Advanced Member Manual
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ADVANCED AFMA MEMBER MANUAL AUSTRALIAN FREESTYLE MARTIAL ARTS www.proactiveselfdefence.com Pro-Active Self Defence Academy 8 Brock Street, Thomastown. Ph 9464 4546 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MARTIAL ARTS As a combat art, the Martial Arts have traditionally represented a large number of offensive and defensive fighting techniques derived from the Far East. Historically, the techniques were developed in India and then transmitted to mainland China by Bodhidharma, the legendary founder of the famous Shaolin School. During the Sui and T’ang Dynasties these skills were spread to Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil. Throughout most of these formulative years the arts were secretly developed and transferred by word of mouth due, in large part to repressive feudalism. Since World War 2 military serviceman carried the arts worldwide, with the development of commercial air travel, and information technology virtually everyone has been exposed to some aspects of the martial arts. Today much of the exposure and hype bombards viewers through television, video and cinema, however the reality of the martial arts is far from this media presentation. Styles are shrouded in tradition and a degree of mystery. Each country (and region) developed its own fighting skills. Each art is unique and was developed through trial and error on the battlefield and personal defence. Below are short summaries of such: JAPANESE martial arts stretch back more than 600 years. Kendo is one of the most ancient. Ninja's were contract assassins, hired to dispatch their victims, usually by poison or by a knife in the back. The samurai were the soldiers of ancient Japan. They believed to die in battle was a fitting and noble death that would guarantee everlasting life in the next world. The four original styles of Karate Shotokan, Wado Ryu, Shito Ryu and Goju Ryu began on the island of Okinawa and spread to the Japanese mainland quite recently, 1920AD by Funakoshi. CHINESE martial arts are the oldest in the world with some dating back more than 2000 years. They are linked to Taoism, which uses the yin/yang symbol to show how strength should be balanced with compassion and gentleness. The Shaolin monks were introduced to Martial arts to assist their academic studies. They are renowned for their amazing feats and agility. KOREAN In 1909 Japanese troops invaded nearby Korea and introduced the Japanese arts. The Korean people developed their own form and created Tang Soo Do, Hapkido and Taekwondo. Taekwondo was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Sydney 2000 Olympic games. BRAZILIAN Jiu Jitsu has evolved from its early 20th century beginnings to become a formidable ground fighting art winning many of the early UFC no holds barred competitions. PHILIPPINES Eskrima, Kali & Arnis (Stick Fighting) were developed by the Filipinos whilst defending against invading neighbouring islands. The Filipinos also used single and double sticks to ward off the sword wielding Spanish empire invaders to defend their home. The Filipino's then incorporated blade and sword into their arts. THAILAND An independent country with a strong fighting heritage developed Muay Thai & Krabi Krobong (weapon system) on the battlefield whilst defending their homeland. WESTERN / EUROPEAN. From the Gladiators to the Holy Wars, fighting was developed utilizing various weapons. Firearms put an end to Swordsmanship. Weapon restrictions to civilians saw an increase in unarmed combat with boxing, wrestling and hybrids developing. MILITARY WARFARE As technology evolves, so too does the weapons of warfare. FREESTYLE Martial Arts developed with the ‘information age’ where travel and communication has allowed Martial Artists worldwide the opportunity to learn and grow from an immensely wide choice of skills and concepts. Bruce Lee was one of the first to embrace the idea of blending arts. AUSTRALIAN FREESTYLE MARTIAL ARTS Has developed using modern fighting concepts to build an effective self-defence system with all the benefits of Martial Arts. A blend of traditional martial arts, modern sport sciences (body mechanics, combat psychology) & survival techniques, give you a unique system of self defence and fitness made for today’s modern and unfortunately often violent world. © 2006 Pro Active Self Defence 2 BASIC TRAINING TERMINOLOGY Witik Pullback flick stick strike Loptik Through strike – stick Espady Daga Stick (sword) & knife Punio Butt of stick Abiniko ‘Fan’ strike / block Sombrada Counter for counter drill Redonda Circular sweeping strike Floretti Circle strike within redonda Jab Strike with lead hand Cross Strike with rear hand Orthodox Stance with right hand / leg back. (Strongest hand /leg back). Southpaw Opposite of orthodox - mostly used by left-handed boxers. Dojo Training hall or club (place of learning and development). Kiai Karate ‘scream’, used for channelling aggression, and unsettling opponent. Karenza Shadow boxing with weapons. Karate Empty hand Japanese martial art. Established 1920. Jiu Jitsu Japanese system with emphasis on locks and throws. Also Brazilian style. Aikido Japanese ‘soft’ art using opponents force. Hapkido Dynamic and acrobatic Korean art inspired by Japanese aikido. Kung Fu Chinese internal art emphasizing ‘Chi’ energy & centreline offence & defence. Kendo ‘The way of the sword’ est. circa 1400AD. Wushu Chinese weapon art & combat routines in dance like movements. Savate French kickboxing style. Sombo Russian KGB developed military art, emphasis on fatal throws & grapple. Muay Thai Thai Kickboxing using ‘the 8 weapons’: punches, kicks, elbows & knees. Taekwondo Korean art emphasizing high kicks. Recently made as an Olympic sport. THE BOWS KARATE BOW Attention Stance heels together (toes point out 45 degrees). Hands on thigh, Lean forward 10 to 15 degrees; generally used in most Karate forums such as all-style tournaments. FORM / KATA BOW Neutral Attention stance (feet apart), (R) Hand on top of left palms up, reverse to palms down whilst (L) foot come to (R) in Attention Stance heels together (toes point out 45 degrees). Hands on thigh, Lean forward 10 to 15 degrees. FORMAL JAPANESE BOW Neutral Attention stance (feet apart), (R) Hand on top of left palms up, reverse to palms down whilst (L) foot come to (R) in Attention Stance heels together (toes point out 45 degrees). Turn to right, kneel left then right and face front in kneeling position with closed fists on thigh. Hands to spade shape and Kneeling Bow. (Formal = 3 bows: 1.Dojo, 2.Instructor/s, 3.Others) © 2006 Pro Active Self Defence 3 AFMA SPARRING GUIDELINES FIGHTING VERSUS SPARRING To engage in a ‘street fight’ is foolish and potentially fatal. Fighting is the last resort! As Martial Artists we focus on violence awareness and prevention. As Martial Artists we have a responsibility to educate the community on the benefits of Martial Arts and the importance of being aware of, and resolving conflict before it escalates into violence. As Martial Artists we reserve the right to our personal safety and security. We give ourselves the right to defend ourselves vigorously and aggressively in the instance of extreme danger or unprovoked attack. To this end sparring can develop attributes that may assist us if we are attacked. Note: “Sparring” is not “fighting”, and “fighting” is not “sparring”. Sparring is NOT Self defence (nor Street Fighting). Self defence requires full contact strikes to targets to remove threat of an imminent attack or further injury from a criminally minded attacker. Obviously in self defence there are NO rules, NO safety equipment, NO body to call stop (or start) and NO care for your welfare. Self defence drills with safety equipment and closely supervised can incorporate realism and mental pressure to using heavier contact levels, while addressing the concern of students getting a false sense of security of real life street fighting. Sparring is the sport component of Martial Arts. Rules and Guidelines must be adhered to for the safety of participants. Rules and guidelines vary between combat styles as seen in All-Style Karate Tournaments, Kickboxing, Pancreation, Taekwondo, U.F.C, Boxing, Muay Thai, etc. Contact levels vary between styles and tournaments. From ‘NO Contact’ (controlled and safe) to ‘Full Contact’ whereby the objective is to maim, injure or knock out an opponent into submission. Full contact participants must weigh in, have pre and post medicals and be matched in experience. Referees ensure rules are adhered to and safety of fighters. If you are interested in sparring in other styles, discuss with your Instructor the levels of contact, rules, inherent dangers, regulations and training requirements required. Because of the vague and often misrepresented terminology used to explain Contact Levels in so called ‘Semi-contact’ (or even ‘kiss contact’) we have formulated Rules and Contact Levels for all AFMA Sparring, Training, Grading and Tournaments. SPARRING AIMS Sparring is an integral component of Martial Arts training. It is sometimes hard for Non Martial Artists to understand sparring and they should be educated as to its merits, safety rules, contact levels and benefits. AFMA Sparring is fun, enjoyable, challenging and character building. Skill benefits include: improved timing, ranging / distancing, targeting, defensive attributes and development of instinctive attack combinations. The aim of sparring is not only to put your skills into practice, but also to discover more about yourself. AFMA Colour & Black Belt gradings exemplifies this with sparring experiences that challenges us in a controlled and safe environment. BLACK BELT VERSUS COLOUR BELT GRADING SPARRING Colour Belt Sparring is about learning and developing basic sparring skills, (& to prepare you for the Black Belt Grading). Colour Belt is deliberately Light Sparring ONLY! No Contact to the Head and Touch Contact to Body is required due to the relative inexperience of colour belts. Black Belt Grading is where your real confidence grows when you are challenged and tested by your own doubts and fears. To know you can face overwhelming odd. To know when you are exhausted and facing a ‘tougher’ opponent, though you may not ‘win’, you do not give up, that you push yourself from within, to continue attacking.