Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "martial arts"

Martial arts teacher hopes to bring tradition to the martial arts community

2011-07-30T04:57:39Z

Entering the gritty, red-floored and practically bare-walled and windowless gym, students face grueling lessons in Philippine and Chinese martial arts and weapon-handling. By the end of the night, they are left with new bruises, sore shoulders, blistered hands and legs almost too weak to walk to the car.

Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts reopened at its new location on 47th Avenue in June after six months of moving and preparing for the addition of a martial arts supply store.

Guro (Tagalog for “teacher”) Maurice Gatdula – owner and teacher of the school and the man behind the new Iron Warrior Martial Arts Supply – proudly maintains a traditional, “old-school” and oftentimes intimidating style of martial arts regime.

“Everybody is intimidated when they come into a martial arts school,” Gatdula said. “The reality of martial arts is it’s not for everyone. If a person can’t get over their fears to even step foot in the class and try it, obviously martial arts is not for them.”

Gatdula spends the first month of classes making the body stronger, doing intensive exercises, developing flexibility and teaching students how to hold their stances before actually getting the techniques for fighting. He said that most commercial martial arts schools spend the first classes getting students interested and hooked in right away.

Norman Wong, a 21-year-old Sacramento City College student, has been studying at the Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts for three years.

“It’s a slow progression,” Wong said. “There’s a lot of repetition. But that repetition makes you good. It really drills in what you need.”

“I am a traditional teacher,” Gatdula said. “A lot of times, students will come in for classes, and they won’t learn much in their first month. I don’t worry about hooking my students.”

Free trial classes, demonstrations and class previews are a couple of features adamantly not provided at this martial arts school.

Gatdula said that, as a traditional martial arts teacher, he does not try to convince people to take his classes. He said that the job of a martial arts teacher is to find the students who want to be there and really want to learn. The traditional martial arts teacher, he said, is interested in results – not retention.

“Either you want to be here or you don’t,” Gatdula continued. “If a student says ‘Well let me try it out and see if I like it,’ ” Gatdula said, “the answer is – ‘If I’m doing my job as a martial arts teacher, you won’t like it.’ ”

During his senior year of high school, Wong looked around and checked out other schools, but in the end chose Gatdula’s traditional-style school.

“It looked pretty gritty,” he said in regard to his first impression of the school. “It looked serious, and everyone looked pretty tough.

“It’s hard work,” Wong added. “It’s very traditional at first – you do a lot of the horse stance.” The horse stance, he explained, is a strenuous body position similar to sitting straight up on a non-existent bench or chair.

Before taking classes, Wong thought of himself as pretty clumsy. After getting involved in martial arts, he humbly describes himself to be at an intermediate level of skill. “It made me more disciplined and stronger physically,” he said.

According to Wong, Gatdula often tells the students, “Pain builds courage. Because once you’re no longer afraid of pain, then you are able to act.”

Philippine Martial Arts

At Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts, Guro Gatdula applies the Philippine style of martial arts to all of his curriculum, including his Chinese Kung Fu class.

“Philippine martial arts addresses permanently injuring or killing the opponent,” Gatdula said.

Unlike most mainstream Chinese martial arts styles, Philippine martial arts focus less on defensive strategies and more on attack strategies. It does not use forms, which are practiced routines of movement, Gatudula explained.

“In Filipino martial arts,” Gatdula said, “you learn strikes, counterstrikes, striking combinations and fight strategies. And that’s it. In Chinese styles, everything is planned out – If somebody punches you, you have a specific way of answering that punch. A lot of your time is spent studying those responses, whereas in Philippine martial arts, a lot of your time is spent learning how to attack.”

The Philippine style of fighting is simple and based on the mastery of basic techniques.

“Pretty much everything there is to learn in that style, you can learn in about six months,” Gatdula said. “It’s very simple. But once you learn those techniques, then your training is geared toward learning those techniques faster and stronger and becoming more accurate with better timing. Then you study strategy.”

A strategy is picking the right technique and the right methods do defeat an opponent, Gatdula explained.

“It’s kind of like playing chess,” he said. “You each have the same pieces and the same tools, but you have to choose the right one to defeat your opponent.”

Advancement

Advancement at Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts occurs with the learning of the strategies and the proficiency in skills. It is not, however, displayed through the wearing of different colored belts.

Instead of earning belts, according to Gatdula, when one completes and becomes proficient in all of the techniques of the curriculum, he or she would then earn the title of “Sifu” (teacher). These students are those who have developed the ability to use what they know in combat against various opponents of different sizes, different skill levels and different styles – even when they’re at a disadvantage.

Gatdula has never promoted a student to the black belt level in the Kung Fu style. In his 19 years of teaching, he has promoted six students to the black belt level in Philippine martial arts.

“Most martial art styles require the learning of 10 short forms to reach the black belt level,” he said in regard to his Kung Fu-style curriculum. “I have 24. My forms are much longer and about a third of the list is weapons.”

“The average martial arts school will reward a black belt in about two years,” he said. “For my school, it’s about seven years.”

Gatdula offers three styles of curriculum – Kuntaw, Eskrima and Jow Ga style Kung Fu – each much longer, more intensive and more expensive than other schools. Tuition is $149 per month.

Most of his current students are older and more advanced than students of commercial martial arts schools. Many have been enrolled for about two years. The average age of his students is around 30, though his youngest student is 12.

“Our school is top-heavy with advanced students,” he said. “And by contrast, most commercial schools are bottom-heavy with beginning students.”

The Iron Warrior Martial Arts Supply

Guro Gatdula opened the Iron Warrior Martial Arts Supply in June with the relocation of his school. The store – though currently just a humble counter in the corner of the martial arts gym – offers a wide selection of authentic, traditional martial arts equipment.

“I’m hoping to foster a sense of community in this area,” Gatdula said. “In all the cities I’ve ever lived, the martial arts community has been really tight-knit. One of the problems with having no sense of community is that (students) are not growing because there’s no interaction. To me, a supply store kind of unites everybody.”

Currently, the main focus of Gatdula’s martial arts store is obtaining wholesale accounts with local martial arts schools. He said he hopes to serve the other teachers in the area as a local source for equipment that typically has to be ordered online or from magazines and then shipped from different locations.

Gatdula will honor the Black Belt Club membership discounts for students of all other martial arts schools in the community.

“There will be two levels – participating schools and nonparticipating schools,” Gatdula explained. “If their teacher has agreed to refer their students, they’ll get a bigger discount.”

As he increases business, he said, he’ll begin to stock up more to meet retail demands of the business.

For Gatdula, opening a store is not just another way to make money, he said. It is a part of martial arts tradition that he has wanted to bring to Sacramento for a long time.

“I grew up in a martial art family,” Gatdula said. “We’ve always been around martial art stores because the martial art store is the center of the martial art community. In every town, there were usually about one or two, and all the schools bought their stuff from them – they got their uniforms, their equipment and everything.”

There are few places, if any, in the greater Sacramento area where you can find an authentic, traditional Je Mai Do (horse-cutting lance), a Sam Jeet Gwun (three-sectioned staff), sparring gear and other traditional martial arts weapons and equipment. Gatdula said he hopes to change this.

Gatdula described the traditional martial arts stores he grew up with in the Philippines, Taiwan, and Washington, D.C., as places where teachers would gather and discuss their schools and their pupils.

Students would go there to hang out and surround themselves with all the media – books, little trinkets, “I’m-a-karate-guy” bumper stickers – that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

Weapons collectors could get authentic martial arts weapons, and the store owners themselves could tell you all about a piece’s history and teach you how to use it.

Along with providing martial arts equipment, Gatdula plans to hold workshops and seminars taught by other local martial arts teachers and organize local tournaments involving the other schools in the city. He said he hopes to have these events ready for advertising by sometime in August.

Gatdula said that he is also excited to bring back “Black Belt Theater,” a 1980s weekly televised showcase of Kung Fu and martial arts films. He is currently in the process of securing a venue to host the screenings.

“It’s not too late to get back that sort of warrior culture,” Gatdula said. “(Martial arts) is not respected like it used to be. I’m not saying that store will be the solution to that, but we could help with the solution. I think I’ll be able to do more for the martial arts community as a store owner than as a teacher. As a teacher, I can only reach my own students. As a store owner, I can be neutral.”

Iron Warrior Martial Arts Supply is open during open gym before classes begin – Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Private classes are held Tuesday through Thursday from 6 - 9 p.m.

Anyone interested in learning more about Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts or Iron Warrior Martial Arts Supply can contact Guro Maurice Gatdula at thekuntawman@yahoo.com.

Time Change Brings Greater Dangers of Assault

2009-10-29T17:40:33Z

A greater awareness of danger is called for when the time change brings us early dark days and cold, dark mornings. While everyone needs to pay more attention in the seasonal time change, women especially need to increase their vigilance as predators often use darkness as cover. While spending time out and about shopping women would be more vulnerable to assaults as they are often alone, in unfamiliar settings and distracted by holiday stresses.

Join the Robinson's, Sacramento's first name in family martial arts, for a special free clinic in safety awareness and simple self defense. Just keeping personal safety in mind helps increase the odds against any problems. By learning some simple self defense and practicing escape scenarios keeping yourself and your family safe is much easier.

A great turnout last year, and requests for more opportunity to attend these free clinics, has prompted Robinson's Taekwondo to offer two different sessions in 2009. On Friday, November 13th the first free clinic is offered at 6:30 PM, and a second 90 minute session will now be available on Saturday, November 14th beginning at 11 AM. The clinics will be offered at all eighteen Sacramento regional Robinson's TKD locations. Visit www.robinsonstkd.com to reserve space at a location near you.

Women will unite with Robinson's Black Belt instructors who will empower them with information, self defense technique and the confidence of knowing how to respond in the dark days ahead. Just by attending, women will come away with a safety 'mindset' that goes a long way toward keeping them from harm.

Parkour traces Sacramento

2009-08-20T06:44:13Z

I walked onto the quad of Bella Vista High School on a Sunday afternoon to a sight of 20 or so men climbing walls, running like cheetahs on all fours and swinging from trees.

This was the Sacramento regional parkour practice, led by a SFparkour.com representative, Victor Lo Forte. He has been a practitioner of parkour, or traceur, French for tracer, for three and a half years and has led the Sacramento group for about two years.

"From what I understand, it's basically the discipline of training one's mind and body to prepare oneself to overcome obstacles in an environment," Lo Forte said.

Parkour is said to be rooted in early 20th century French military practices. Georges Hébert, a World War I naval officer, developed a notion of physicality that embraced use of the body and its environment for developing strength useful to society.

These principles were the foundation for his "Natural Method," which incorporated the fusion of the mental and physical to overcome obstacles via climbing, running and jumping (to name a few). His method contributed to the development of the French parcours du combattant, or military obstacle course.

As a young teen, David Belle, considered the father of parkour, picked up Natural Method ethics along with his gymnastic and martial arts training in France.

Many of the young men at the Sacramento parkour practice admire Belle and have adopted the Natural Method as part of their training.

"Parkour is training your flight response," said Sacramento State student Jake Anderson.

Lo Forte commented on one of the many purposes of parkour, to "be strong to protect your family and friends."

"We’re not trying to hurt anybody, we’re training to be strong, and that really helps the community," he said.

Though not a spectator sport, it is difficult to explain what exactly traceurs are doing to people who gather round their concrete playground.

"I usually point them to YouTube and Casino Royale," Anderson said. "I tell them parkour is the study of the most efficient way to get from point A to point B."

This efficiency calls for climbing walls, not walking around them.

"If you're in a dead-end alley, you look back and forth and don’t look up," Anderson said. "People don’t look up, they don’t look at their environments anymore."

He described parkour as a way to think of our built environment with a critical lens. "We create our environments to be quick and easy for what we’re raised as," Anderson said. "Parkour shows us that there are actually easier ways than we’re raised, things people don’t think of."

The Sacramento traceurs have tried practicing in the Downtown Sacramento area, but have found security and business owners to be hostile to the activity. "If they tell us to leave then we leave," Lo Forte said.

"I’d say ground-rules for anywhere are be respectful of the environment, don’t wreck things, don’t leave litter behind, clean up after yourselves," he said. "There is a big thing in parkour community called the leave no trace campaign. We don’t want it to look like we’ve been there. We don’t want to get kicked out of places."

Parkour training also focuses on overall health and well-being. "It might save their lives," Lo Forte said. "You never know if they might get addicted to drugs or end up in jail."

"I wanted to get in shape," said Robert King, a telecommunications technician for Sacramento County. "Since I started in January, I lost 40 pounds."

"A lot of people are sitting home and they don’t get any sensory input; they don't smell the dirt on their hands and the sun on their face," Lo Forte said.

This was the case for 15-year-old Jonah Saysourivong. "Before this I was a big-time gamer and would play Call of Duty for 42 hours straight," he said. "I definitely know other kids my age are drinking alcohol and smoking, and that’s one thing I’d never do."

The health benefits and the body's adaptation to unique movements is of great interest to Anderson as a kinesiology student. "They should talk about it in anatomy classes and in physical therapy classes. I think that doctors should know it, gymnasts, athletes," he said. He hopes to introduce parkour in his dance and martial arts classes at Sacramento State.

Lo Forte also aspires to introduce parkour skills to the police force. "These things will be helpful for them and hopefully they will realize that and hire some of us to train them in the future," he said.

In the middle of practice, a group of young men started tumbling and performing a series of flips in the air and over others lying on the ground. The freedom of movement in a creative way like this is called free-running, often associated with parkour.

"Parkour is strictly what's the most efficient way from one point to another; free-running is adding flair and flips," Anderson said.

Though there were not any females present at the practice, they are encouraged to participate as traceuse, French for female tracers.

Robert King encouraged me to try a technique to get over a 7-foot wall during practice, but I settled for swinging and balancing on rails on my own time. I found that I was using my environment rather than living around it. Though we all live in our environments, traceurs live their environments.

For more information, click the following link:

Practice at Bella Vista High School, meeting Sundays and Wednesdays at 4 p.m.