Picture courtesy of Andy Janson
It’s Saturday morning on January 27th and I’m off to pick up Kamal Dhiman and head out to Nottingham for my first Rapid Arnis Seminar. In the hour journey we discuss the two arts of Rapid Arnis and Shastar Vidiya. Kam is an instructor of Rapid Arnis and has also trained in Shastar Vidiya for over ten years.
Upon arrival I immediately meet the main man Tuhon Pat O’Malley. He’s in great form as always, and his fiendish sense of humour is fed no end by Kam’s mishap falling down the stairs of the Gym - great start to the weekend.
There’s a big crowd with practitioners of RA from Nottingham, London and many other places. I also meet up with Lennart Wallgren (aka the Viking on account of his Swedish heritage) who I’d recently trained with at the last Birmingham Shastar Vidiya seminar.
The day was kicked off by the organiser of the event Jon Broster. Jon’s an amazing martial artist with years of experience in a diverse field of martial arts. I am immediately struck by the quality of the teaching and learning. It’s intense, directed and designed to get people moving and crossing hands. Years of experience and diverse experience is clearly evident in how and what Jon teaches. These first few sessions are full of drills which are done with real intensity by the whole group. The instructors such as Pat, Jon, Andy Janson and Kam circulate to either correct or enhance what pairs are doing. This for me was what made the weekend so rich - the fact that you had a group of people besides the main instructor who were all able to do RA to very high degree.
Over the course of the weekend half a dozen different instructors took sessions each focusing on different aspects of RA, with some armed and others unarmed. But even as an outsider I could see the common thread of the art in each session. It was also clear how well thought out RA was and how common themes and concepts are developed from the ground up. Having thought about how difficult this would be in my own art of SV I have much admiration and respect for Pat in achieving this.
The last session was Pat’s, and almost predictably it was the best for me. Having been introduced to foundational drills and ideas Pat came in at the end to show how to elevate the whole lot through a small yet key set of principles. It also helped that this method of teaching was familiar to the way I’ve been taught in SV by Gurudev who emphasises principles above all else. Indeed many of these principles were similar to key concepts in SV and it was refreshing to see an independent almost verification of them. But more so for my learning purposes it was extremely helpful to see a different angle (pardon the pun) and perspective on principles such as distancing, positioning and structure.
One such interpretation of a key principle is what Pat called ‘framing’. Without going into detail (you can only get this direct from him anyway) it broadly is a way to understand correct entry angles and positioning. A week later I was attempting to incorporate this myself in an SV seminar into what I had been doing that day, see video below.
On the second day we got to do some sparring and this was absolutely amazing. For any martial artist testing and checking what you’re learning is an absolute nailed on requirement to get anywhere. It was great seeing and feeling how different people move and again there was high intensity throughout. So much so that I was knackered and pulled my hamstring before the end of it.
What struck me and impressed me was the combination of high intensity training and quality outcomes - rather than it being a free for all with little outcome. In many arts the forms and drills rarely are replicated in the heat of combat. But with RA this is not the case. These guys have trained in such a way that the skills and attributes of their drills are present in combat. Also, and vitally, the fact they train with intensity during any drill or exercise means they are able to cope with the added pressure and nuances of actual combat. If nothing else it makes the RA guys great training partners.
This was my first, and I hope first of many, steps into exploring in earnest outside my own art in order to enhance my own understanding and attributes. My thanks to Pat, Kam and Jon in particular - hope to see you all soon.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, BOXING WITH IMPLEMENTS IN HAND IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS INJURY
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