Kapap
Kapap
and with my experiences as an Olympic fencing coach and knife fighting teacher, as well as Japanese swordsmanship, I started to design this knife which would be the basis for a workshop we teach in KAPAP called“ Only Knife.” Students will take only a knife and go into the woods by themselves and survive. The design of the knife had to be one that was not only effective as a weapon, but it would also have to encompass other capabilities: to allow one to build their own shelter, to get their food, to get their water, to help them build a fire, and take care of all their needs to survive. The idea is that with my Fighting knife you can not only kill but also save lives and survive. This is the main idea for this knife- to give life, not to take a life.
KAPAP is not a conventional system. It is a bridge between systems: it ' s a philosophy and a concept. KAPAP was not designed as a belt ranking system, or to create new Masters and Grand Masters. There are more than enough systems that do this. As a bridge, KAPAP ' s goal is to unite Martial Artists from different disciplines so that they will be able to communicate and share knowledge as brothersin-arms. We wish to do this without conflict, ego or politics based on common martial art principles.
Someone told me“ There are no bad students, only bad teachers.” I wonder what these bad teach ¬ ers were before they became bad teachers? I think they may have been bad students. And today, with ' No Roots ' systems, we get so many Grand Masters of Everything, and that is really Nothing.
There are so many YouTube and Facebook ' internet ' or ' keyboard ' warriors and Grand Masters that are in Martial Arts for a only few days seemingly, and they all slander great people and teachers. These same teachers have been in the Martial arts for most of their lives! My friend Sam Markey told me a story about someone that had asked him if he could fight two or three attackers and he said“ I can fight one lion, but not one-hundred Rabbits- True is On the Mat!” There are not so many teach ¬ ers today as there are too many organizations, and running those organizations has become more important than teaching.
“ An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.” Alexander the Great
I love being a teacher and will continue to fight to remain a teacher and not a business organiza ¬ tion. One of my main teachers is Nature. This is why we are doing lots of survival and bushcraft workshops, as no art or craft can really teach and you can only study, and your skills will be tested for real. It ' s the same with Martial Arts. People try to over-sell themselves in the Martial Arts like this: There was one legendary teacher and this one student had been his best student, but since the teach ¬ er is now dead, they are the new Grand Master of that teacher ' s life-work. But it ' s never like that. Most good students also had something in them to create, explore and study and this is why most of today ' s modern Grand Masters should remember that they are here to carry the flame, not the ash. Carry the Sprit. This is why I try teach all 3 elements: Body, Mind and Spirit. It ' s the same as carrying the three circles of Martial Arts: Traditional, Combative and Sport.
Always remember that techniques can work or they can fail. They are dependent on the situation, on proper timing and also what target that you choose to hit. It may be wrong, but it can also be right at the same time. Trust free-fight sparring and not theory or static practice. Truth is always discovered on the Mat by trying and mostly by studying through failing: You can hit this way and you can hit that way, with an open hand or a closed hand. The experience of free-fighting, action / reaction, standing to ground fighting, using a weapon or no weapon, strikes or no strikes, Gi or No Gi- lessons can be learned, even when you fail.
Stay away from those cowards that say things like:“ We are not a sports Martial Art” or“ We are not a traditional Martial Art, we are a no-nonsense Martial Art” or“ No Referee, No Tap, No Rules.” These slogans only show FEAR, as we all understand that we can kick someone in the groin or poke his eyes in a real fight. But, have you forgotten about the other guys skills? The advantage of a fighting sport with a referee and Tap Out rules is that it only gives you one way to challenge yourself and your fears. By hiding behind these slogans, you are not getting better prepared. By failing to prepare, you pre ¬ pare to fail. Nature has no mercy at all, if it ' s going be snowing and you get dressed in only your un ¬ derwear, it ' s still going to snow and you will still need to deal with it. To study nature, to love nature and to flow with nature- this is why nature can be such a great teacher. Pain is also a good teacher, but no one wants to learn this in a class!
Study yourself, improve your skills. Survival gives you so many ways to train your spirit to get stron ¬ ger. To feel fear is normal and necessary, it is nature ' s way of giving you that extra shot of energy. Knowledge is the first step in overcoming your fear. By placing yourself in nature, you can study and learn to use your thinking in survival situations. Panic can cause humans to act without thinking.
I would like share some quotes and words of wisdom and then end this ' lesson ' with“ Mokuso.” Each traditional class starts and ends with it.
Nature gets you to bully yourself. Challenge yourself, not others.
“ He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” Lao Tzu
Great people and inspired people are said to stay away from evil.
“ I would rather be a little nobody, than to be an evil somebody.” Abraham Lincoln“ There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, and nothing worth killing for.” Tom Robbins,“ When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sandpaper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless.” Anonymous“ Life is a fight, but not everyone ' s a fighter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.” Andrew Vachss“ With ignorance comes fear- from fear comes bigotry. Education is the key to acceptance.” Kathleen Patel
“ What if the kid you bullied at school, grew up, and turned out to be the only surgeon who could save your life?” Lynette Mather“ If there are no heroes to save you, then you be the hero.” Denpa Kyoshi“ You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself.” Leonardo da Vinci“ You have enemies? Good. That means you ' ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Winston Churchill
As I have mentioned many times, the first thing to study from history is that we do not study from history! Keep away from evil and the Martial Arts that try to teach you to be a bully or evil.
“ Don ' t carry a weapon- be a weapon.” Avi Nardia
This is how we train, to be the weapon, by using our brain, and with mental training like that taught in survival studies. All Kapap training strives for the concept of not depending on any weapon other than ourselves. Like the sandpaper quote above, you become the weapon by a slow process of the body, mind and spirit all being polished. Understand the purpose of Mokuso in the opening and closing Reshiki.
“ Mokuso is the Japanese term for meditation. It is performed before beginning a training session in order to“ clear one ' s mind” of the distractions of their everyday life, and is similar to Mushin, a Zen concept. This is more formally known to mean,“ Warming up the mind for training hard.” We repeat Mokuso at the end of the training session when we practice a moment of introspection.
Introspection is the self-examination of your conscious thoughts and feelings. Introspection can be referenced in a spiritual / martial context as the examination of your spirit. Introspection is related to the philosophical concept of human selfreflection, and is contrasted with external observation.”
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