British Low Armour Championships 2009
It has been 2 years since the last low armour championships was held mainly because we could not fit it into our calendar 2008, but this year we managed to fit it in after The WEKAF British championships. The event was to be held in Luton on a very wet Sunday 22nd November at Lea Manor Recreation but on arriving at the venue we discovered that the roof had leaked during the night so we could use the area for health and safety reasons. We had to wait until all the fighters and spectators turned up so we could go to a different venue. The venue was only a couple of miles down the road at Wardown Park Leisure Centre in Bath Rd. Luton.
It took us about 30 minutes to weigh the fighters and match them up for their fights. The fighting area was set up and it was all about to happen. The fighters were going to be judge by three of the top guys in FMA. Jude Tucker top WEKAF international referee, John James Kapatiran Instructor from Bristol who has taken part in low armour competitions and Black Eagle fighting, Mike Dunnage British Team member and founder of Call2arms extreme stick fighting.
The first fight was Sasha Milliner from Bristol verses Paul Bartley from Luton. Yes Sasha is female but also a very formidable stick fighter with lots of experience, this event is not for novices. Paul Started out with lots of attacks but Sasha was blocking and counter striking. This was a very fast fight over 2 rounds with the panel of judges going for a win for Sasha.
Low armour can be painful because it is what it says on the box, low armour means WEKAF helmet, gloves and groin box, and chest protectors for females. The stick is a normal stick which is used in the WEKAF competitions but it still hurts.
Fight two was two guys, one who had done low armour before and the other guy who had come as a spectator and was a complete novice in this format. So this was going to be interesting. Peter Huynh from Croydon and George Coombes from Bristol. This was a good fight with Peter being very aggressive and George blocking. This went back and forth for two rounds and was hard to judge but the panel gave it to George for his defensive work. You got it, George came as the spectator.
Next fight was on paper going to be a fast fight and it lived up to it, this was WEKAF World champion Glynn Daniels and Ermar Alexander WEKAF British, European and World champion and Low armour champion. This was a fast fight, the stick skills from both fighters was without a doubt some of the best we have seen at a low armour competition. Both had speed and skill in abundance but after two rounds of fighting the winner was Ermar Alexander from London.
Now onto to big guys in the shape of Paul Haley form Kapatiran Arnis Luton and a new fighter to low armour Peter Benge from EA Doces Pares London. Paul had done low armour and fought in Black Eagle events so he was by far the most experience fighter. Peter fought hard and showed lots of spirit but a victory to Paul Haley.
Back to the middleweights again with Paul Bartley from Kapatiran Arnis against fitness instructor Aaron Shewring from Bristol. This started of fast and furious with lots of blocking and striking but in the end the judges gave it to Aaron. Paul Bartley was having a bad day in the low armour.
Matt Steady from Leicester was up next against Glynn Daniels. This was a semi-final fight so they had it all to go for. Glen was attacking relentlessly but to no avail because Matt is a master of defence with blocking and evading and in the end it saw a victory for Matt Steady. Matt was in the final with Emar Alexander.
Last of the heavy weights in the semi-finals was Kris Dunnage undefeated British Low armour champion and Peter Benge.
Kris is a seasoned veteran of the low armour fighting, he has not missed a low armour tournament since we began and he is so far undefeated in this format of stick fighting.
Peter showed a lot of heart and skill but he was out pointed by the more experienced fighter.
We were now onto the finals; the first final was two fighters from Kapatiran Arnis Bristol, Sasha Milliner and Aaron Shewring. This was going to be an intriguing final from to start. Sasha, WEKAF British, European and World champion and Aaron, WEKAF British and European champion. The first round went to Sasha with her counter strikes and blocking, Aaron tried to make a comeback but Sasha was too strong for him. Sasha became the first female to win a medal at Low Armour. She is now middle weight Low Armour Champion 2009. Well done Sasha.
Next final was between Ermar Alexander and Matt Steady. Ermar has not done any competitions for a while so he was out to prove he was still in good shape. Ermar was Low armour champion from previous events and is still a force to be reckoned with but Matt was not reading the script for this event. He countered every strike and bobbed and weaved like a professional boxer to win the light heavy weight in low armour. This was an amazing fight to watch with Ermars lighting strikes and Matts blocking an evasion, stick fighting of a very high quality.
Last of the finals was the super heavy weights, Paul Haley and Kris Dunnage. This was a battle royal with no prisoners to be taken in this event. Kris has the skill and he has been here before and Paul first time in the finals. Both of these guys wanted this and the atmosphere was electric for this event. Paul started with lots of strikes but Kris was having none of this and preformed some very fast blocking and counter strikes. First round to Kris. Second round Paul started to find his way and midway through disarmed Kris so that meant Kris had lost this round so now it was one round each at the end of the fight so this meant one more round to decide the winner. This was a real cliff hanger now, who would be super heavy weight champion2009.By the end of the third round Kris was running out of steam and Paul was putting together some strikes and combinations, it looked as if Kris was not going to survive but the whistle went for the end of the round. After much discussion by the panel of judges it was decided Kris was still Low armour champion, a disappointment for Paul but he will be back next year to try again. Well done Kris. 6 times undefeated Low Armour champion.
Low armour is not for everyone and still only attracts a few very skilled stick fighters to this event, although many are invited, not many put in an appearance. Where are all The Dog Brothers Clubs? Many clubs play at eskrima but how many fight?
If you want to take part in the 2010 Low Armour check out our web site for dates. www.kapatiran-arnis.co.uk
Grading December 2009
Sunday December 6th. Was our last gathering of Kapatiran Arnis for 2009. It was also our grading day for students who had progressed throughout the year. On the day we thought it was only going to be Chris Lucas and Jimmy Singleton who were going to go for their black belts but two other guys from John James Kapatiran Arnis club in Bristol Bill Hetterley and Jake Lutzmeriche were going for their first brown.
Bill and Jake have both been on The British Squad so I know they are both competent stick fighters but a grading is completely different.
We started the day with a warm up as the hall we were in did not have any heating, so after the warm up of all the fighters we asked them if they were unsure about any part of the grading that they were about to perform. The result was positive so we started with Jake and Bill.
Jake and Bill did well in the basics but need a little more focus on the strikes , after all stick fighting is about your stick handling. Free play was ok and the pair techniques were not bad but the main thing they were lacking was more focus and a little more aggression when attacking. This is a fighting art so the need to be aggressive is a must. They finished their grading with sparring, this was ok because both had been G B team members and this was a walk in the park for them. Both pass their 1st Brown now they must work hard for their next grading.
Next up was Jimmy and Chris; this was going to be interesting because Jimmy is a British champion and European sliver medalist, Chris who does not compete in stick fighting but trains in JKD and Modern Arnis.
This was going to be a long grading so it was going to be a test of stamina.
Jimmy and Chris started off very well, the basics were ok and so were the arma-ra drills. We moved onto the pair drills which were ok to a point. We saw a lack of aggression again and some techniques were rushed. The tapi-tapi drill was a bit sloppy but when asked to add techniques to this drill it was not good. This grading was a test of techniques and stamina and is a must to progress in FMA.
All in all Jimmy and Chris were good for this level of grading. They could improve on their blade techniques as the knife is an important part of FMA.
Both Jimmy and Chris were assessed by the panel to have performed well enough to be Black Belts in Kapatiran Arnis. I think now that you have become a black belt in this art of eskrima that you can now progress with greater knowledge and go on to improve physically and mentally. I think Jimmy and Chris will improve with time and make very good instructors. Congratulations to all the fighters who graded on this last gathering of Kapatiran Arnis in 2009. Well done.
July Seminar
Sunday 26th July 2009 was our trip to the country for our monthly seminar. This was our first trip to Paul Cudmore’s club in Essex this year. Paul is the joint owner of Shen-ti Martial Arts Academy in Witham Essex. We usually go to Paul’s club 2 or 3 times a year to hold seminars in Kapatiran Arnis System.
July being holiday time we did not expect a big crowd but the students who turned up trained hard and went away with more knowledge. We started off with the basics, solo drills, strikes and then on to pair techniques such as blocking and striking with stick up and stick down.
We then moved onto the Arma-ra drills as a fighting drill, these fighting drills are some of the core fighting drills of Kapatiran Arnis System. They improve eye coordination hand skills with single stick and different ways to defeat an opponent.
After these drills we moved onto a new set of drills for the advanced fighter, this is to block a weapon and to strike as many as three times as fast as possible. This is a pair drill. This is a warrior art so as not to fall into the trap of doing many drills and not understanding what you are doing this set of drills will make you defend and attack as a reflex action. Which is what you need in a combat situation.
After you have done three of the drills against a head attack and thrusts you then get the students in a circle and attack them at random with a long pole. The fighter defends and strikes the pole as fast as possible. This can be very dangerous, so the guy in the middle must be able to judge how hard to hit each fighter. Everybody came out of the drill with only a few knocks but this was the first time they had done it so there was room for improvement.
With time to reflect on the last drill we went into disarming against 2 or 3 opponents which is not as easy as it sounds. While you are disarming one fighter the other two will also be trying to attack you. Sometimes you find that you are disarming two fighters at once, this is good for the reflexes and teaches you to keep moving.
We did some single stick corto and the students were given a target to aim for, in this case it was both collar bones with downward strikes.
We moved onto double stick but not our usual drills. The drills we did on the day were for purely attacking as fast and hard as possible. To drive you opponent back with force and aggression.
Time was getting on so we finished on single blade defence. This was a good seminar with a good feeling to it and we all got some bruises so we all went home happy but tired. A good day.
Grand Master John Harvey
John Harvey, Chief Instructor of the Kapatiran Arnis System and Head Coach to the British Stickfighting Team, was recently promoted to Grandmaster – only the 2nd non-Filipino to be so in the UK. He has been undoubtedly one of the greatest driving forces in Arnis within the UK and Europe for decades and quite rightly in April 2009 received due recognition. The award, delivered by one of his students, Martin Sillitoe, who had been training with various Grandmasters in Cebu, Philippines. The certificate was signed by GM Dionisio Canete, Supreme GM of Doce Pares Multi-styles and GM Nicomedes “Nick” Elizar of Nickelstick Eskrima.
John has not only been the inspirational coach for many sport stickfighters on the GB team but has developed a large following of students and instructors in the traditional but combat orientated art of Arnis. One of the elements that sets GM John apart is his continual drive towards self-development by training with other top instructors around the world to ever expand his knowledge of the Filipino Martial Arts. Even at this elevated level he still manages to retain his grounded attitude and humility - happy to learn from his students as well as fellow instructors.
As a long-standing student of GM John's I have long thought he deserved greater acknowledgement for his ongoing contribution to the FMAs and now we have it. It might not affect the way we treat him - we already thought of him in that light - but now others might realise how lucky we at Kapatiran Arnis have been. Congratulations John – from all your students and friends at KAS.
John James
Head Instructor
Kapatiran Arnis System
Call 2 Arms
April 5th.2009 was here at last. Call2arms was finally here in Luton with Rattan Rampage. This is the Dunnage Brothers extreme stick fighting event, minimum armour, minimal rules and maximum respect. This event happens only twice a year and is looked forward to by some of the top stick fighters in the land. In saying this I have had this talk with the Kris and Mike Dunnage that a lot of stick fighters talk the talk but do not show up. It is amazing what fighters will be doing on Sunday morning to get out of a good stick fight.
Any way that is the moan for the day so let’s get back to Ratten Rampage, Kapatiran Arnis had two of its finest fighting to-day. Jeff Snelling from our Stevenage club and Paul Haley from Luton.
First up was Jeff, who was fighting a guy from Aylesbury, this was a three minute fight with sticks. I will explain, you start off stick fighting but right from the start you can punch, kick and grapple. This is MMA with sticks. Can you imagine Georges St Pierre and BJ Penn starting off with sticks?
Both fighters started off very well with Jeff breaking a stick, after getting a new stick this turned into an exciting fight with Jeff getting some good knees in and the going to the ground for some ground and pound. There was some good stuff happening in the grappling, Jeff is well versed in grappling and his opponent who trains with Neil Mcleod from Aylesbury was no easy target. This was a hard fight for both guys and it was good to see the friend ship and sporting attributes. Both came as friends and left as friends. After a couple of fights it was Paul Haley from Luton.
Paul from Luton who was doing a format called a preliminary , this is one round of stick fighting, one round of stick, punching and kicks, and one round of stick,punches,kicks.and grappling. This format is ideal if you are new to Call2arms.
Paul started off well enough but if the truth be told he was getting battered with the stick, after all this was Rattan Rampage. Paul did a little better in the second round and caught his opponent from Great Yarmouth with a few kicks and punches. If this was a point’s competition Paul would behind but we had the third round to go. This round included grappling so Paul had a chance to even things up. Call2arms is not about winning but about testing your skills and most important testing yourself. Paul started off with a very positive attitude and was soon getting into the fight, the fight went to ground and Paul used his ground skills but the fighter from Great Yarmouth was having none of it. The fight was going Paul’s way after he got into side mount position and controlled his opponent until the end of the fight. Both guys had a good fight and tested themselves and most important gained each others respect.
Jeff and Paul from Kapatiran Arnis had a good day and tested themselves to the limit at Call2arms.
March Seminar
Sunday March 29th 2009 was our monthly seminar in Kapatiran Arnis. This monthly seminar is open to anyone who is a novice or veteran eskrimador. These seminars are open to any style of arnis. This month we had training all the way from Nice in France Eric Cervel who has trained in Rapid Arnis and Inosanto concepts.
Eric arrived on Friday night at a very cold Luton airport from a very hot Nice in the south of France. After getting Eric settled in for the night we arranged to meet on the Saturday for some one to one training.
This training went very well as Kapatiran Arnis is very similar to Rapid Arnis. Eric came for the weekend so we tried to get in as much training as possible.
Sunday was our seminar which lasts 4 hours. We try to cram as much as possible in those 4 hours. Most of the students who attend these monthly seminars have noticed an improvement in their training.
This March seminar was very well attended with students from my own clubs in Luton and Stevenage, students from Jude’s clubs in Essex and students from John James club in Bristol. The place where we do our seminars every month is ideal with a matted area for take downs.
We started off with the basics, 12 strikes and forms and pair drills. This was followed by a block and strike drill to get everyone warmed up.
After this we did four of the arma-ra drills with take downs. We then went on to a drill called skirmish which means the instructor and students have to go out in front of the class and be attacked with any strike and they must perform a disarm. This is putting the student under pressure to perform and learn at a faster pace than in a normal class.
Then we moved on some more pair drills and stick and dagger drills until we came to the blade defence. This was going to be two hours just on blade defence.
This section was taken be Neil Wilmore our blade instructor from Luton. Neil started off with 12 disarm drill against single knife. This was followed by some defensive drills against single blade to a disarm.
Soon Neil move on blade against blade, how to get out of a situation where your opponent has grabbed your knife hand and you have grabbed his knife hand, a kind of standoff. Neil showed many ways to counter this standoff.
This was a very successful Kapatiran Arnis seminar so a very big thank you to everyone who turned up, especially Eric from France.
New Club Opening in Stevenage
Chief instructor Master John Harvey has now started teaching Kapatiran Arnis at LA fitness in Stevenage town centre. John has been teaching in Luton for a number of years and was invited by one of the fitness coaches at LA fitness to teach Kapatiran Arnis in Stevenage. The art of eskrima/arnis is becoming very popular with martial artists and novices because it does not conflict with other martial arts. It is a very safe martial art to learn, with some emphasis on the sporting side of eskrima which is a growing sport.
Master John Harvey is currently Great Britain Team Coach for the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation full contact eskrima team.
If you are interested in arnis/eskrima Master John will be teaching at LA fitness on Wednesday nights. Times are on the club page.
Paul Bartly Black Belt
Sunday November 30th. 2008 Paul Bartley finally was selected to take his Black Belt in Kapatiran Arnis. Paul is a new breed of Black belt in arnis /eskrima not only does Paul train with a stick he does what all eskrimadors should do and that is cross train and take part in tournaments. We live in a very violent world and you never know when you will need these skills to protect your family or friends.
Paul has been a member of the WEKAF Great Britain Squad and taken part in low armour competitions, Black Eagle and Call2arms ect.
In Black Eagle and Call2arms all your skills are called upon, punching, kicking grappling ect. Paul has excelled in these events because he has cross trained.
Paul trains in JKD and kick boxing, grappling. These are arts you need in this world because you cannot carry around weapons.
Paul is going to be an excellent Black Belt in Kapatiran Arnis and the kind of student to be a guardian of the art of arnis. The truth is out there.
Kapatiran Grading Day
Sunday 30th.November 2008 was grading day for some of the students of Kapatiran Arnis. We had quite an array of students taking gradings, all the way from Blue belt 1 right up to Black belt. This was going to be along 4 hours for some of the senior students. There were 8 students from four different Kapatiran Arnis clubs taking part in the grading.
2 students from Paul Cudmores club in Witham Essex, Cristina Alciati and Chris Lucas. Three students from Jude Tuckers club in East London, Bernard Fernandez, Simon Winch and Martin Sillitoe. From John James club in Bristol two students, WEKAF British Champions, James Singleton and Sasha Millner. From Luton we had only one guy taking a grade this time, Paul Bartley taking his Black Belt.
Everybody arrived early because they knew this was going to be a long 4 hours. The session started with a warm up then just fine tuning some of the things they were not 100% on.
We started with the lower grades first, Martin Sillitoe and Cristina Alciati , they were a bit nervous but they were good for their level and both passed the test, Martin getting Blue 1 and Cristina getting Blue 2.
Next Chris Lucas and James Singleton taking Brown 1.These were the first brown belts of the day. Both are experienced martial artists and after a slow start they got into their stride. One or two small faults but with improvements these are the future .Both passed their Brown belt 1.
Next onto the senior students, Bernard Fernandez, Simon Winch and Sasha Millner taking Brown 2 and Paul Bartley going for his Black belt. These students were all going to be graded together. This was going to be along day for them.
They started off a bit slow but after some nerves they all got into their stride. They all worked hard for this grading and this is the reason we do exams, to monitor the progress of the student to make sure everything is done at the highest level.
Two students from this group showed Kapatiran Arnis at a very high level, they were Sasha and Paul who were very consistent all the way through the grading. They made mistakes as they all did but their skill level was exceptional.
Sasha Millner, Bernard Fernandez and Simon Winch all passed their Brown belt 2 and Paul Bartley passed his Black Belt. Congratulations to them all.
New Instructional Dvd's
If you do escrima or learning escrima these dvd's will help you improve. Filled with loads of techniques from beginner to intermediate. Covering aspects of single and double stick. These instructional dvd's by Master John Harvey, chief instructor of Kapatiran Arnis and Great Britian team coach, available from www.Newbreedbooks.co.uk
Kapatiran Arnis Black Belts
Sunday 12th August 2007 was the day of the annual get together for Kapatiran Arnis black and brown belts. This yearly assessment is held so that the standards of our clubs are run to the highest level. This mean the black belts are continually learning new techniques to pass on to their students. It also means that the black belts like any martial arts group must perform to a very high degree to be able to pass on to the students the art of arnis/eskrima.
After a very hard training session which lasted 4 hours the students were called to finish the class and it was decided that three of the black belts had shown their skills to warrant promotion. John James from Bristol was made 4th Degree Black Belt, Dennis Russell also from Bristol 3rd Degree Black Belt and last from Luton Neil Willmore also 3rd Black Belt. These are the black belts of the future to promote Kapatiran Arnis and keep our standards high.
