If you read my blog regularly then you know what Escrima is. If not please read BLOG #8 Seattle Part 3 before reading this Blog. Thank you.
I decided that since my husband is an Escrima Master and my son is already at a Level 4 (he's only 9 years old) then well, I should probably give Escrima a try. Having watched Joel train for well over 15 years I have a pretty good understanding of what my training will be like. Bahala Na Filipino Martial Arts Association (bahalana.org) is now providing instruction at a new location at 600 Porter Ave right off of Pacific Ave and I wanted to see the new place. It's called Cen-Cal (Central California) Gracie Academy (cencalgracieacademy.com). They also have classes for Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts & Kickboxing. This new location will give Bahala Na better exposure and I saw several new people at the class as well. When we arrived to class we were a few minutes late but, I was so excited because the class size was huge!
Class begins with Grand Master Tony Somera discussing the importance of reading about the art of Filipino Escrima. One of the students, Ed Casillas has built a collection of reading materials all about Bahala Na and they were encouraging all students to do some reading, especially about Grand Master Emeritus Leo Giron, the founder of Bahala Na. Grand Master Tony mentioned that one of his books called "Secrets of Giron Arnis Escrima (available at Amazon.com) is part of the reading curriculum at Sacramento State University in the Ethnic Studies class taught by Dr. James Sobredo.
Next, Master Joel starts the class by taking us through some warm-up drills. As with any training, it's always important to loosen and warm up your muscles to decrease the chances of injury. Then we do the 12 angles of attack. I have Leo stand in front of me so that I can see what he is doing. I knew some angles, others were a bit more tricky. But, so far so good. Master Joel has us line up and hit the standing punching bag with the stick using a #1 and #2 angles of attack. Since the class was so big, we did this just once as it was taking a lot of time. After that we partnered up and did some line drills. Leo was my partner and we worked together well. Finally, we did some hand to hand combat. Master Joel demonstrates on one of the students. Leo and I practice but, I can tell he is getting bored with me as he is more advanced. We start to goof off a bit. Master Joel decides to separate us and put us with other students. Man, I got in trouble on my first day. By my husband, no less.(hehe)
My partner Griff is also a new student. We practiced a move where you twist the persons wrist to pull them down then a push, punch, elbow to the face while using your leg to knock them over and then place your knee in their back to hold them down. In Master Joel's demo he did this smooth and quick and once he had the student down, he pretended to stab them with the knife he had hooked to his belt...several times. We finished the two hour class by lining up and saluting GME Leo Giron.
It felt great to finally say that I have actually taken a class in Escrima and to train with Joel and Leo. I would probably do it more often, unfortunately the classes are during my work hours. Maybe I can ask Master Joel for some private lessons? I've heard he has taken lemons and Babingka (Filipino dessert) as payment before.
I decided that since my husband is an Escrima Master and my son is already at a Level 4 (he's only 9 years old) then well, I should probably give Escrima a try. Having watched Joel train for well over 15 years I have a pretty good understanding of what my training will be like. Bahala Na Filipino Martial Arts Association (bahalana.org) is now providing instruction at a new location at 600 Porter Ave right off of Pacific Ave and I wanted to see the new place. It's called Cen-Cal (Central California) Gracie Academy (cencalgracieacademy.com). They also have classes for Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts & Kickboxing. This new location will give Bahala Na better exposure and I saw several new people at the class as well. When we arrived to class we were a few minutes late but, I was so excited because the class size was huge!
Class begins with Grand Master Tony Somera discussing the importance of reading about the art of Filipino Escrima. One of the students, Ed Casillas has built a collection of reading materials all about Bahala Na and they were encouraging all students to do some reading, especially about Grand Master Emeritus Leo Giron, the founder of Bahala Na. Grand Master Tony mentioned that one of his books called "Secrets of Giron Arnis Escrima (available at Amazon.com) is part of the reading curriculum at Sacramento State University in the Ethnic Studies class taught by Dr. James Sobredo.
Next, Master Joel starts the class by taking us through some warm-up drills. As with any training, it's always important to loosen and warm up your muscles to decrease the chances of injury. Then we do the 12 angles of attack. I have Leo stand in front of me so that I can see what he is doing. I knew some angles, others were a bit more tricky. But, so far so good. Master Joel has us line up and hit the standing punching bag with the stick using a #1 and #2 angles of attack. Since the class was so big, we did this just once as it was taking a lot of time. After that we partnered up and did some line drills. Leo was my partner and we worked together well. Finally, we did some hand to hand combat. Master Joel demonstrates on one of the students. Leo and I practice but, I can tell he is getting bored with me as he is more advanced. We start to goof off a bit. Master Joel decides to separate us and put us with other students. Man, I got in trouble on my first day. By my husband, no less.(hehe)
My partner Griff is also a new student. We practiced a move where you twist the persons wrist to pull them down then a push, punch, elbow to the face while using your leg to knock them over and then place your knee in their back to hold them down. In Master Joel's demo he did this smooth and quick and once he had the student down, he pretended to stab them with the knife he had hooked to his belt...several times. We finished the two hour class by lining up and saluting GME Leo Giron.
It felt great to finally say that I have actually taken a class in Escrima and to train with Joel and Leo. I would probably do it more often, unfortunately the classes are during my work hours. Maybe I can ask Master Joel for some private lessons? I've heard he has taken lemons and Babingka (Filipino dessert) as payment before.
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