Question for the Count

[Yung Apprentice]

I was told by swmngdragon that you are familiar with a teacher here in my town of Vegas, by the name of Jack Soderburg, and that you could maybe give me an adrress or a phone number to his school. If it's not to much to ask, could you tell me a little bit about him? Thank you.

[count]

Yes, Jack is in your area now. He was my first kung fu teacher and the one who gave me my nickname (count), when I lived in Chicago 25 years ago. He's a great person with a traditional background and a very progressive teaching method. He is a Llama Crane man but takes from many other arts like Kali and last I heard was adding Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to his program. When I knew him he was a national forms champion but a great fighter too. You can learn alot from him. I spoke with him last year in Las Vegas and he was doing well. I will try to track down his phone number and e-mail it to you. Give me a few days. In the meantime, he may be in the book but I'm not sure what name his school is. Probably something with "Progressive" in the name. If you talk to him, tell him, the count sent you. He will definately laugh.:D BTW, if you attend his school you will probably get chances to meet and work with many good teachers like Wai Lun Choi or Dan Inosanto. He does lot's of seminars at his school.

[Yung Apprentice]

Thanx!

[Yung Apprentice]

I'm not to familiar with Llama Crane or Kali. Could you tell me a little bit about it? What are some of Mr. Soderburg's training methods? As far as weapons, forms, sparring, two man sets, calistetics( I know I spelled that wrong) weight training etc. I'm looking at MAs that will help my (slow) footwork and my speed just overall. I'm looking for something is as offensively oriented as it is defensively. Does his teachings also incorporate standing throws, chokes, holds, locks, and pressure points? Sorry for all these questions, I'm just trying to get a rough idea.

[count]

Llama Crane (or Hard Crane, or Tibetan Crane) is an aggressive style that always retreats forwards. It's triangular stepping methods make it easy to evade inside. It's known for it's superior boxing but like mostly all CMA it uses every weapon available. ie: locks, throws, kicking, punching, point striking, etc. There are many unique training methods that are Llama specific. For weight training they use a pair of wooden blocks between 9 to 15 pounds, which are swung with the many striking methods of the style. In addition, Jack has always been creative with training methods of his own with alot of emphasis on conditioning and cardio. As I recall, we spent alot of time running and jump roping for endurance, timing and speed. Heavy ab work and lot's more. He has even developed a unique "wooden dummy" method for training that is unlike any you have seen before. I would call his methods eclectic.

Kali is Filipino stick fighting. It was helpful to me for all my later weapons training. Develops great speed and timing and gives all the angles for attack and defense.

But like I say, Jack takes from all the arts, ala Bruce Lee. If it's good, he will use it. Whatever you are looking for, I'm sure Jack Soderberg can help you. Hope this helps.

[count]

Jack teaches many if not all the classical ones. Ask him to show you his metal whip. He taught me the best Cane set I have ever seen. It has stuck with me to this day.:)

[Yung Apprentice]

I accidently stumbled across his address in the yellow pages. Just in case you might have lost his number or something.

His school is called Create Develop & Flow.
The address is: 101 S. Rainbow Blvd.LV
the number is: (702) 251-1111

[count]

That's the last number I have for Jack. I think I'll give him a call. Have you decided to check him out?