What was Stickmata? A party for some people who dare to try stick fighting, but also for those who are able to empty their cup every once in a while, and have the capacity to be amazed by new knowledge. What I saw at Santa Clara was a blending of talent, passion, technique, experience and understanding, demonstrated by people from 9 countries during more than 30 hours of training.
The stick is the oldest weapon and tool for humans, an equalizer for fighters that requires power, dexterity and precision. But the use of this weapon varies around the world, there are systems everywhere and many of them are hidden in family or closed community traditions. Of course, the effort to gather a few top notch instructors and dedicated students requires an astonishing work, but Mahipal Lunia and his crew took the challenge and surpassed the expectations.
Day 1
Grandmaster Vincent Cabales (Cabales Serrada Escrima) started the day working with the basic striking angles and footwork from his system. The combinations he taught help the practitioner to create a vast amount of pressure over the opponent, which is crucial in order to prevail. So this presentation set the bread and butter that any stick fighter should keep in mind, and it helped a lot for the rest of the event.
Professor Kalani Foster (De Cuerdas System) showed some options to close the range with advantage, by using the stick as a counterattack tool. Once the clinch is achieved, the possibilities are to keep the punishment with more striking or taking down the opponent. Simple and effective techniques that demonstrate how the martial arts practiced in Stockton mean business.
Professor Dexter Labonog (Largo Mano System) taught excellent combinations to intercept the opponent’s actions, delivering damage to the armed hand. But those principles totally depend on precise footwork, so the lesson is that being in the right place at the right time is an invaluable skill that helps in any fight. The distance awareness is an excellent concept to integrate in any practice.
Master Ron Saturno (Serrada Escrima) is known for his hand speed. So during his presentation he revealed his ultimate secret: constant practice. He taught how to combine a precise footwork with basic counterattack setups. He also argued that there is no such a thing as blocking in Escrima, blocking motions must be conceptualized as offensive movements too. With this mindset, the practitioner develops the skill to always move with the intention and commitment to end the fight.
Professor Devon Boorman had a short but interesting presentation about Italian polearms. It was a clear explanation of fighting posture and structure, using the blocks as a setup for counterattack. It was a nice introduction to long range weapons, and the world of European martial arts.
Dr. Philip Forde (Bajan Stick Licking) made an extraordinary presentation about the endemic stick fighting style of Barbados. In a very structured and clear manner, Dr. Forde explained the fundamentals of his art. It’s remarkable how similar it is to some fencing styles, but has a peculiar flavor, given by the stick material itself, a dense wooden weapon that can really hurt. The climatic moment came at the end, when Dr. Forde politely asked Dr. Marco Quarta, the Italian martial arts ambassador, to have a light sparring round. So everyone had the pleasure to watch a duel of gentlemen, it was a great exchange of principles, concepts and fighting approaches.
The first day ended strong with the presence of Punong Marc Denny (Dog Brothers). The core concept of the presentation was stick grappling, or how to take the opponent to the ground and work on position, posture, striking and submissions. It was a fun, creative and detail oriented session, that showed the importance of having basic knowledge of every range in order to keep a sharp strategy under any situation.
Day 2
Hanshi Bruce Juchnick (Kosho Ryu Kempo) started the day teaching some concepts from Japanese Jojutsu, focusing on the principle of energy efficiency, using the momentum created by the opponent. This is a very interesting mindset, which differs from the idea of continuous movement to create attacks. It’s worth the exploration for any stick oriented martial artist.
Sensei Henri Robert Vilaire (Aiki Jujutsu) demonstrated some great and painful techniques based on momentum management and leverage, using the stick as an additional limb. By combining these principles, the result is an efficient and elegant movement, with the only intention to end the fight. After this, there was a Q&A session with both morning instructors, a high level exchange of perspectives, which was the common spirit during the whole event.
Dr. Michael Ryan presented the not so known art of Venezuelan Garrote. He presented not only the technical point of view, but he also included the story about how he found the elusive masters of this art. The footwork, structure and attitudes he demonstrated were really interesting, and showed that every martial tradition is flavored by the cultural roots of the people performing it.
Instructor JJ Hervas (Tatang Ilustrisimo System) explained how the system evolved as a fusion from European fencing systems and endemic Filipino styles. Is impressive how the simplicity of his movements resulted in very powerful attacks and counterattacks, mixed with a simple and smart footwork structure. It was a pleasure to watch the techniques applied with full power by JJ, who substituted Master Romeo Macapagal as ambassador and did it brilliantly.
The second day finished with the Bolognese stick fighting presentation by Dr. Marco Quarta (Nova Scrimia). It included a wide explanation of the art’s historical roots, which dates back to Greece, Rome and Medieval Italy. The session continued with the practice of the basic stance, footwork, and some offensive and defensive options. Clearly, power and elegance are the hallmark of Italian fencing. The session ended with a fun demonstration of free sparring, in both sportive (assalto cortese) and freestyle (assalto cavalleresco).
Day 3
Guro Mark Mikita (Cuentada and Sumbrada) set the bar higher, conducting his presentation as a high level martial arts discussion. He challenged everyone to think not only about physical training concepts, but intellectual ones. The conversation about angles, attacks, counters and his problem solving approach were amazing. The practitioners were encouraged to develop a new mindset, in order to always find options to cancel the opponent’s opportunities, and eventually end the fight.
Martin Wheeler (Systema) introduced intriguing concepts about body relaxation and movement. Although it’s natural to adopt a tense posture under an attack, Systema proposes the opposite: a permanent state of relaxation, in order to get the body in an optimal position to counterattack. The flow exercises, with a special emphasis in relaxation, were fun and valuable, with sticks, one versus one and one versus many. That setting and the relaxation concepts are tools that can bring really interesting results in any martial arts practice.
Dr. T. J. Obi presented the secretive art of Colombian Grima. Through a comprehensive and well conducted ethnological study, Dr. Obi was able to learn the principles of this art. He explained that is very difficult to find the masters of this tradition, and many of them are actually women (surprisingly even their descendants don’t know about the art). The movements show a great sense of opportunity and a game-like vibe, although, obviously there is nothing playful in being cut with a machete. It was a delightful session that showed how the discipline of Hoplology is alive and kept in a high regard.
To close the event, Instructors Pedro Silva and Oscar Cunha presented the Jogo do Pau. In their own words, is not a martial art, but a fighting tradition that is shared like a father would share a walk in the park with his son. The long stick game from Portugal is full of attitude adoption, distance awareness and circular motions, in order to escape from different kinds of threats. For example, getting out of an alley when three or more opponents are blocking the exit. Or surviving an ambush by angry members of a rival family clan. The speed and ferocity demonstrated by the instructors were astonishing. But perhaps the general feeling that defines what was seen all over the training room was passion. Everything about martial arts has to do with passion.
Epilogue
What I saw at Stickmata was a selected group of human beings exchanging the true expression of themselves. And that’s something that the martial arts path can offer to anybody that practices for long time. Doesn’t matter how tough or elegant a person can look in the exchange of strikes, moves or techniques, the truth comes out anyway. The Stickmata offered a space to face the truth with oneself, allowed a powerful and life changing human interaction under the context of stick fighting.
In a personal note, was an in-depth learning experience and not only about martial arts. It also was about the challenge to operate a high tech camera and work with amazing people to help with the setting up of the event, in parallel to practice in every training session. Thanks to Vincent, Hannah, Ben, Meredith, Ashley, Derek, Dexter, Shreyas, Shobhit and the rest of the crew and the training partners. It was a great honor to receive the Digvijay Lunia Scholarship by the Immersion Labs Foundation, I consider it one of the absolute highlights of my martial arts pathway. It was also an honor helping Dr. Marco Quarta in his presentation, and spar with my brothers in arms Alex and James.
Mahipal Lunia Sensei, an absolute visionary, is creating a special movement inside the martial arts scene in the United States and even internationally. Every serious martial artist should look forward to the upcoming events and projects from the Immersion Labs Foundation.
The warrior path is different for everyone, but at the end of the day, we can take a time to share some scars stories and laugh under the sun.
Let’s always keep fighting under the sun.
David
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