Martial Arts of India and more

England's Phil Buck and I were discussing a variety of arts and he mentioned an art called "Catch" or Catch as Catch Can". I thought this was interesting as that's a somewhat common phrase here in the US that implies you get what you can while referring to any number of things. Apparently it's based on a British wrestling system. Funny how things work into the language.
We also spoke of the martial arts of India; Kalaripp or Kalarippayat. My first escrima instructor, Al McLuckie, studied that for a bit many years ago. If you're interested, here's a link by the only teacher of it in the UK. http://www.kalarippayatt.co.uk/2012/kalarippayatt.php

Kenpo basics book

An old friend of mine, Leo Lacerte, wrote a book that compiles the basics in detail. It's been out a while and I was recently shown it by Marc Sigle in Germany. Mr. Lacerte did s nice job with it and I recommend it.  Here's the link. http://www.lacerteskenpo.com/

Seminars in Germany

 I was at Marc Sigle's Bushido ES studio in Esslingen, Germany. This print on the left was given to me by Claudia Neumann and Thomas Kozitsky. They had come back from India just a day or so before coming down from Dusseldorf for the seminars. They got this and the hand-carved block below in Nepal and presented it to me. Marc got one of the prints, too. Pretty cool.The escrima stick was burned with a dragon and tiger by Kirsten Steineke. Her husband, Lenny, has been training at Marc's and is closing in on black. Kirsten jumped in the seminars Saturday and I believe I saw her from the corner of my eye throwing an almost vertical side-kick. Thanks to all of them.

This flyer was done by Lenny and the back was signed by the participants. It translates as "Thanks very much for the great lessons". Phil Buck was down from England and it was good to see him. He and the rest got along quite well, judging from the laughter and those dragging in on Sunday morning. The subjects I covered included some extensions, tai chi applications, forms, basics, technique analysis and some classes for the kids. The "kinder" gave me some pretty good Texas-style cowboy yells, too.

Saturday night we went out to dinner at our usual place which is situated on a hilltop outside town. It has beautiful views and the sunset is hard to beat. The schnitzel is very good and the company makes the time go too fast.

Seize the Throat

They're here and available in my online store.

Bob White event update

I read that they wrote a check for $50,000 to the charity from the proceeds of the event in LA last weekend. I missed it but want to thank those who were for their efforts.

More craziness in Fresno

Last weekend I was in the Fresno, CA area at the invitation of Graham Lelliott and Pete Valdez. I taught classes Friday evening, Saturday and one on Sunday morning. Many clubs and schools were represented from as far away as Sacramento and Los Angeles.
  A nice surprise was to have Rich Hale drop in and stay the weekend. I hadn't seen Rich since the mid-80's at Pasadena. Rich had a gi top with him that he's been running around the country and getting signed by a host of kenpo practitioners. He doesn't want to give it up but he will be donating it to the auction at Bob White's charity event this coming weekend. I'd guess there's a lot of people wanting that item. There are too many well-known kenpo people's names on it to list. He says he will have posters of it. I saw the rough of it. There is a large photo of the gi and smaller mug shots of those who signed it around the outer edges. Nice idea.
  Back to the seminars. We worked on variations of Five Swords with the adults, kids got some fun stuff along with anti-bully techniques and I did my Defending the Third Person seminar at Pete's. The weekend wrapped with a little over 2 hours on Form 4 at Graham's.
  My thanks go out to Jaydean and Gloria who make the stuff happen behind the scenes. For photos of the weekend you can see Facebook. Rich Hale posted several, along with some other participants.
  

Bob White's event

The Royal Family charity tournament is happening in the Los Angeles area this weekend. In conjunction with that, Bob White is having a dinner/auction and the International Journey will be released at that time, too. I'm told there are only two US honorees that won't make the event, myself and Joe Palanzo. It should be a landmark event. Proceeds from the book will also benefit the charity. I have them available on my website store at www.leewedlake.com. I donated some of my books and videos to be auctioned off for the benefit as well.
Find more info on the event elsewhere on  my blog where I have a link. 

More podcasts

I posted two more. One on who was the friend Ed Parker borrowed the money from to start his studio and the other is a brief description of my Defending the Third Person seminar.
There have been over 35,000 downloads in less than two years. Links on my home page at www.leewedlake.com or get then free thru iTunes.

Graham Lelliott's this weekend

I'll be in California this weekend. Friday and Sunday I'm at Graham's studio in Clovis. Friday I'll work with the kids and internediates. Sunday morning I'll be covering Form Four with browns and blacks.
  Saturday I'll be at Pete Valdez's studio, The Dojo" (love that name) in Madera. Subjects TBA.
Contact info on my site.

Update on the tenths

Found two more, we're up to 34.

Pre-orders available

New t-shirt design

This is on the left chest and my We Do Bad Things to Bad People design is on the back. Black shirt, white ink, sizes M thru XXL. Pre-order at www.leewedlake.com. Should start shipping around 20 March.

Charleston seminar

Another good one at Coastal Kenpo Karate in Goose Creek. These people worked hard and the white belts hung in, too.
Nick Dreiling was my host. Bruce Meyer and I had the opportunity to spend some time together on the ride down from Columbia. It's always good to talk with Bruce.
Chuck Peterson is always present and he's been working on a project that contributes to Bob White's charity efforts as well. Chuck and I get to trade aviation stories, too.
I'll be heading back in late June and I'll see how Nick and Terri's baby is doing. I'll bet she outgrows her kenpo jumper by then. You can see it on facebook.  Too cute!

March article out at www.leewedlake.com

Subscribers can read Defending the Third Person at my site. Here's an excerpt.

I use this seminar to get people to think. It’s a laboratory. Just like any other technique, we need to look at it from more than one angle. Remember that Ed Parker said there are three perspectives; yours, his and the bystanders. So I looked at Lone Kimono from the bystander’s point of view. “What-If?” I saw my friend being grabbed by the lapel and about to get punched. Could I possibly use Lone Kimono to protect my friend? I found the answer to be yes.

I can use the same pin, break, frictional pull, angle of cancellation and chop on the bad guy. Interesting. Then I went around to the “open” side of the attack and found that Lone Kimono was ineffective and would have to do something else. That made me have to try other techniques to see what might be appropriate. Of course, in a real situation you don’t have much time for experimentation, which is why we practice this in a classroom anyway. It’s the thought process that counts for so much.