Here is a quick summary of our experience a couple weekends ago in California where a small group of Jeet Kune Do students from the Bloomingdale and Rockford schools attended an extended weekend of learning – so we can pass on the best info to you! Thanks to Matt Gronlund for the time on writing this up.
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What could be better than three days of training with world class instructors and a great group of friends? Five of us from EDS, including Sifu Matt, Paul Ingram, Pete Juska, Tom Ceravolo and me, just returned from the PFS Sierra Summit and a day of training with Crafty Dog Marc Denny, leader of the Dog Brothers.
The trip began with a day in Hermosa Beach working with Marc on the Dog Brother’s KaliTudo empty hand material, which I’m sure the guys will be happy to demonstrate on you in our upcoming sparring sessions. After seeing that the Kalitudo material is based on the same movements as those used in in the DBMA weapons program (consistency across categories), Marc suggested we do some double stick work.
Marc wields big sticks (literally) and knows how to use them! Crafty Dog has an unbelievable depth of knowledge in the arts and was more than gracious in sharing his material with us. This was an amazing experience and a great way to start the weekend.
Next we made the long and sometimes treacherous drive to Kernville, CA for the PFS Sierra Summit. Located in the Sierra mountains and situated on Lake Isabella, the Summit venue couldn’t have been more beautiful. We arrived Friday night in time for Sifu Paul Vunak’s opening remarks and a screening of Enter the Dragon.
We kicked off the training portion of the Summit on Saturday morning with “Filthy MMA” and then moved in kino mutai. The afternoon was focused edged weapons. The day ended with steak and lobster on the mountain with the PFS clan and an evening lecture from Sifu Paul and Sifu Harinder Singh Sabharwal.
Sunday we reviewed Saturday’s material, enjoyed some great Vunak/Cruse stories from the Navy SEAL days and worked on some new law enforcement material. The day ended at 5 PM with us, covered in dust and dirt, racing through the mountains back to LAX to catch the redeye home to Chicago.
The trip was a great success. We all came away with some cool new material, had an opportunity to train with the extended PFS family and had a blast spending time the with EDS guys outside of the academy.
If you missed the Summit but want to train with the PFS guys, I highly recommend you check out Sifu Tom Cruse’s seminar at EDS on July 29. You won’t be disappointed.
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If you want to see a couple pics, you can click here to see the attendees and awesome background at the JKD camp.