Sayoc NorCal Filipino Martial Arts - Oakland, CA

A synopsis of the recent Atienza Kali training group session, led by Atienza Kali Full Instructor, Guro Leo Manalo

Written by Sayoc NorCal Apprentice Instructors, Karl Fong and Derek King

Last week Sayoc NorCal had the pleasure of hosting Atienza Kali’s Guro Leo Manalo for a 2 night seminar.  With Tuhon Ricardo and Guro JP out of town, lessons were already being learned a week prior to Guro Leo’s arrival.  It became the responsibility of the apprentice instructors to run a tight ship.  Through communication we were able to organize opening and cleaning “The Compound” (what we call our Sayoc training site), greeting and registering seminar attendees, and choosing a rendezvous spot for after-training grub.

During our first night of training, Guro Leo lead us through the entire Atienza Long Blade Evolution #1. This Evolution (or Evo) has 20 distinct counts for two people (Feeder 1 and Feeder 2).  In addition to teaching the fundamental steps, he also explained how the study of fighter types is included throughout the drill (ie, two count, one count, deflection-counter, and thrusters).  Furthermore, Guro Leo exposed how movement concepts about targeting and intent, distancing, blade economy of motion, and “letting the blade do the work” are woven into every count.  Finally, he added how important it is to understand the different attributes of various blade lengths and shapes.

Towards the end of the night, Guro Leo taught us to modify the Long Blade Evolution by adding disruptions to the drill.  These disruptions were through a deliberate change in the fighter type used by one person from that prescribed in the original drill.  For example, an interceptor fighter type (a fighter that aims to cut his opponent’s weapon arm or hand) will use different distancing and, with a successful interception, will disrupt the drill.  With this type of training modifier, Guro Leo was able to answer many questions about footwork, distancing, and timing.  He also addressed the possible trajectory of a lopped-off limb and its free-flying weapon, and how this can require a drastic change in footwork.

Our second night of training started with Guro Leo introducing us to the Real Combat Exercise (RCE) training method.  The purpose behind this exercise was to apply our long blade techniques under fatigue and stress.  The tight walls of The Compound, and the number of bodies moving around simultaneously added another dimension to the scenario.  The role of Feeder 1 was to feed continuous and random shots, and Feeder 2 had to utilize deflection-counters, intercepts, slips, and thrusts (all of which were learned from the previous night) to get to Feeder 1’s back. This was done for approximately one minute rounds, and in between each round, Feeder 2 had to complete a set of exercises to keep the heart rate up and to add some dimension of fatigue.  It was an amazing way to train!! In the later rounds we discovered what techniques were the most effective, and found out that under stress the ability to execute the correct responses begin to diminish.  As fatigue started to kick in, Guro Leo told us to pay close attention to our “attack recovery” which is essential to multiple attacker scenarios.

The second part of the night was dedicated to the trapo (flexible weapon/rock-in-a-sock), which was something very new to Sayoc NorCal.  Before jumping in, Guro Leo showed us a few options of constructing a trapo, and most importantly explained some of the L.O.T. behind the weapon.  For a few of us, the trapo shared many attributes to that of nunchakus.  Footwork, body mechanics, and weapon awareness proved to be crucial to prevent self-inflicted damage.  Guro Leo then lead us thru the 9 count trapo template and, after some good reps of the template, he showed us the counters and how to monitor the flexible/whipping characteristics of the weapon.  We ended the night with a brief RCE session utilizing the trapo. Feeder 1 fed jabs and crosses while Feeder 2 used the trapo to parry and hit their targets.

Sayoc NorCal would like to thank Guro Leo for his time and knowledge!!!  We cannot wait for another top notch training session to make the tribe stronger.