The first half of June was my vacation time, and man, was it
rock ‘n ‘roll! So much training and so many seminars in only two weeks give the
true meaning to the phrase “active vacation”. Let’s go in a chronological
manner…
Lameco Astig Combatives in Holland
On June 1 I flew to
Amsterdam
for a seminar with guro Roger Agbulos, with whom you should be
familiar
by now. The seminar was set for Saturday, but I met with guro Roger and his
wife Rosie, as well as a new friend Jojo Balinado, the day before. After having
the dinner together, we all moved to kuya Roger’s hotel room to talk martial
arts, and even have a training session.
 |
| Bothering guro Roger with questions :-) |
On Saturday we headed off for the seminar, held in
Leiderdorp and hosted by William Paardekooper in his Kapap Center.
With participants from Germany
and Holland,
along with yours truly, everything was ready to go.
Guro Roger opened up with his take on empty-handed defense
against knife, with special emphasis on sound physics of the techniques shown
and on the functionality over aesthetics. The control of the opponent’s knife
hand and ways to deal with it was a novelty to me, and it made so much sense
that included it immediately in my own training, including the modifications to
the methods I had been already practicing and found reliable.
 |
| Holdup! |
Next, we moved to knife vs. knife work. Again, adamant about
functional skills, drills and their applications. Guro Roger covered both
forward and reverse/ice-pick grips, and without going into too much details
(hard to convey in writing anyway), I will just say that his mode of working
the hubud drills has reinstalled my belief in that sort of training, and made
me go back to doing it regularly.
Finally, the focus was shifted to working with the stick and
its essential qualities – power mechanics, non-telegraphing hitting, distance
control and merging the defense with offense. This segment of work, just like
the knife, was complemented with sparring sessions, in order to appreciate the
functionality of the material demonstrated. Being on the receiving end of guro
Roger’s attacks leaves one with mixed feelings – being overwhelmed and inspired
at the same time.
Besides being an awesome instructor, guro Roger also has
incredibly pleasant personality and a great sense of humor, so I am most
definitely looking forward to the next opportunity to train in Lameco Astig
methods with the founder himself.
Physical preparation for fighters in Belgrade, Serbia
Among the people who are seriously involved with functional
fitness and training for fighting, the name of Steven Maxwell is a household
name. On June 7, I had the opportunity to partake in his seminar in Serbia.
The event was somewhat of the surprise and organized as a
last-minute kind of thing, but still great. Mr. Maxwell covered a lot of ground
and touched upon many topics, ranging from joint mobility, through proper
mechanics and variations on common bodyweight exercises, to fight preparation,
overtraining and some kettlebell training guidelines.
 |
| Working it out |
Maybe not everybody got everything they hoped for during
this seminar, but if you are something of a training nerd that I am, and did
you homework previously, it was a splendid chance to have some dilemmas solved
and find a lot of pieces falling into place, regarding the bigger picture.
Being the interpreter for this seminar, I was very glad to
interact with the man and enjoy his warm and approachable personality and
tireless dedication to teaching. This only reinforced my eagerness to further
communicate with Mr. Maxwell for a few more days, as he joined us at our annual
training camp that followed (and is briefly reported on next). For me, it meant
learning more – proper lifting technique, ways to break through plateaus – and
experiencing his world-class BJJ…as well as being privileged to be called “man
among men” by such a formidable guy, even if jokingly :-)
 |
| The man (on the left) and the wannabe (on the right) |
During those few days, I was further impressed with Steve’s
openness and willingness to share, both teaching and learning. A man of 60
years of age, in the physical conditions that puts most 20-year olds to shame,
with half a century of training experience and yet, so eager to learn more and
new things – even if you learn nothing (highly unlikely), you will be inspired
and highly motivated to engage in vigorous physical training.
In conclusion, if you ever have the opportunity to take part
in a seminar conducted by Steven Maxwell, do yourself a favor and do it.
Training above the clouds, Mt. Kopaonik, Serbia
This was my 10th time attending this event, and
while each and every one was great, this one was special for several reasons.
Certainly one of that stood out was the presence and instructional contribution
of the guest instructor from Russia,
Dmitriy Khakimov. Not too fond of formalities and ego-boosting titles,
he insisted on being called Dima, and he came to fill in for his own teacher
Andrey Gruntovski, who unfortunately had to undergo a surgery so was unable to
come himself.
However, the master certainly knew whom he was sending, as
Dima was the absolute hit of this year’s training camp! The school/style he
represents is known as Skobar, and it is hard to imagine a better presentation than
the one we witnessed for two days. It was very easy to see the direct and true
lineage to traditional Russian folk approach to fighting. There many schools of
RMA today, claiming lineage that dates back hundreds of years, but with
suspiciously modern way of moving and methods of training.
Not so with Skobar. Those in the attendance were able to see
and try for themselves the warmups and preparatory moves from folk dances,
whipping strikes, pendulum-like body movement, unique footwork designed to work
on ice, waved mode of power generation etc. Dima is a phenomenal instructor
with excellent sense of measure – he was able to sensibly monitor the mood of
the class and switch skillfully from one mode of work to another, thus keeping
the trainees motivated, alert and attentive. The material to be taught was chosen
adequately, demonstrated and analyzed with care and good pointers, while
highlighting the bigger picture and historical context it fits into.
 |
| Dima - small in stature, but a great guy |
Like all the other instructors mentioned, Khakimov is an
absolute charmer. Always ready to help, join or start the fun, be it singing,
dancing, extracurricular stick sparring or having a drink…too bad he was only
able to stay for two days. Still, the impression he made was so strong that
everybody was left wanting more. That said – stay tuned, we may just as well
provide ;-)
Alex Kostic has been the host and the guiding force
of this event for years, providing innovative training, brilliant insights and
highly motivational environment to train in. This time, it was no different.
His take on the mechanics of kicking efficiency and punching effectiveness is
ever evolving and improving, so the students always get away with a lot to work
and ponder upon after the class. The teaching methodology of Homo Ludens has
once again proved successful by seeing almost immediate results even with the
people who came to train with close to zero previous training experience.
 |
| Alex, the ever evolving martial artist |
One of the guys who for sure represent the future of
functional martial arts in Serbia,
and with bright future before himself, is Stefan Bozic. As talented as
they come, hard working and meticulous in his training, Stefan is a true MMA
prodigy both as a fighter and instructor. We had the pleasure of learning his
approach to the fundamentals of ground grappling, with strong accent on proper
body mechanics of moving on the ground, positional control and escapes. Training
in the great outdoors can be at the same time humbling and rewarding
experience, and it was the case with this session. For the last 15 minutes or
so, yours truly provides some insights on the applications of the covered
material when having to deal with potentially knife wielding opponent in a ground
grappling situation, or being the one trying to deploy the knife when being
caught in an inferior position. At the end, everybody was tired but satisfied
for testing and feeling on their own the strength of the instruction they had
received.
 |
| True ground fighting with Stefan |
On the last day of the camp, I had the privilege of being
asked by Alex to share some of my insights and teach the progression of empty
handed defenses against an attacker armed with a knife. Everything I showed was
basically a distillation, and sometimes direct application of the things I had
learned from my teachers, so there is really no big deal about it. Possibly my
“biggest” contribution is the ability to explain the techniques and methods in
various ways (most probably the dividends of working as a school teacher for a
few years), hence presenting the material to suit the individual learning modes
of different trainees. After all, my approach is such that the participants are
offered certain guidelines, following basic principles, and then made to play
with and discover on their own the strengths and weaknesses of various
technical and tactical possibilities. It allows for the dynamic training and
quick assessment of the subject matter that was tackled.
In conclusion, I would like to express my heartfelt
gratitude to everyone who made this experience possible and as great as it was, including Milan Jerinic for being a great friend and roommate – but special appreciation, beyond words, goes to my beloved wife Mira, without
whose understanding and willingness to keep up with my maddening obsession
training my life simply would not be even close to being good as it is.
