We started the camp Saturday Morning at 10 am. Datu Tim Hartman began the camp with his new knife program that focuses more on the practical aspects of the knife over the "art" of the knife. I personally was very impressed by the material, and I think everyone who attended would agree with this. Datu Tim definitely brought reality to the table with this session. He covered the different kinds of attackers you might run into, the danger of disarms, "damage control," 2 hands on the knife hand if your unarmed and have to take control, taking into account environmental factors such as slippery terrain, and taking advantage of your environment such as using the ground or a wall to aid in your disarm. We covered these aspects and more in the form of partner drills.

We broke for lunch at 12:30....all you can eat China Buffet!

We resumed at 2pm with GM Bong Journales. GM Journales probably has the most endurance I have ever seen in one person! We worked on double stick and footwork drills. We also covered rope techniques. Let me tell you, we all broke a sweat! I was glad that I didn't eat too much buffet for lunch! I was really pleased with this session, though. These were some great footwork drills that would work well with double stick and largo techniques. Also, the rope training was great in that we rarely get to cover 'soft' weapons at Modern Arnis seminars; however soft weapons are great tools for self-defense that we should always keep in minds. Things like clothing, belts, and ropes are almost always nearby, and could be used for defense. I found GM Journales session very useful, as well as a great workout! It is also important to mention here that Wendi, Bongs wife, was a wonderful treat to have at the camp. She is a very talented martial artist herself, and she aided GM Bong in his teaching.

Guro Rich Parsons ran the 3rd session at 4pm. People's brains were already fried from the large amount of material taught by GM Bong and Datu Hartman. They were in for a heck of a lot more with Rich's session! We come to camps to fry our brains with as much material as we can retain, so I definitely think we succeeded in that! Rich covered 6-count drill with the stick and dagger. Highly useful, and highly practical! I personally enjoyed this session and learned quite a lot from it. Rich brought a new perspective to 6-count that I will definitely use in my teaching as well. Also, Rich helped me personally with hashing out some of the details of my own stick and knife fighting strategy. I know that everyone walked away from this session with a much better understanding of the little understood stick and dagger. We were able to translate this to just dagger also. The end of the session was great because people brought many good questions to the table, which Rich answered very well. I think that people learned a lot from this session, so I hope everyone took good notes!

We went to a reserved dinner at the Rochester Brewery at 6pm. Good food!

We returned to the Martial Arts School at 7:30 pm to have an open session with all the instructors. Some people were so fried from all the great material that they went to their hotels and homes to rest up for Sunday. Others stayed. Bong and Wendi made themselves available for private coaching and training for the select few that stayed. Rich Parsons, Bob Hubbard, and Adam Lux beat the crap out of each other with flexi sticks, keeping up with the Rich and Bob battling camp tradition. We had a few visitors come in that evening as well, and it was all around a good time. When we were all burned from training, we went to Fridays for a nightcap around 10pm. We had a great time eating, drinking, and chatting. I hit the pillow at about 1am, but I know that some didn't even leave Fridays until 1:30! We ended a long, productive, and fun day!

We returned at 10 AM on Sunday for another great session from Guro Rich Parsons. He continued with the material he covered from the previous day, but showed how the material translated to the single cane.

Tim followed with another great knife session, continuing from the previous day also. It was good to see this much knife covered at the camp, and I know that the attendants were very pleased with this.

GM Journales and Wendi also continued from the previous day with double stick and more rope work. I have grown accustomed to the rope. What a fun tool to use!

We ended the day with an awesome demonstration of WEKAF style full contact stick fighting. GM Bong and Wendi not only demonstrated, but also gave a great explanation of the rules and methods involved. Then some of us got a chance to throw the gear on and go at it with GM bong. Bob, Rich, Bill, and Adam all took advantage of this opportunity. I can tell you that I was glad I experienced it. It was a very different feeling with all that gear on. I had a particular problem with my helmet in that the front put pressure on my throat, restricting my breathing. My neck is almost 18 inches around, though. I wonder if Rich had this problem also? Anyways, you burn a lot more energy in a few one-minute rounds then you would think with all that gear on. GM Bong demonstrated his extremely high endurance levels once again by taking us all on one by one! All in all, this was very impressive and enjoyable.

Sadly, Sunday afternoon, after pictures and goodbyes, we all had to part ways, ending our 1st WMAA Michigan Fall camp. It was a great time, leaving a lot of memories for all those who attended. Once again, thank you all who supported this event, making it a success. We'll look forward to having an even better one next year!

Sincerely,

Paul Janulis
WMAA Michigan Fall Camp Host
2003