A Recap of the Train with the Masters Seminar

Well, it is Sunday night, and I am still in my hotel room here in GA. Words can’t express how I am feeling right now. I had such a great and fulfilling experience.

My session started on Friday afternoon with a 4 hour class in BJJ by resident Master Richardo Murgel. This was my first experience in BJJ, or any grappling of any kind for that matter. With that being said, I could tell from the reaction of the others in the room that Master Murgel was very sharp and innovative in his craft. I was a little overwhelmed at times, but I had the luxury of working with an experienced partner by the name of Tahgee (I hope I spelled that right). He was a really great guy, and I appreciate all his help. Surprisingly I feel that I walked away with a good understaning of some basics, and how to apply a technique or two.

Session 2 was a Friday Night Wing Chun class by Sifu Francis Fong. One word describes the experience…. INTENSE. And I loved every minute of it. Since I was attending the seminar by myself, I once again had a new partner, John. He was a nice guy who was very helpful… at times too helpful. We went through many techniques, and the demos were too fast for me to take notes. By the end my brain was on overload. I think I was to exhausted to debrief, but luckily I woke up at 2 am that morning full of memories that I immediately commited to paper, and I think I have 5-7 techniques written down that I can pratice back in NJ.

Day 2 started with Guro Dan Inosanto. The first 2 hours were Kali, followed by an hour of JKD and an hour of Silat. Some of the techniques I knew, but many were new to me, so I fluxuated between being able to perform the techniques with confidence, to stumbling through them. The pace of the learning was good, but I would have liked a little more time to practice each drill so I could have really had them sink in. I was partnered up with a nice fellow named Chris, who was very experienced and was able to help me out, however I felt at times I was holding him back and felt a little bad about that.

Session 4 was Muay Thai with Ajarn Chai. Going into this, I was very intimidated about this session, as not only is Muay Thai my weakest art, but I had heard many stories and had many intimidating thoughts implanted into my head. Amazingly, this was the session(s) that I loved the most. First let me say it was very sad to hear that Master Chai will only be doing 4 to 5 seminars next year due to some health problems. He show some signs of some physical problems, which seem to have been ailing him. I wish him the best and will definitely be attending as many of his seminars as I can.

The thing I enjoyed the most about Muay Thai was the format that the sessions were taught. We started with the simplest technique and would work that to perfection, and then build on it. I felt I learned the best from this method as it really gave it a chance for the technique to sink in. I ended up working with a partner by the name of Chad, who was from another school in Atlanta. It seemed that we were matched up in level, which was great because we moved through the drills at a comfortable pace and were able to help each other out. Oh, I almost forgot, Ajarn held pads for some of the students to do boxing drills and he was amazingly fast…. GREASE LIGHTNING. The students who I thought did the best were Ted, John (Nubreed), Dan (Nubreed) and Rebecca.

That evening I had the opportunity to attend dinner with all the instructors as well as many of the other students who were attending the seminar, as well as some of the assistant instructors of the school. I sat next to Scott (instructor at the FFMAA) and Joel (Guro Dan’s assistant) and across from Catherine and Kevin (both instructors at the FFMAA I believe). Dinner was great although I was having some stomach issues, so I was a little bit of a stick in the mud at times. I kinda wish I felt a little better at the time, but such is life.

Day 3 started again with Guro Dan. The same format as the first day. I worked with a partner named Frank. He was another guy from out of town. We were at about the same level, I was more advanced in some areas, and he was more advanced in some areas, and in some areas we both struggled. I took more techniques away from the second day than I did the first day.

The final session was Muay Thai. Same format as the first day, but we worked some kick boxing during the drills. One thing that I was amazed about was that in 2 days of Muay Thai not at one point did we get to use Thai pads. I worked with a guy named Andrew from Kentucky. He was in town with 2 other guys, who were all really nice and helpful. Once again we were at about the same level and were able to help each other out, which was nice.

The session ended about an hour and a half early as 3 people were taking their Khru test. Ryan, Ted and Rebecca. All 3 of them showed tremendous heart and performed excellently. Ted went first, and passed the first round of 60 kicks and 40 skip knees with ease. He only seemed slightly winded after the first round. Round 2 was a little more difficult for Ted. He took a nasty spill while trying to deliver a knee and landed on his head. He got up and continued and he finished his kicks with about 20 seconds to go. However at that point the feeder started to punish him and he was so exhausted that he couldn’t keep his hands up and got tagged. I think he was a little dazed after his test. With that being said, he performed excellent and passed.

Rebecca went next. She is an assistant instructor at the FFMAA. For someone who seemed so shy at times, she sure packs a whallop when she kicks. Out of the 3 testees Rebecca seemed to set the best pace for herself and still had a lot left in the tank in between rounds. Don’t be confused however, the feeders for her gave it there all and did not hold back one bit. Ted’s second round was probably one of the hardest of the day but Rebecca’s rounds were probably right behind in difficulty, and she performed amazingly.

Ryan went last. He was also from out of town… Lousiana I believe. His first round was with Scott. Scott tagged him early in the round with a kick which sent him stumbling and threw him off his game a little, however he showed the biggest heart and was about to push through it and finish successfully. His round 2 was with Jason, and was very difficult. Ryan actually finished his final kicks with only seconds left on the clock. Ryan also had some of the best form of anyone at the seminar, and just looked like Muay Thai is “in him”.

The seminar concluded with with a certificate ceremony. Everyone was called up individually and got their certificate and had the chance to shake hands with Guro Dan, Ajarn Chai and Sifu Fong. I had mistakenly picked mine up early and thought I wasn’t get to go up, however Sifu Tracy noticed that me and 2 other students didn’t have certificates in front of us, so she called us up individually. (Thanks Sifu Tracy)

I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life, met a bunch of great people, learned a bunch of techniques and got to train with the masters. I am definitely going to do this again next year and would recommend to anyone reading this that they try to attend as well.

Thanks to everyone involved.

Best wishes.

Dan