Is there a "Mantis Sliding in the Mud" form?

[Oso]

If not, I think we'll invent one this weekend. ;)


looks like it's going to be a 'good-training' weekend in Nashville w/ Shifu Brazier.

mud and rain are good for working root and real gripping power. :D

see all you fellas in a few hours...looking forward to seeing Shifu Biggie again as well.

[yu shan]

Yep, looking forward to spending the weekend with Shibo Brazier. The training will be challenging indeed. Also attending will be Mike Biggie, Matt Melton, Steve Ottaviano, Annibelle Lin and Sam Smith.

Along with hopefully learning as many of the Eighteen Essentials, we are going to have a round table discussion on Tanglang W/Kevin Brazier.

Rain is forcasted, but I have an indoor space available. The rain would be nice though, it was 98 yesterday.

Maybe someone can chime in as the weekend goes by to share what we have done.

Wish I would have gotten 8 hours of sleep in last night!:rolleyes:

[Oso]

heh...I haven't gotten more than 5 hours in....weeks, months? can't remember.

where is the indoor space?

we're about ready to hit the road around 1

[Oso]

rolled in from the road just a bit ago...more rain on the way back...the Cumberland Plateau is getting plenty of water.

well, it was hot...it was humid...it was a blast.

I've got a lot on my mind with moving the school and suchlike so I wasn't in my usual mood for training...my apologies to my Shibo and the Nashville crew for any moodiness that came accross.


Eighteen Essential Techniques to Apply on Initial Engagement

It was very, very cool to train techniques that are illustrated in pictures of Shiye Li Hongjie and video clips of Shiye Shi Zhengzhong.

I'll hopefully have some pics to post tomorrow and a better descriptoin of the weekend.

Xie Xie Shibo.

[bung bo]

This was a great weekend. The 18 essentials are just that---essential. This was really valuable material to learn. Anybody who got a piece of it definately came away with a lot. Training with Shibo Brazier is great.

After working out in the slippery grass, practicing out on the flat concrete is no sweat....or any other flat surface for that matter. I fell on the wet ground more times than I can count.

Seeing old friends like Steve and Annibelle was fun. I also met new ones like Mike Biggie and his crew from Akron. They were all good guys. I always value the experience of training alongside my Shifu as a fellow student. If anybody gets the chance to train with Kevin Brazier, take it.

[yu shan]

Wow, what a weekend! First off, thank you Shifu Brazier for all your efforts this weekend. It was an amazing few days of training, no breaks, just training. And thanks to my kf brother Steve for making the trip and assisting Kevin. It was special for me to have the opportunity to pair off with Shifu Mike Biggie. Great guy with good skills. Props to Kelley, Joe and Bob.

I meant to chime in over the weekend and tell how we were doing, no time and no energy! It was literally all about training and learning the material.

Each session (3 hours) began with Kevin`s warmup routine. This was followed by "Yi Jin Jing" Qi-gong. He also taught everyone "strike four gates". This SFG is a very good tool for improving footwork and the ability to strike with power from an angle you normally think would not contain power. I learned alot about this subject from this little exercise.

Kevin mentioned that we were probably only going to be able to learn 9 out of the 18, I can see why now. This was easily 6 months of training rolled into a single weekend. Quality time was spent on each. I liked the way Kevin presented the material. Each technique was first taught as a "line drill", then after doing these many times over a very long distance, we paired off with a partner. Kevin looked at each and everyone of us to assure we were getting right, often jumping in front of us and applying the strikes. Also we switched partners to get the feel of differant peoples energy. We also repeated the line drills with Kevin calling out, we had to respond to the name of the essential. Gloves were put on in order to step things up and apply with more power. On the final day, Kevin spent a lot of time showing differant variations to each technique, almost overwhelming. I see the importance and necessity of "knowing" the types of strikes needed in the initial engagement. These really helped me with my entering the engagement aswell. Maybe with Oso`s help and Kevin`s permission we could put up some clips.

Also, the gathering took place on top of a civil war fort where many battles were fought. It was a very cool place, up high, secluded and beautiful. Kind of added to the ambiance... thanks Justin for finding this spot.

more later...

[mantis108]

Sounds like this is a great gethering. Thank you Oso, Bung bo, and Yu Shan for the detailed reports. I am looking forward for the clips. :D

Warm regards

Mantis108

[18elders]

It was a nice weekend of training. Nice to see all of the pong lai people and Shrfu Biggie's students.
Like Yu said, it was a great spot to train at and everyone did great.

[Oso]

yea, the old fort was cool. I took some pics of the area early sunday morning before everyone got there.

I should have those up in a little while.

[Oso]

Ok, here's the first batch

The first two are of the Fort. These pics just give a sense of the size of the field but not really the bowl effect created by the trees, the slope of the ground and the bluff over the river off to the right of the pics. A very nice location.

next are some group shots

[Oso]

next batch...K.Brazier, 18elders, yu shan, Oso, Metal Mantis, bung bo, Pie Anne, Eric, Keoni (sp?)

that's pretty much all the decent pics I have. lot's of blurry ones :(

[mooyingmantis]

Oso,
Nice photos! Unfortunately, I found out about it too late, or I would have joined the Bigginator and his crew. :)
Glad to hear you guys had a great time!
I will squeeze the guys for details at class.

Richard

[Oso]

Richard,

There will be more. Right now, the plan between me and Jim is to swap towns...He brings Shibo (K.Brazier) in to Nashville and me and mine travel there and the next time Shibo comes to Asheville and he travels here...every other visit. All subject to change of course. I've got a school to move and get enrollment up over the next 6 months to make it work. So, Shibo may visit Nashville next before he visits Asheville again.

I hate that Shifu Biggie had to leave early. We talked a little bit about the trials and tribulations of trying to make a commercial school work Saturday morning and was looking forward to talking more over some beers later. He also showed me his application of the first move of Gung Li....I'd figured his arms were pretty hard but...owitch!

Please pass on my best wishes to him and his family.

Matt

[Emeraldphoenix]

I just wanted to say thank you to Mr Brazier and all the Pong lai folks. Great weekend and enjoyed meeting everyone.

It is great to be able to put faces to names.

We all enjoyed ourselves and thank all of you for being so kind and having us down there with you.

Best wishes and we look forward to seeing you all again and hopefully soon.

Kelley

[Oso]

ahhhh....Emeraldphoenix...yea, good to see you guys too.

Bob doing ok?

[Emeraldphoenix]

Bob is fine. Heat and humidity got to him. Tenn. aint Ohio. We have had pretty cool year this year. Compounded with little sleep and he didnt eat. Bad combination.. that's all.

You were very quiet over the weekend, dont worry about the school thing, it will all work out.

[Oso]

didn't eat???? ya'll need to get him edimacated...kung fu needs food.

but, yea, we were pretty much swimming in the air it was so humid.

Thanks...things are coming together on the school. I did a lot of work yesterday.

[mooyingmantis]

Matt,
Mike speaks highly about you and your group. I hope to meet you next time, or at the next mantis conference in Las Vegas.
Yes, Mike's arms are *&^% hard. I was teasing him the other day that those scrawny little things that he calls arms should be named "bars of steel". I started three star training over thirty years ago and I still hate banging arms with him. :eek:
BTW, ask him about the time he had his hand x-rayed years ago (80's). Interesting story!
Richard

[Metal Mantis]

(Well, I had composed a long reply, but upon trying to send it, my work computer took a poo. I will just give the thanks out now, due to my frustration)

Thank you Shibo Kevin for sharing your time and knowledge with us! It is always a pleasure to train with you, even when I am vomiting in the bushes...

Thank you Shifu Jim for putting this together and being understanding to my ignorance in the past... See you tonight in class...

It was good to meet Biggie and his folks, sorry to hear of your family emergency, I hope all is well... You will be in our thoughts...

Oso, it is always fun to get tossed around by you, foul mood or not :-) Perhaps I will make it over for Bel-sher (sp?).

I was glad to share one of my favorite parks in the town I grew up in... Now that I feel it is broken in, I will be sure to train there more often...

The 18 Essentials are exellent... I look forward to spending many many many hours feeling what is expressed best by my body and evolving understanding... I look forward to more...

~Be well~

[Oso]

Richard: I'll probably not make this years conference due to financial constraints....read that as 'i'm broke' :)

I'll have to ask about the hand x-ray...sounds like it might be similar to when I broke my hand punching something stupid and they couldn't get a needle stuck in the back of my hand to give me the lidocaine shot.



J - 'Bele Chere'...it's french you cretin. ;) :D I hope you do...looks like the big band to see this year is Galactic...but, we stumbled on that other band with the bad ass bass player so there's always something good.


http://belecherefestival.com/music.php?sub=line_up



I look forward to spending many many many hours feeling what is expressed best by my body and evolving understanding... I look forward to more...

carefull there buddy...someone might mistake you for a hippie.... ;)

alright...time to go do my best impression of Shibo....

[K.Brazier]

Hi all,
Great thanks to all who came. The training was long, but the collective energy pushed us thru right to the end.
It was a pleasure to deal with a large group of a single minded determination to master everything in a single weekend.

" He also taught everyone "strike four gates". "

This was taught to me by Mantis 108. IMHO, one of the simplest and yet most important aspects of mantis.

"This SFG is a very good tool for improving footwork and the ability to strike with power from an angle you normally think would not contain power. I learned alot about this subject from this little exercise. "

It is more than a tool. This type of footwork shows up repeatedly in the mantis that I teach. It is an essential aspect of how to move the body within the Mantis style. I regret not having the time and chance to go into details of how it is used to apply various methods of deceptive striking.

"Kevin mentioned that we were probably only going to be able to learn 9 out of the 18, I can see why now. "

On the bright side, learning the last nine should be easier than the first nine.

" Each technique was first taught as a "line drill", then after doing these many times over a very long distance, we paired off with a partner. "

This is my own addition. Normally, the student would be well acquanted with all these techniques in the forms and no line drills would be taught.

But, this method of training individual techniues is valid. Many times I would see my elder, alone under the Banyon tree, working a technique over and over.

"We also repeated the line drills with Kevin calling out, we had to respond to the name of the essential. "

I started this, but realizing that 2 days is too short to learn moves and chinese words or their abstract english equivelents is too much I stopped. Later you must call out the terms and have the students do the moves for the partner practice.

"I see the importance and necessity of "knowing" the types of strikes needed in the initial engagement."

Yes, I agree. In my own observations I have noticed that the winner of fights is usually the guy who got the good strike right off the bat.(Not as often in tourny though).

" These really helped me with my entering the engagement aswell. Maybe with Oso`s help and Kevin`s permission we could put up some clips."

Send me some stuff,, I'll edit and post.


"Also, the gathering took place on top of a civil war fort where many battles were fought. It was a very cool place, up high, secluded and beautiful. Kind of added to the ambiance... thanks Justin for finding this spot."

Now, my wife wants to move to Tenn.

Kevin

[Oso]

I haven't looked at my vid yet...I just have the first hour of the last session Sunday morning.



ok...so are we going to be in a bidding war to get Shibo to move to Nashville or Asheville? ;)

cuz, he didn't get to see anything cool in February...I can beat the fort. :D

[yu shan]

You are so right Matt, no way Nashville can compare to Asheville! Shibo needs to see your area for sure... and not the winter time.

[Oso]

I was just kidding mainly...maybe we can do it old school way...you build him a house there and I'll build him one here...he can do winters there and summers here...

[Metal Mantis]

That's a bold statement there Oso, coming from a man living Asheville, who more often than not when I see is bare foot... Is not there some sort of Dredloc clause for living there? :p

"I started this, but realizing that 2 days is too short to learn moves and chinese words or their abstract english equivelents is too much I stopped. Later you must call out the terms and have the students do the moves for the partner practice. "

I see the value in this... I remember watching Da Shifu Shr teaching a form to Shiye John, he would call out the next move by naming the technic and Shiye would execute... I feel this helps to keep the mind limber and keep things seperate... To help one seperate from one thing to the next, not to say to put boudaries or an end point to something, but to see when an opportunity manifests and dissolves, to keep aggressive... Plus, learning the Chinese would help provide a more well rounded understanding of the concept of the app...

Anyhow, I should get back to freting guitars... Hope that was'nt too spacey for you there Oso... :p :cool:

~Be well

[Oso]

lol...actually, Eric hit the nail on the head when he called me Huck Finn when we were running back down the hill saturday. give me my druthers and ahd be in shorts on the river day after day

see, I actully feel like I 'get it' better than these wanna be hippies and peaceniks in this town...again, it's the hypocrisy of their actions that gets to me most.

Case in point the kids that own this building I'm moving out of...they want to keep the historic iron windows that create a much higher cost of heating and cooling...thereby burning more fuel to create electricity...but, anyways...

and don't go thinking you can out 'spacey' me you young whippersnapper:mad:

I was drinking tea and speculating about the lives of the people on the other side of a mirror when you were just a suckling at your mama's teat. :p

I done figured the answer out already, that's all. no need for speculation. ;)

[feimantis]

I have been so happy being around all of the Pong Lai guys since I have started my training almost a year ago. What a group of great people. I enjoyed this seminar as much as the last. So far everything I have learned I have loved. Its nice to hit and be hit im hard headed so I think thats what I need to have things make since. I always enjoy seeing 18 elders and I think Kevin's seminars are something special. It was nice to see Oso and his crew again. I feel like a rookie around all you Pong Lai veterans maybe if you beat me enough I will learn something one day. See you this Saturday Yu Shan.

[Oso]

Good to see you again, bro.

We need to get together next time for some one on one.

I can pass on a few 'Fat Boyz' (tm) tips for the BBMA (Big Beautiful Martial Artist) to ya. From personal experience, you know. ;)

Tip #1: Wait for 'em.

If they really want to kick your ass...they'll come to you. Then you can show them why Mohammed really shouldn't have gone to the mountain. :D