Hello Sifu,<br> I enjoyed your article about
training in France. Now if I visit France I know who to
ask for a place to train up there. I also enjoyed the
sports medicine/fitness section. <br> What that article
said is true about the importance of eating especially
after a workout. Besides the carbs its also important
to eat about 25 to 30g of protein to give the muscle
enough amino acid for recovery and growth.<br> That's
why if I hang out after training I always tell my
friends " this place better have food." :)<br> God
Bless.<br> Ozzie.

Great article, Sifu.  I'll remember your description of the training in France,
next time I feel too tired to train for even an hour.

Hey,<br> That's really cool!!! He did cross over.
What<br> and honor. In fact in the film " Unbreakable"<br>
they made a Bruce Lee reference :)<br> God Bless<br>
Ozzie.

They have the TV's here on credit suisse first
boston on to msnbc all the time. They're always talking
about stocks, the presidency, etc.<br><br>Then, as I'm
talking to my co-worker, I see the words "Master Bruce
Lee" flash across the screen. I thought "what the...?"
And then they show a bit of the "Lost Interview!!"
They showed the part where he says "now...I don't want
to ruin any camera angles...(then he punches and
punches) you've got to put the whole hip into it AND snap
it! ...so that you can turn your fist into a
weapon."<br><br>Then the scene changes and the word "Translation:"
shows up, then they start talking about powering up
your financial abilities on the net using
citycorp.com! Amazing!! Bruce has really crossed
over!!<br><br>When I exclaimed to my co-worker "That's my guy!!" she
said "oh...you know him?"<br><br>Ah well. Maybe he
hasn't crossed over yet. But it just goes to show how
far the man and his image has come along.

The new ARSIC newsletter is out and features our
seminar, some pictures of our guys and an article by yours
truly.<br><br>Visit it at
:<br><br><a
href=http://members.bellatlantic.net/~eynard/A_R_S_I_C__Savate_historical_plate.\
html
target=new>http://members.bellatlantic.net/~eynard/A_R_S_I_C__Savate_historical_\
plate.html</a>

Tang lung:Being yourself is the correct response,
I think.we try to emulate someone else,a Jordan or
a Sugar Ray Leonard etc.They are great role models
in which to keep a dream or passion burning in front
of you.but you need to be you.this is why people
have different views on JKD, cause each one is it's
own unique structure of ideas, tactics, perceptions
etc.I can not "BE" tang lung,(shucks) but can utilize
his beliefs and actions to help my training and
attributes.to discover different
philosophies,cultures,lifestyles and perhaps, incorporate some of what we see
and
hear from others who are positive in our lives.Doesn't
it sound great if we all be just like sifu?,I do not
think that would make us grow to be ourselves, we would
be rolled out, like on an assembly line. (although
we'd be damn good at fighting)To be yourself means to
accept what the good and bad are, and to allow others to
share in that.To me, that is the first step in my
development for being a better fighter and a better person.
(P.S.-Tang Lung: foward me your receipe for the ladies, this
I have to see) :) Barry

...and be yourself. Sounds simple, but far from
easy! Think about it: "how can I be myself?" In all my
studies (acting, JKD, eastern philosophy, etc.) I seem to
keep coming up with the same answer: be
yourself.<br><br>That's the bottom line on being a human being. Now, as
for impressing the ladies...heh, I'll email that to
you my friend. ;)

This is pretty personal, but I know you guys <br>
for almost a year, and you've earned my trust and
respect through all our times of hard training, THE TEST,
seminars, traveling together, <br>and competitions. Sifu
usually tells us to glove up when we want to test what we
learned either during class or tournaments.<br> Well for
me now its time to glove up in the dating game. I
know it sounds amusing and corny. I've had lousy luck
with my past girlfriends and the last one, which broke
up with me last February, really hurt me. I've
carried this burden from these experiences which kept me
from being confident enough to meet a woman. My close
friends told me that this is something that is missing
from my life. I'm not out looking for a wife, but a
friend. Who knows what may happen?<br> I may attend, a
singles dance on Friday, after class. Its held every
Friday night in Secaucus, 8pm to 1am, so I'm able to go
after training.( of course after I use the shower at
the school, I'm pretty funky after class) I know that
some of you guys are happily married, some have
girlfriends, or some just dating. Any advice?<br> Thanks
guys.<br> Ozzie.

Ozzy:<br><br>"TANG LUNG YOU'RE A BRAVE
MAN!!!!!!"<br><br>Buddy, you have NO idea. :)<br><br>Speaking about
fighting and emotions, I read an interview with Sakuraba
on the UG, and he said that emotional fighters (guys
who are amped emotionally from the very beginning)
lose their composure more easily when experiencing a
direct attack. Whereas a poker-faced fighter like Saku
doesn't give anything away.<br><br>But that's where my
question really lies. What do we do about emotions when
we're fighting? Do we just accept them and mask them no
matter what, or express them and use them to fuel our
fighting resolve and perhaps even frighten our opponent (a
la Musashi)? That's just where I am, right now.

I agree Sifu,<br> To do something about a fight
is to end it. And you're right about BJJ. It doesn't
matter if it has "rules". The point is, don't look at it
as a style or sport, but a range. I felt comfortable
doing the Kina Mutai drills at Vo's workshop, from the
constant rolling and drilling done at BJJ. To be able to
bite, submit, or strike one has to acheive a dominant
position.<br> Savate is a nice long range to control a fight
i.e. doing chasse or coup de bais ( did I spell it
right? ) against a good striker.

TANG LUNG YOU'RE A BRAVE MAN!!!!!!!!!!<br>         Congratulations on being in
the play.<br>     I would try to go see it. :)

...well, not actually. <br><br>WHAT: "Works in
Progress: An Actor's Scene Showcase" - a night of scenes
from plays ranging from comedy to drama, drama to
musical, Shakespeare to Strindberg<br><br>WHEN: Saturday,
December 16th (Time TBD)<br>WHERE: Jim Bonney's Acting
Studio, 134 West 26th Street (between 7th and 6th
Avenues)<br>HOW MUCH: $10 for an hour and a half of love,
jealousy, murder, and treachery!<br><br>I'm in 2
scenes:<br><br>1) Shakespeare's "Richard III"<br><br> - I'm wooing
the wife of the man whom I've murdered, while she is
lamenting the death of her father-in-law (whom I've ALSO
murdered).<br><br>2) Strindberg's "Miss Julie"<br><br> - A servant
(me) is being seduced by his employer's daughter while
her father is away.<br><br>We hope you all can make
it!!<br><br>For info, call: 212-604-4590.

I just recently answered a similar
question:<br><br>Pretty much, everything and anything we do in the
martial arts is doing "something about" the fight, not
really "a FIGHT" per se. You can try and recreate the
emotional environment as much as you can, but it's never
all we need it to be, is it? It's good to isolate
skills and attributes separately, then incorporate them
(all high level athletes do this), but in the long
run, it's all about that one nanosecond when you need
to fight or flight, jab or duck that will tell you
where you really are. It's all about familiarity; not
just with attack, defense, etc. but becoming
comfortable with the "adrenaline", "fear", etc.<br><br>You
need to include training to simulate and develop the
physiological aspects of THE FIGHT (whatever that encounter may
be) and there are drills to graft this "emotional
content" into your fighting.<br><br>I will add that this
is why the competitive sport aspects of combat
training is NOT to be completely downplayed as
"unrealistic" or "not real enough". There will be many martial
arts aficionados who will avoid competitive matches
(of whatever kind) claiming their "art" is too deadly
or their techniques are street-lethal and not for
the ring. No one should kid themselves. Before you
worry about the fight-stopping eye jab or the universal
groin kick, try and land a hand or foot on an unwilling
opponent with 12oz gloves on! Before you write off
jiu-jitsu or groundwork as "vulnerable" to your biting and
eye gouging, get on the mat and roll with a good
Brazilian jiu-jitsu man and develop the positioning and
control to affect those "dirty tricks".

I once read that Bruce Lee said that the proper
emotional disposition of a fighter in a streetfight is
"controlled anger." <br><br>Personally, I go through the
whole spectrum, from elation (when I'm in long range
and scoring), to fear (when I'm being attacked by 3
guys), to amusement (when rolling), to detachment (knife
sparring). the only time I feel closest to "rage" is when I
do kina muthai drills. All I see is red, when I do
those drills. <br><br>My question is: how important is
it to be aware of our emotions in training? How can
we make better use of our emotions? and what
"should" we be feeling, if there is such a thing, when we
are fighting?

Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving
Thursday.You all deserve a break.All of you work very hard in
class and during the seminars. You know you are getting
tired when you try to leg lock the turkey drumstick! So
it's good we take a little break. Have a nice holiday
see ya next week. SENSEI MARK

To Sifu, Simo, and my JKD Brethren:<br><br>I hope
you all enjoy a warm and lovely thanksgiving this
year with family and friends. This is the time of the
year when we reflect on the blessings we've received
from God and our family and friends. So just to get
you guys started, here's what I'm thankful for so
far:<br><br>10) Paul Vunak did not use me for his Kina Muthai
demo at the seminar<br><br>9) My wife has forgiven me
for using the ironing board as a make-shift wooden
dummy<br><br>8) Savate is STILL at 7:15 on Mondays<br><br>7)
B.O.B. doesn't hit back, and always has a friendly,
welcoming demeanor when I train with him. We should take
after his courageous example.<br><br>6) Sifu decided
against renaming the ECJKD to "School of the Testy
Vermin"<br><br>5) I hit myself with the nunchakus only when no one
is looking<br><br>4) I finally learned how to tie my
sash<br><br>3) I don't have to bite my way through a piece of
raw meat for the ng kup<br><br>2) I have a legitimate
excuse to go to the specialty shops on times square, as
they also carry martial arts videos<br><br>...And the
thing I'm most thankful for this Thanksgiving
is:<br><br>1) I lost my purple shorts

HEY !!! I spoke with sifu last night to exchange
stories on the seminar and tournament,etc. and I was very
happy (BUT not surprised)that our guys placed and
brought home more medals for us to see. GREAT JOB GUYS!!
wont get into the seminar here and now, but keep in
the back of your minds what a gem it is to work with
sifu.can he be the "HOPE DIAMOND" of martial arts? he
makes sense when he says to try different people etc.
"SIFU FOR PRESIDENT!!!" Barry

WOW!! I'm so proud of our guys!! I'm sure I'm
going to see most everyone tonight at savate, so I'll
get the scoop from them then.<br><br>Congratulations
to everyone that participated!<br><br>Rolando

All our guys did a great performance at the
ROYLER GRACIE BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU CHAMPIONISHIPS this
Sunday (NOV 12th).<br>Everyone placed and came home with
a medal!<br><br>All of our matches were technical
and very, very close (sometimes by only one point or
Advantage!).<br><br>Congratulations to all our fighters:<br><br>-James
Bedrossian
(who beat a Judo Black Belt!)<br>-Michael
Byrnes<br>-Ozzie Rodriguez<br>-Conrado Martinez<br><br>Our team
keeps getting stronger and stronger, better and better!

Hello Tang,<br> I think that when Sifu asked me
more than once if I was going to test, then he wanted
me to do it. I didn't decide to take the test, until
the Friday before. This is because Simo told me that
if you train hard then there should be no problem of
testing consecutively. My Sensei ( an open minded woman
who I work with on Saturdays) encouraged me and told
me that it is an honor. Don't put the hard work to
waste. Even though the test was TOUGH, I felt I have
done better in this one than my first. Again I felt
great at the end, know what I have to fix, showered had
a good meal, and FELL ASLEEP IN FRONT OF THE TV
LOL!!!<br> Thank you Sifu for the opportunity!!<br> God
Bless.<br> Ozzie.

Rolando and Sifu,<br> I totally agree with both
of you<br> We are to busy training and learning
about<br> life than to worry about politics. If we worry
about p[olitics then we'll be to busy recounting our
ballots ( hello Florida :) ) than<br>training.<br> Take
care and God Bless,<br> Ozzie.

I actually wanted to post this before the test,
but I wanted to wait. <br><br>Sifu Armando likes to
say to his students that the ECJKD test is simply an
"assessment" of where we are on our personal paths in martial
study. These tests do make us aware of where we are on
the path...along with what car we're driving, what
make, that we need a tune-up, and that we're out of
gas!<br><br>A few days before my recent test, I seriously had
to ask myself: "why am I doing this? why am I going
to put myself through this?" Sleepless nights, hard
training, accidentally hitting my wife while she's asleep
add up after a while ("honey, I wasn't choking you, I
was hugging you. now go back to bed..."). All the
anxiety, all the sweating, the fear...for what?<br><br>The
answer was simple: because I wouldn't be training at
ECJKD if it didn't offer this kind of
"assessment."<br><br>Think about it: we've all trained at different schools.
These schools tests and assessments range from knowing
certain forms, to point-sparring, to free-sparring, etc.
But somehow, our paths brought us to a school where
the test curriculum says 3 on 1, 2 on 1,
knife-sparring, all-out sparring, range to range sparring, and
groundfighting. I thought to myself "Couldn't I have just gone to
some school where all I had to do was do a form, spar
a bit, do a few drills, then collect my new rank?"
<br><br>The answer is no. Why? Because something that is
particular to us (Tony, Carlos, Ozzy, Luke, me, etc.)
couldn't accept such a "rank" after such a "test." It
wouldn't be TRUE to what we know fighting to be. It may be
true to OTHERS, but not tous. Somehow, perhaps in some
deep-seated, barbaric gene lurking in our dna, there's
something that says "no" to this type of assessment.
Somehow, we feel that fighting has to be hard, rough,
sweaty...and scary.<br><br>These tests, in fact, don't only
reveal "where" we are in our paths as JKD students. More
importantly, they reveal WHO we are as individuals. After
having 3 skilled fighters running after you around the
mat, taking you down, kicking you on the ground, "win"
or "lose", you leave the school with a certain
knowledge of yourself no other experience can give you. To
me, this is the true virtue of such a
test.<br><br>So, next time Sifu Armando comes up to you and says
"I think you should test", keep the butterflies at
bay. For ultimately, this test is more than an
assessment. It is a coveted honor.

Well said Tang Lung!<br>Next time someone trys to take you down this path of
futility ask them to <br><br>"Glove up, Gi up, or SHUT UP!"

Here's another story about a martial arts
daughter kicking behind:<br><br>Felicissimo Dizon is a
legend in escrima circles. The famed escrimador was
called "demonyo ng manila" - demon of manila, because of
his unequalled death match record. Another nickname
for his was "Dizon Anytime" - meaning he'll fight you
anytime.<br><br>My father had the opportunity to train with him for
a couple of years. As my father relates it to me,
he acted a lot like those old kung-fu masters from
the hong kong movies: very quiet, unassuming, prone
to saying silly things, but DEADLY when he starts
training.<br><br>So anyhow, a colleague of Dizon's told my dad that
Dizon had 3 kids: 2 boys, and 1 girl, all trained by
him.<br><br>As the story goes, the girl (about 16 at the time)
was walking back home on a deserted road (this is out
in the province) when 3 men came up to her. As they
were doing the usual intimidation tactics, she busted
out the stick (leave it to an escrimador's daughter
to have a stick handy on a deserted road). When the
men realized that she was actually gonna fight
back...they jumped her.<br><br>To make a long story short,
she killed 2 of them, while the other ran off, and
she went home unharmed. <br><br>Makes you feel like
training kali and booking a flight to Manila, doesn't it?

...JKD politics that is. Just looking at my
schedule (voo's seminar, virginie's seminar, savate
assault tourney in january...), I can now honestly say
that I'm TOO BUSY TRAINING to be yammering about "JKD
this or that."<br><br>Anyone who does just has too
much free time on their hands

Your daughter is a shining example of what self
defense is all about. I hope her ribs are okay. Wow,
that's awsome! I agree, maybe getting put in his place
is going to help this boy in the long run (as well
as society at large) by letting him know that such
antisocial behavior isn't going to cut it.<br><br>If I ever
have children I hope that they can be as brave as your
daughter.<br><br>Rob

This is from Brad Hatcher, BJJ and Karate
instructor.<br><br>"My 13 yr old daughter was attacked at school by a 14
yr old boy who out weighed her by 40 pounds. My
daughter is 5'0" and about 85 pounds the boy is about 5'7"
and 125 pounds. He has been saying bad stuff to her
since last year, like he was going to rape her and then
calling her a bithch as well as othre things. <br><br>A
few weeks ago she was out side on the play ground and
this boy kept on bothering her. We have been to the
school over this boy several times already. She told him
to get out of her face, he was staying in her face
and calling her names and putting his nose up against
hers. She put out her elbow and nudged him away and
then turned her back and walked off. When she turned
the boy tackled her and tried to take her down.
<br><br>My daughter has trained in Karate and Jiu-Jitsu
since she was about 7 yrs old. She posted her hands
forward and kept him from pushing her down on her face
and then did a sit out and threw him down. He then
hit her in the ribs once or twice, she blacked his
punches to her face. She then kicked him 2-3 times in the
balls and then hit him with a left hook and knocked him
out. <br><br>The teachers saw the whole fight and
could not get to them in time to break it up. I was
told they had to wake the boy up ,but he was ok. There
is a female principal and she gave my daughter hell,
she told her she could of hurt the boy, and that she
had killed his self esteem. I don't know what she was
thinking. <br><br>This boy could grow up and be a rapist or
woman beater. Maybe now that he has gotten his butt
handed to him, he may learn to respect girls.
<br><br>Now all the students at her 1400 kid school think my
daughter is the toughest person at school since this boy
was one of the bullies and tough guys there."

Ozz: that description of Bugs and the Crusher was
a perfect analogy of what I was feeling,LOL Sensei
Mark was awesome in making us work and think about
what is going to be the next correct move,thanks again
to Sensei Mark ! Barry

REMINDER: we'll all be up in Brooklyn this weekend for a semianr with Paul
Vunak.  I'm hoping everyone will be able to make it out.<br><br>There will be NO
CLASSES at EC JKD on SUNDAY NOV 12th.

Rolando, thanks for the kind words. You and
everyone involed with the test are in my opinion
incredible "real time" fighters. The amount of skill that
you guys put forth is a great credit to you and
Armando. Stay on the path cause the journey is alot more
fun than the destination.<br><br> Peace and
blessings,<br><br> Norman