CHLforum mentioned in martial arts newsletter.

[flintknapper]

Here is the write up from the Shen Chuan newsletter publication, concerning last months edged weapons seminar. I was happy to see the author include a link to the forum.

Volume 9, Issue 1
February 2007 Page 3

Recent News and Tidbits... continued from page 2

EDGED WEAPONS SEMINAR WAS HELD JANUARY 14, 2007

Professor Eugene, with the help of John McKeown, held an edged weapons seminar for a group of guys that frequent the Texas CHL Board on the internet.

As most of us "carriers" know, a Texas license to carry a gun is not a decision to be held lightly. We all take the responsibility VERY serious. We understand that lives hang in the balance of our training, or lack thereof.

One of the most feared predicaments, with or without a gun, is facing an opponent with an edged weapon.

We have had the Tueller drill beat into our heads since the March 1983 issue of SWAT magazine in which Dennis Tueller made it abundantly clear. 21 feet, one and a half seconds, you die. This distance being covered is for the average man. But I dare say, and I have proven it myself, that the "fatal cut" CAN be delivered much faster than the 1 1/2 seconds stated in the drill.

One thing led to another on the discussion board over at http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_Forum/ and the next thing you know John had wrangled Professor Eugene into a one-day clinic covering all aspects of empty hand, edged weapons and conceal-carry. Of course, you know Eugene. It didn't take too much wrangling.

The date was set, and on January 14th the group met at the dojo. I was not able to attend, but by all reports there was a lot of learning that took place.

The start of the whole discussion in the beginning boiled down to the fact that Mr. Civilian was not allowed to carry wherever this place was he frequented. So what is the next legal line of defense, or offense as the case may be. That is where the edged weapon talk began that culminated into this clinic. With that in mind, Professor Eugene began the class from the worst situation, empty hand against the armed attacker.

From there he progressed to knife on knife, in the defensive mode as well as moving to offense.

The days discussion and training included such topics as the legal ramifications, weapon grips and retention, disarms, lethal points on the body, the "percentage rule" and wasted motion.

To learn attack angles and body movement, the class participated in passing drills, parrying drills and flow drills. Although not necessarily the flash that everyone wants to learn, these drills are the beginning foundation to committing the movements to muscle memory and how to react to the different angles of a knife attack.

I think John summed up the day pretty well when he got back online that night.

"I know we threw a lot at you guys...and we don't expect it all to "stick", but if you'll practice some of the basic principles of economy of motion, using larger muscle groups against smaller, moving off line, etc...it will all become second nature to you.

I sincerely mean what I am about to say next: Man for Man we have not had such a pleasant group of people to work with in quite some time. Everyone worked hard and did very well for a "first time". My hat is off to you guys!!!"

It obviously went over well with the students. The first person to make it back to the keyboard that night had the following to say:

"It was an honor to spend the day with you folks. The caliber of people I have met from this forum continues to be among the highest I have ever been exposed to! Thank you for your efforts in making this happen. Please send our sincere thanks to Eugene, Adam and everyone else involved in gently kicking our tails today.

We left the seminar with a great deal of information. I had no idea how little I knew and how much I HAVE to learn about the offense and defense of a knife. It is common to hear about how brutal a knife can be and I witnessed this working in the prison, but it was amazing to see what someone is capable of with some training and experience. The speed associated with some of these tactics is absolutely amazing.

The format and staff were wonderful and I would not think twice about sending someone I loved there to learn self defense. Very straight forward and practical.
I am limping off to bed with a smile on my face... what a great day! I like it."

Another of the moderators on the board offered the following:

"Like others had already mentioned. The seminar was wonderful. Eugene, John, and everyone else has a sea of knowledge. I wish I could download all this knowledge from you guys in knife defense as well as all the martial arts into my brain just like the Matrix. I will definitely be coming back for more visits when you offer more classes."

And in summation, this is what the final post had to say:

"I have to look to the younger generation for a word to describe yesterday, AWESOME! Even more so the day after when I have had time to reflect on it.

Let me see where to start, first, you have all heard about the guy who could go bear hunting with a switch, Flintnapper could take him and the bear at the same time! What was it Walter used to say ''no brag, just fact ''

Ya'll know by now when I write something it's usually short and sweet and without much window dressing, kinda like me, plain. This shouldn't be like that, I wish I had the word's to describe the Art's that I saw yesterday, all I can think of are VERY FAST and DEVISTATING.

I didn't see any choreography or acrobatics, they weren't dancing, the take down's and throw's were to get away from severe pain or to keep from breaking something and they were taking it easy, it was obvious that bone's could have been broken. Thank God they didn't ask the old man to do the take down's, I got to just go through the motion's, slooow-motion."

Shen Chuan StickBoxing is not one of the most well known weapon arts out there. But you'd be hard pressed to find one much better. Professor Eugene has taken the concepts and principles of Shen Chuan and welded them to a weapons system that is second to none.

John says there is already talk of another clinic in the future. We look forward to it. Maybe even having it on a regular basis.

As you know, it my core belief that we live and die by our training. Professionals as well as civilians. Get out there and get trained! You might even have some fun doing it...



After writing this article I ran it by John to make sure I had everything correct. Seems the only thing he thought I should add was a big ‘ol “thank you� to Adam Coats for being slap-monkey. Seems Adam bore the brunt of Professor Eugene’s demonstration, so that those coming in to learn wouldn’t have to be uke as well. Thanks Adam!

[sensei6]

You got ahead of me...

Here is a link to the article on our website:
http://www.joerlansdale.com/shenchuan/n ... iss1p3.htm

For those interested, here is the front page of the entire newsletter with links to all articles:
http://www.joerlansdale.com/shenchuan/n ... 1cover.htm

Thanks again for the allowing me to use yall's words.....

[jbirds1210]

Thank you for passing this along! It was an honor to hang out with you guys. Great article!

Since the training I have already been put into a situation where a gentleman's hand was getting very close to his knife that was clipped in his pocket during a stressul conversation. This occured at work while I was unarmed (by law). The mental work for me was all done in this situation. I am glad that the situation was resolved with no violence, but I was completely prepared to stop the man from going to his knife. I would say that having an answer to this situation was well worth the brief time it took to learn! Prior to the seminar, I would have only worried about what I would do if he actually pulled it.....never taking into consideration that the best time to do something is before the knife is actually in action.

[flintknapper]

You got ahead of me...

Here is a link to the article on our website:
http://www.joerlansdale.com/shenchuan/n ... iss1p3.htm

For those interested, here is the front page of the entire newsletter with links to all articles:
http://www.joerlansdale.com/shenchuan/n ... 1cover.htm

Thanks again for the allowing me to use yall's words.....

My apologies BJ,

As always....you have been punctual.

Thank you for the links, its great to see that Monica is doing better.