Dear fencers,

>The Humboldt State University Fencing Club in Arcata, California is pleased to
announce that November 11 and 12, we will be hosting a two day self-defense
seminar with Maestro James Loriega of Raven Arts Institute. This seminar will
cover a wide range of self-defense situations, from avoiding and de-escalating
potential encounters through physical defenses against unarmed and armed
attackers. The material will include considerations for knives, sticks,
improvised weapons and more. The aim of this seminar is to provide participants
with an understanding of self-defense as it applies in real-world situations.
This seminar is open to all skill levels.
>
>The cost of this seminar is $125 per person. Please contact Antone Blair at
(707) 826-0573 or email sildar1@... to reserve your space; you must
contact Antone Blair before the seminar in order for your space to be
guaranteed.
>
>About the Instructor:
>
>James Loriega began his formal edged weapons training in 1967 when he embarked
on a lifelong study of martial arts with Ronald Duncan. In the mid-70s, after
achieving various instructor-level ranks in Asian systems, Loriega gained his
first exposure to the Western martial traditions under the tutelage of Maitre
Michel Alaux, a former coach to the US Olympic Fencing Team. It was from Maitre
Michel Alaux, and his assistant at the time, Ms. Julia Jones, that Loriega
learned the rudiments of epee and saber.
>
>In September of 1980, Loriega founded the New York Ninpokai, the city?s
premiere training academy for the traditional arts of ninjutsu. In 1990, while
conducting ninjutsu seminars in Spain, Loriega discovered the acero sevillano
knife arts of Andalusia. These arts include the use of the cuchillo (knife),
pu?al (stiletto), bast?n de estoque (sword cane), bast?n de paseo (walking
stick), and navaja (clasp knife). His summers from 1991 to 1996 were spent in
Seville learning the intricacies of these Andalusian arts.
>
>In August of 1996, Loriega received certification as an instructor de Armas
Blancas Sevillanas under Maestro de Armas Santiago Rivera, then headmaster of
the Escuela Sevillana de Armas Blancas. At this time he also completed his first
translation of Manual del Baratero.
>
>Since 1996, has operated a recognized branch of the Escuela Sevillana in New
York City known as the Raven Arts Institute.
>
>In September of 2000, following the publication of Sevillian Steel, Loriega was
formally acknowledged as a Maestro de Armas Blancas Sevillanas.
>
>In January of 2002, Loriega was inducted into the International Masters-at-Arms
Federation (IMAF), where he is recognized for his mastery of the navaja and
other Andalusian edged weapons. Based in Milan, Italy, the mission of the IMAF
is ?to preserve, study, practice and teach the martial Arts of the western world
heritage. Furthermore, it is the intention of the IMAF to function as a guild of
professional teachers in keeping with the tradition and heritage of arms.?
>
>Loriega?s extensive writings have appeared in mainstream martial arts
publications such as Black Belt, Warriors, Ninja, and Tactical Knives. His first
book, Sevillian Steel: The Traditional Knife-Fighting Arts of Spain, (1999
Paladin Press) presents an overview of the edged weapons culture, styles, and
strategies of this western martial tradition.
>
>A second book, Scourge of the Dark Continent, outlines the history and martial
applications of the African sjambok (a rod-like whip made from rhinoceros hide.)
>
>Loriega?s third book is the annotated English-language translation of the 19th
century Manual del Baratero, published in March 2005 by Paladin Press.
>
>Today, Maestro Loriega continues to travel and to train, in addition to
offering instruction at the Raven Arts Institute, where courses are available in
the use of the folding knife, stiletto, sword-cane, walking stick, improvised
weaponry, and unarmed combatives.
>




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