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Arnisfest 2007

Orland Park, IL

October 4th to October 7th, 2007

Camp Host: Master of Tapi Tapi Ken Smith

Islander’s Karate once again opened its doors for a four day Modern Arnis camp to a group of highly enthusiastic martial artists who traveled from all over the country as well as Germany to attend the camp. Master Ken Smith and his wife Tammy took great care to make sure that everyone felt at home during the camp.

Footwork was again stressed as one of the most important concepts that is often overlooked in our study of the martial arts. With the proper footwork and range a technique can be performed with much more power. This allows a smaller person to take control of a larger partner.

The tag team approach to teaching was again a big hit with the students. It was amazing to watch how the instructors changed and the topics continued seamlessly. Each new instructor was able to build on the previous topic. This year circuit training was used as a method of breaking up the group. Three levels were broken out allowing each group to get the maximum knowledge and practice for their level. Each group was treated to a different instructor; the instructors would rotate to a new group after approximately one half hour. The students were also treated to the fast and effective fighting techniques of Jamil Tarkani from Germany and the pressure point fighting of George Dillman as taught by Will Higganbotham

The black belts were given a breakout session that was a lead by Jamil Tarkani and Dr. Randi Schea continuing with the concept that proper footwork is essential to succeed in the martial arts they presented a review of footwork and movement while sparring with padded sticks. This gave the group quite a cardio workout.

Ken Smith gave the group a fantastic opportunity to see how easily pressure point fighting can be applied to all the techniques of Modern Arnis as well as the many martial arts styles represented at the camp. Everyone was given a chance to ask questions and learn how the pressure points are already being used to enhance the many techniques that had been demonstrated at the camp.

Brian Zawilinski kept the group interested with his fast paced tour of the many ways to use circular motion to control, redirect and overtake your opponents. He was also able to keep the spirit of Professor Presas alive with some stories of his recent trip to the Philippines and of his time training with the Professor.

Jim Ladis presented a very effective demonstration of locking. He was able to show a variety of finger and shoulder locks that left his partner tapping very vigorously to be released. It was amazing to see how much discomfort using one finger could cause.

Chuck Gauss once again amazed the group with a series of powerful Tapi – Tapi techniques leading up to a tremendous series of ground fighting and controlling techniques. It was difficult to watch his partners hitting the ground over and over again. Master Gauss made it clear that Modern Arnis has much more to offer than just a stick fighting art.

Dr. Schea lead a session on advanced ground fighting, He worked through each technique very slowly with the intention of instructors learning more than how to perform the technique. He wanted all teachers to know how to help their students to learn the technique. He was very open to questions and encouraged everyone to think about how the technique worked. It was amazing to see how effective these techniques could be when applied properly.

Saturday night was ended with a campfire and time to socialize at Ken and Tammy Smith’s house. This personal touch made the camp even more special. It was a chance to get to know people and enjoy their company outside of the training hall.

Before anyone realized it was Sunday morning and camp was coming to what seemed like an all too quick end. It is hard to believe that each year the camps get better and better. No matter how much you learn there is still so much more out there. As always everyone left camp planning the next event they would attend.

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