CAMA Seminar Review:
As promised, now that I’ve had time to finish my notes and reflect on the weekend, here’s a review of the seminar hosted by Jesse Dwire at Dragon Phoenix Martial Arts. The guest instructor was Hanshi Vincent Anthony, with his assistants Shihan Cutter and Mr. Vanderpoel. Thanks to them for a great weekend, and thanks to Jesse (and family) for the hospitality.
It was a long and comprehensive seminar, with training from 8:30 – 6:30 on Saturday and 9:30-3:30 on Sunday. There were breaks between some classes and lunch breaks both days, but the training hours still added up to about 14 hours of training. Not a bad way to spend a weekend. It was especially great to see so many friends and to work with so many nice folks. Thanks to all my training partners.
The topics reflected Hanshi Anthony’s art of Aiki-bujutsu, but seemed like a great list of basic skills that are often weak in kempo styles. We started the morning with power punching, followed it with Iai-jutsu, took a lunch break, then came back for nage-waza (throwing), kansetsu waza (joint locks) and finished the day with shimewaza (chokes/strangles). Sunday began with kime and kyoshu jutsu(focus and vital point striking), and ended with a black belt class.
I’ll spare you a lengthy list of what we worked on, but the presenters stuck to the topics at hand. For the dynamic punching class we worked on the technique used in their art for punching, at great length and very specifically. It was not a seminar for those with a short attention span, and I was happy to have it that way.
The concepts were not groundbreaking – hip throws, kotegaeshi, sankyo, nikkyo, basic breakfalls, and so on, but the persistence on working until you get it right was refreshing at a seminar. Same with the chokes. Just work them, and work them correctly. Specific details, time to work the details.
The theme carried through all of the workshops, and I walked away with sharpened up skills in all of the listed areas.
Finally, the black belt class arrived. It was a microcosm of their teaching style at their home school, and it was classic Japanese style. I was pretty much toast at this point (fatigue does wonders for your technique…) Strict, no-nonsense, repetition of the basics, and attention to detail. Hanshi Anthony gave a lecture partway through which really encapsulated his views on why he trains and teaches the way he does. I found myself in agreement (mostly) and doing some real soul searching regarding how (and who) I teach. His art will be transmitted to Shihan Cutter, and Shihan Cutter will be able to know and do everything that makes up Aiki-bujutsu. The students will know what to expect, because his school forbids compliance with technique when training, so they work techniques to move, control, and so on, without ‘help’ from uke. We did a lot of contact, from chest punches to rib punches to knees to the thighs. Was it ‘ouch’? Sure, but it was controlled, and it made the techniques work because it made uke move. His primary goal is to have students who know their techniques will work, because they have made them work. He is the enemy of false confidence.
