designed and made by a real Filipino warrior.

The Blade
Many modern ginuntings are either straight or have varying degrees of (forward) curvature. I personally prefer curved blades and this Prado Ginunting’s forward curvature is slightly more pronounced at the blade’s ricasso - as if it is purposely designed to really “bite” down into its targets. The blade itself is 18 inches long, hand forged from spring leaf (molle) steel with a cutting edge that is scary sharp. The tip is pointed just how I like it and its back edge is sharpened as well, perfect for that raking action we do when thrusting or retracting the weapon. I definitely wouldn’t want to be at the receiving end of this thing. The blade’s tang runs full within the handle, giving it a nice balance. However, it is a non-stainless metal and its carbon content (I don’t know how high) makes it susceptible to corrosion, so one needs to be diligent about keeping it well oiled and maintained. The blade surface has a low glare finish to it. It will impress not with its looks, but with its performance and durability.

The Handle
The handle is handcrafted from kamagong wood. When I first held it, I was amazed how the wood seems to bind to my hand. I love the notches on the handle as well – not only does it look cool, it also feels very comfortable and improves my grip on the blade. It’s an amazing design in ergonomics.

The Scabbard/Sheath
The scabbard is also fashioned out of kamagong wood, same as the handle. The craftsmanship is beautiful overall. The sword is securely held and doesn’t rattle inside, nor would it accidentally “slip out” if held upside down with the sword in it. It actually takes a bit of effort to unsheathe the ginunting, but not much. The owner must take care not to store it in a cold environment, as kamagong apparently prefers warm, dry temperatures. The other side of the scabbard is plain and flat - I’m actually thinking about having an engraver carve in the 3 tenets of Pekiti Tirsia philosophy (We Believe In Life, Not Death. We Believe In Success, Not Failure. We Believe In Health, Not Sickness).

Conclusion
This is one hell of a sexy weapon. I especially love the craftsmanship on the handle and scabbard – I’m an artist so I particularly look for features that are aesthetically pleasing even in weaponry. It’s got nice weight to it, but it’s still light enough to be highly maneuverable and in the hands of a PTK master, quite deadly indeed. One can’t help but respect such a weapon. I’m extremely proud to own this as my first live ginunting, but it’s certainly not my last.

As for customer service, in my opinion Pekiti Tirsia Kali Organizer was excellent. They shipped the ginunting to me extremely fast all the way from The Philippines to Redwood City, CA. They were very patient and helpful in answering all my questions concerning their products. I recommend purchasing one of their ginuntings, as well as their other bladed products while supplies last. They don’t have a site yet, but you can find Pekiti Tirsia Kali Organizer on facebook and “like” their page so you can be updated on upcoming products. They offer ginuntings with blade lengths of 17, 18, and 19 inches, as well as dahong palays and talibongs. However, supplies are limited so it’s first come, first serve.

Stay tuned for a video review coming soon.

- Ferd

The seminar was a great success. My students had a great time and learned a lot as did I. Tactically the most important aspect for me personally was the footwork portion. A couple years ago Tim (Waid) told me that the broken footwork links all the other footwork together. Ok .. I took his word for it but it was still a little conceptual to me. I didn’t understand the real application of this fact until this weekend. Now it makes perfect sense in application. It’s something I’ve seen in the art a lot from Tim, Grand Tuhon and a few other people but hadn’t really figured out (or been formally taught). It turns out broken footwork - the most initially boring, seemingly simple thing you learn in the footwork system - is the literal glue that not only ties the other footwork patterns together, but it enables you to *change* from one pattern/direction or energy to any other at any time. It also opens up a world of body feinting using broken footwork to fake one direction, draw the reaction, then go the other direction. Football, basketball, etc. players do this all the time. In video of Grand Tuhon Gaje from the 80’s you see a lot of this footwork feinting combined with quick take offs. This footwork involves very quick stepping and fast direction changes. It’s the kind of footwork you want to have when someone is swinging a weapon toward your face.

Dino filled in some more gaps in my knowledge with regards to some knife basics. The abecedario system was also detailed and had a lot more in it than what I had seen before. Dino covered the alternate grip systems and attacks when the opponent might not be facing you. Lots of very applicable drills.

I was really excited to see so many of my guys show up for this seminar. They are starting to get some of basics now and lay a solid foundation of realistic combat skills. The solid foundation is the key to everything. If the foundation is weak guys will stay at the same level for years - just learning ‘more stuff’. If the foundation is developed honestly, and continually improved and maintained.. that’s how you get good at a martial art - having a rock solid foundation’.

Thanks Dino for helping us build that foundation.

Check out Dinos’ website, or just listen to the music.. Florida PTK

Mike

2010 flashback:

• Attended Training Camp in the Philippines in February
• Hosted Grand Tuhon for an awesome seminar
• Hosted Mandala Tim Waid
• Went to Tuhon’s seminar in Dallas
• Cris (PTK-SV) hosted Tim Waid and Dino Martinez and Mandala Rommel Tortal

Looking forward to 2011:

• Dog Brothers in September
• Possible BIG demo in June
• Kali ‘back to basics’ boot camp invite only training
• More seminars with the best instructors in the world
• Harder training for all PTK-SF

This year will be a big year for PTK SF. The guys are training hard. I expect explosive growth in skill this year to be accomplished through hard work and direct access to the best instruction available anywhere.

Here we go…

Shoulder flexibility limitations can impede proper chambering making you start your strike start from a compromised position. The end result is a weak strike. For example when you throw a number two (backhand downward diagonal) you should end up in a number three chamber. A lot of time guys with tight shoulders will have a problem getting the full range of motion here. Their number two stops about 70-80% way through and ends in a jerk. Without the full range of motion striking movement can be jerky. Instead what you want is a smooth transition (sometimes referred to as ‘bridging’ to the next strike) from the angle two to the angle three. You want a full range of motion to be able to strike with full power. When you feel that jerky motion - what is often happening is your shoulder is too tight and the tissues (muscle/tendon, ligament, etc) have reached the end of their range of motion too soon. This basically stops the momentum of your strike. The leftover energy from this abrupt stoppage has to go some where is absorbed through your shoulder which over time will cause shoulder problems.

How to fix jerky strikes? Increase flexibility and strengthen…

First always get a good warm up and don’t rush into hard exercise. You want to break a sweat before doing a lot of repetitions.

Here are some stretches I’ve found that work for me. I’m not an exercise physiologist or physical therapist.. So as always if you have shoulder issues go see a Doctor and a good physical therapist. To avoid going to the Doctor - try these stretches..

In most of these stretches I’m using gymnastic rings strapped to a pull up bar. If you can’t put up a pull up bar or rings just get a length of rope or nylon webbing, tie a knot in it and shut it in the top of a door. For the ‘handle’ make a loop in the rope or you can even use a small piece of PVC pipe.

For 2 of the stretches I’m using an exercise band. It’s basically a giant rubber band. These are great for shoulder stretching because you can work in some strengthening work at the end range of your stretch. It’s also has a more dynamic feel than the fixed rings.

Stretch 1 : Arm strait overhead lean forward..

Stretch 2 : Arm bent over head.. same thing with arm bent

Stretch 3 : Number one chamber .. like you are flexing your bicep - let the ring pull your arm to the rear.

Can also be done with a band:

Stretch 4 : Around the head

Stretch 5 : Number three chamber - this is a great one.

Stretch 6 : Chest stretch

Stretch 7 : ‘Hammer’ lock position behind back with band.. this one is GREAT. It’s kinda hard to see - but my arm is bent behind my back like a hammer lock.

Here is one of my favorites for strengthening/rehab’ing the rotator cuff: Mountain Athlete Shoulder exercise

I’ve learned a lot of stuff over the past year or so from Kelly Starret over at Crossfit San Francisco. Check out his blog at: Kelly’s Mobility WOD Blog. Highly recommended.

So what are you waiting for? get stretching…

Mike

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I wish I could accurately describe the awesomeness of this seminar… There are teachers, there are fighters and there are technicians. It’s rare to meet someone who is a master of all three. It’s even more rare to find one who is one of the last living grand masters of authentic Filipino blade fighting who was trained as a warrior from childhood.

This seminar was physically challenging for most people. With Grand Tuhon you are going to work out. If you aren’t fit you can’t fight - it’s that simple. The PTK philosophy is “We believe in Life, Health and Success’. If you believe in health how does that apply to daily life? You get healthy through a good diet and exercise. This wasn’t one of those seminars that was an academic study of concepts and watered down techniques. This was one where you work. People got the idea real quick.

We worked a lot of fundamentals with everyone coming away with a better understanding of their knife basics. The advanced is to thoroughly understand the basics. Grand Tuhon also covered some ground fighting against a knife. What happens if you fall during a knife fight? You better have a strategy and some tactics to keep fighting.

Grand Tuhon went into the Tri V formula approach to single stick as we worked through some loading and attack strategies with footwork. Tuhon also showed an advance usage of one of the combinations that was pretty sweet. This is something you can learn and go use in sparring immediately. He doesn’t always give stuff away like that. Pay attention and you can come away with a jewel. This art is unveiled as you are ready to see the next layer. I learn totally new stuff every time I see Grand Tuhon. All the basics have advanced applications - usually set ups, misdirection or broken rhythm attacks. This is where the real art lies. But you have to master the basics before you can comprehend the advanced. You have to understand rhythm before you can break the rhythm. You have to understand wide motions before you can pull off the tight ones. Direction before misdirection… etc.

My favorite part of the seminar was the counter for counter portion. Grand Tuhon taught a series of counter for counters off a couple entries we were working on that was all part of a flow drill. The idea Grand Tuhon was trying to get across is for every counter there is another counter and you have to learn to flow. This is a very dynamic art. Flow drills are great because you get a lot of repetition. I don’t know who said it but they said ‘The first law of learning is repetition’.

My real favorite part was having Tuhon demo advanced stick/blade counters on me. That was some good stuff..

Due to the large Filipino contingent in the group Grand Tuhon lectured on the history, culture and philosophy of Kali. Many of the students got to talk with Grand Tuhon off to the side and take pictures with him - which I enjoyed seeing.

Everyone came away with a feeling of pride and a sense of accomplishment and a reinvigorated desire to train.

Grand Tuhon also mentioned something about the upcoming filming of a National Geographic TV special on PTK.. stay tuned..

To see the full set of photos look here.