These four men fought for 2.5 hours in 4 blunt blade events—mostly using cut down rattan sticks as blades. Each fighter began with 4 points, and had to be eliminated four time to be out of a round. The winner stayed up to face the next man. The last man standing scored the number of points he retained. The spectators paid $5 a piece into the fundraiser to match up about ten stick fights, which were not part of the competition—just additional wear and tear. The video represents some highlights.
The middleweight who is dropping guys with head stabs is Craig: 15 years boxing, 5 years judo, 5 years weaponry. This is boxing footwork with a weapon. It is effective up to a point, favoring high line stabs with the knife and jabs and smashes with the stick.
Sean, Craig will be tour boxing sparing partner on Tuesday.
The short heavyweight is Erique, with 16 months of FMA at the time, and no other background. He had been with us for a year, and in this video is getting caught thinking and in transition, which tends to happen to FMA guys who don't have a lot of contact experience and have no boxing background.
The huge guy is Cory, who wrestled for 2 years, had been with me for 4 years, and is a Tang Soo Do stylist. Fighting with such little weapons is a tall order for a big guy with all of that target area. The elongated lunges he is doing were taught to him by his karate instructor. They get him in trouble some times. But an hour in he broke Craig's foot doing this—on purpose.
Sean, if Cory shows up on Tuesday, don't let him step on your feet.
The devil in black knee pads is Charles. Of the four he has the only complete mobility package, which he developed himself with my help. This is what happens when you beat the shit out of a really smart dude for 10 years and he doesn't quit. He has since upped his game a bit.
Jeff, if you want to beat boxing footwork with weapons, then move like this guy.
Sean, Charles will be coaching you on stick sparring and knife sparring, and sparring with you on Tuesday. I will work with you on drills and bag work and boxing. Charles is simply a better applications coach than I am, and he now runs the weaponry sessions when he is there, with me filling in as sparring partner and fundamentals coach.
Did I really break Craig's foot?
Just the most important toe.
My feet are breathing easier now that your big toe-snapping heels are digging into another part of the planet.
Good luck with your continued training.
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That is not the only time Craig has broken a toe fighting.
The funny thing was, one of my trainers, back in the early 1980s, Stump, a crusty Italian lightweight, had told me that's how you deal with a black fighter, by "walking all over their feet!"