No comments about Barry Cuda Dynamic Kali #2 Stick Fighting DVD escrima arnis martial arts.

1 comments about Modern Arnis, Vol 3 by Remy Presas.

1. This is the 3rd volume in the three volume set by guru Presas. It continues the format of the previous two volumes. In this video, he covers more advanced techniques, including joint locks, stick drills, empty-hand, and knife techniques. It seems to be done in a big hotel meeting room on-stage, with his students filing out from behind the stage as he demonstrates various techniques. The pace is fairly brisk, so be aware of that and that it might be too much too fast for anyone other than an experienced student, although I don't think you would need to be an advanced student or black belt. There is a great deal of information in these three videos. Although this is not meant to be a systematic presentation of the system, you get a lot of material covering everything from empty hand to stick to joint locks to dumog (Filipino wrestling) to the knife. The videos are also closer to one hour long, compared to many of the his other videos where you pay more for only half an hour of material. I think these are a good value for the price. I also reviewed the first volume in this set, which has more detailed comments if you're interested.

1 comments about The Lure of The Highlands.

1. This video is a must for anyone who wants to understand the Icelandic Horse in it's natural environment and traditional use in the annual sheep roundup.
   
   IMHO It's a cheap way to "travel to Iceland" and a great gift for anyone.
   
   I can't recommend it highly enough!

2 comments about Modern Arnis, Vol 2 by Remy Presas.

1. This is the 2nd volume in the 3 volume set by guru Presas. It continues the format of the other two volumes. In this video, he covers many of the basics, such as stances, the male and female triangle and angulation footwork, advancing and retreating, the abecedario or the 12 classical strokes or feeds and their blocks, block-check-counter, many jointlocks and stick grappling techniques, including some long combinations of locks and lock flow, throws and entries for throws, trapping, empty-hand, and more.
   
   The venue seems to be a big hotel meeting room on-stage, with his students filing out from behind the stage as he demonstrates various techniques. I don't know where or when it was videoed, but my perhaps uneducated guess is somewhere in the last 8-15 years. Those of you who know the set better than I will probably know that anyway. The pace is fairly brisk, so be aware of that and that it might be too much too fast for anyone other than an experienced student, although I don't think you would need to be an advanced student or black belt. There is a great deal of information in these three videos. Although this is not meant to be a systematic presentation of the system, you get a lot of material covering everything from empty hand to stick to joint locks to dumog (Filipino wrestling) to the knife. The videos are also closer to one hour long, compared to many of the his other videos where you pay more for only half an hour of material. I think these are a good value for the price. I also reviewed the first volume in this set, which has more detailed comments if you're interested.
   
   I have to mention that 25 years ago I had the opportunity to do a demonstration of kung fu chin na (jointlocks) for guru Presas with my master. He was very impressed with our demo, and in fact wrote a letter at my request to O'Hara publications to recommend a book be done on the subject. I was proud to be able to participate in that demo, and 10 years later, I took up the study of escrima and became a certified instructor in both kali and escrima myself. I've since collected many of guru Presas's videos and seminars, and they are always among my favorite and most treasured videos covering the Filipino martial arts.
   
   I also reviewed the first volume and there are somemore comments there if you're interested.



2. This is an oldie and a goodie, but the production quality is quite good. And there won't be a lot more where this came from, because this teacher has passed on. That's sad, because he had a lot to teach.
   
   This volume is a perfectly good standalone purchase, although you'll probably want to buy the others in this series after you see it. In this volume, Guro Presas demonstrates a ton of techniques and drills. Frankly, if you practiced nothing but the drills in this volume, you'd be in pretty good shape in a lot of situations. The drills present a series of useful blocks and checks and parries against the twelve angles of attack, and those have application to attacks with and without weapons.
   
   While the primary emphasis in this dvd is on stick work, it's clear that exactly the same techniques will work just fine with empty hands (or for that matter, with a yawara or fistload or with a knife or just about anything else at hand).
   
   The empty handed sequences and drills that are demonstrated are certainly worth the price of admission, and so are the structured competitive drills between his senior students.
   
   You should be aware that this is a discipline which is primarily designed for real combat. While it's obvious that sports applications can be designed around the techniques of arnis, this is a martial approach that is not greatly removed from applications in real fighting.
   
   It also looks like the sort of thing that could be picked up and added to the bag of tricks of an experienced martial artist in another discipline, and a useful addition for just about anybody.
   
   Oh, and it's pretty easy to tell when somebody is at a very, very high level of proficiency in marital arts. Remy Presas was at the highest level.

4 comments about Devil's Island.

1. I saw this movie ca. 1995 in Oslo with Norwegian subtitles, the only Icelandic movie I know and a shame I haven't had the chance to see others. The movie depicts the relative wealth and attractiveness of American servicemen from Keflavik in the context of the extreme poverty of Icelanders living in an old quanset hut. The Icelanders can, of course, speak some English and the Americans can, also realistically, speak no Icelandic. Big, loud old American cars, rock and roll, and the desire to escape the crushing poverty. The film is memorable, and for another Icelandic viewpoint on the early drive toward globalization, read "The Atom Station" by Haldor Laxness.

   Icelandic is a beautiful language, essentially the Norwegian of a thousand years ago, the Viking era. I don't understand it but wish I did!




2. In the years after World War II the American military forces keep a base on an Icelandic island, however, they move it away from Reykjavik. The abandoned barracks are offered to the homeless of Iceland as they can seek shelter from the biting winters. The Devil's Island depicts the poor people in this area, where they live, and how they deal with daily struggles where hope of leaving seems like a wishful dream. Nonetheless, there are always ways of escaping the nagging pain of poverty, and those who escape the social environment are either hated or adored. Devil's Island is an interesting film about a situation that many never would have known of unless Fridrikkson directed this film, which offers a good cinematic experience.



3. Ultimately this is a kind of cautionary tale about embracing excesses to the point of self-destruction and also seeing the true goodness in people. As Americans begin leaving some WWII era barracks empty in post-war Iceland, Icelanders begin occupying them. Coming to terms with their new-found independence, Iceland looks to move forward... Some Icelanders embrace American ways and indeed Americans, even marrying them and moving to the US. In the story, two young men, Baddi and Danni are reared by their grandparents as their mother marries an American and moves to the States. The well-known Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur plays Baddi, the more gregarious of the two brothers. Danni, played by Sveinn Geirsson, is more reserved but more sensitive. Baddi eventually leaves to go to America, and when he returns with his "cool American clothes and car" he brings with him a certain appeal, otherness, likeability. He becomes instantly popular and the object of worship for the not so well off population of the barracks. A certain status is conferred upon him because he has attained a kind of worldliness the others can only dream about. Danni lives in Baddi's shadow, and for all of Baddi's endless talk of moving to America and achieving all these high falutin' dreams, Danni's quiet sensitivity and intensity pay off. Overlooked he might be, but he does achieve his dreams, while Baddi lets the excess he lives in go to his head, and he wastes his life becoming a lazy, violent, intimidating drunk. He also becomes rather jealous of Danni's success, but would never put in the hard work and perseverance Danni invested to make his dreams come true. The story does not have the happiest of endings, but it is nevertheless an interesting period piece with a kind of "lesson" and an excellent introduction/overview of Iceland during the inception of its independence.



4. This is a depressing, largely nonjudgmental film about a family which probably would be called trailer trash if they lived in America instead of Iceland. It's the Fifties, and Devil's Island is the name of a former U. S. military base near Reykjavik the Americans have abandoned. It has become the home of hundreds of poor Icelanders as families have moved into the decaying quonset huts. Cast-off lumber, sheets of tin, rocks and trash litter the place. It's too cold for mud, but pools of icy water collect along the dirt streets. There's not a speck of green anywhere.
   
   Among the families is a grim, elderly, harsh grandmother who believes she can predict the future, her unhappy, unshaven husband, their loose-living daughter with two sons and a daughter of her own. In time the grandparents see their daughter marry an American serviceman and move to Kansas City. They continue to live in the squalor of Devil's Island with their grandchildren. Time passes. Then one of the sons, Baddi (Baltasar Kormakus), a selfish grown delinquent with lots of attitude, flies off to visit his mother and her now well-off husband. He returns with a used red Cadillac with fins, a leather jacket, a greasy pompadour, dark glasses and with no respect for anyone except Elvis Presley. His brother, Dani (Sveian Geirsson), however, is shy, quiet and stays close to home. Baddi drinks, carouses and makes life hell for everyone. He usually brings his drunken buddies and their girls back home to continue to party. Dani eventually breaks away, learns to fly and begins to assert himself. By the end of the movie one major character is dead and not much about the family, the quality of their life or the trouble and unpleasantness that Baddi brings with him in everything he does has changed. Baddi doesn't appear to have learned anything except self-pity, and is probably going to slip even further into alcholism-fueled depression. The quonset huts now are being torn down and the families of Devil's Island are being moved into multi-floor concrete apartment boxes which look even more character-destroying than what they are replacing.
   
   This is a movie that is part black-comedy, but there's not much to smile at. Devil's Island is more often harsh than gentle, more often ironic than humorous. The look of the film is outstanding, but it places you in a physical environment you wouldn't want to visit much less live in. The redeeming qualities center around Dani, who manages to find a life after being overshadowed for years by his brother's braggadocio, and by the grandfather, Tomi, played by Gisli Halldorsson. The last shot of the movie is of Tomi walking away toward a job, whistling. There may not be much to whistle about in his life, but he finds something. I'm glad I watched the movie and I don't regret buying it, but I'm not sure how many times I'll return to it. The DVD transfer is very good.

No comments about Malay Fighting Arts-Solo Baston (Single Stick Drills).

2 comments about Stretching and Breathing (Self Defense and Martial Arts Inc. Series).

1. Highly recommend these self defense programs. High Quality and excellent instruction.



2. Highly recommend these self defense programs. High Quality and excellent instruction.

1 comments about Barry Cuda Dynamic Kali #1 Knife Fighting DVD filipino martial arts.

1. A very fine video on kali knife techniques from guro Cuda. The video covers basics, single knife, double knife, and empty-hand versus the knife. Guro Cuda demonstrates many different training drills, and there's enough depth here to interest advanced as well as beginning students. There are some very cool combos also, which include follow-up takedowns to the ground with ground pins and locks as well.
   
   In some ways the approach is similar to the late, great Remy Presas who was quite skilled with holds and locks in addition to the knife and stick techniques, and often demonstrates that in his videos. (I read once that master Presas was said to have been a champion dumog wrestler in his youth). Everyone is into ground techniques these days what with the success of Brazilian jujitsu and there's even a bit of that here. After seeing this video I'm definitely interested in buying his other videos. I've seen many Filipino and Indonesian knife and stick videos over the years and this is up there with the best of them.
   
   And finally, there's some great action footage at the beginning of the video showing guro Cuda and his student doing some of the drills and combos at full speed in the street.
   
   I have to say that many years ago (about 25) I had the privilege of meeting guro Presas, and demonstrating some chin na techniques and escapes with my Chinese tai chi and kung fu master, and guro Presas was very impressed with our demo. It was a great honor to meet guro Presas and to demonstrate with him.

4 comments about Modern Arnis, Vol 1 by Remy Presas.

1. GM Remy Presas is one of the greatest martial artists ever. He's probably the best to ever pick up rattan. I've had the honor and privilege of crossing sticks with him. His Modern Arnis is very easy to learn and can compliment any martial arts. Thus earning its title as "the art within your art." It would also serve as a good primary art.



2. I found this DVD marginally useful. Remy's technique is remarkable however his broken English and disjointed presentation did not make the DVD worth the price. If you took a portion and put it on a late night humor show it would be a reall success as he twists and turns his students joints while they twitch in pain.



3. This is the first of 3 videos by Presas done in a seminar format on stage. I found the material quite useful and helpful but I am a long time practitioner of the Filipino arts as well as a karate and kung fu instructor, and I knew a lot of the material but not all. But for a beginner this might be too much too fast, so be aware of that. Presas's students file out from behind the curtain as he works various stick, empty-hand, joint locks and even ground grappling methods. Although famed for his stick skills, one must remember that Presas was a champion dumog or Filipino wrestling exponent in the old country before he came over here, and some of the those grappling methods get demonstrated here.
   
   Besides showing many stick entries, especially to the number one feed, he also gives considerable attention to the upper twist lock, straight arm bar, several variations of gooseneck bent arm and wrist locks, and finger locks. His students also demonstrate this on stage. Also shown are the disarms for the different angles, sinawali or two stick drills, single stick technique, and also as I said quite a few ground pins and locks. Overall I thought it was a lot of information in fairly brief format, as he flows along at a fairly fast clip, so again, this might not be the best place to start for a beginner.
   
   An earlier reviewer complained about Presas's "broken English." His English isn't that bad and his meaning usually comes through loud and clear. English was not even Presas's second language; it was his third since his tribe didn't speak the main common Filipino language of Tagalog, and he does all right considering that. Besides, this is not a comparative lit lecture on the merits of Melville or Tolstoy; it's a video on Filipino martial arts, so who cares if his English isn't impeccable?
   
   I have to mention that I had the opportunity to do a square wu style tai chi chin na (joint locks and their reversals) demonstration with my teacher 20 years ago, which is an art rarely seen in the U.S. in pure form, and Presas said he was quite impressed with our demo. It was an honor to perform for Presas and the world lost a great martial artist and a selfless and dedicated instructor and man when he passed away all too soon a few years ago.



4. I feel ripped off. Within the 50 minutes duration, Remy repeats the same things over and over - as if we can't rewind or replay. He is terribly inarticulate. The sound quality is shockingly bad.

5 comments about The Viking Sagas.

1. I should qualify this negative review by warning up front that when it comes to movies--and for that matter, books, too--about the Vikings I am a nitpicker, and in fairness I should explain why. I'm the author of the Strongbow Saga, a historical fiction series set during the Viking era. I've spent many years of research, and much effort, trying to gain an in-depth knowledge of the Vikings' culture, history, and the period in which they lived so that I can accurately portray them in my novels. The Vikings have long been misunderstood and misrepresented, in print and on film, and I hate to see this continuing to occur.
   
   The writers of the screenplay for this movie clearly drew on several old Icelandic sagas about the Vikings. Portions of the plot bear a strong resemblance to portions of Njal's Saga, and some of the main characters are loosely drawn from the Laxardal Saga. However, rather than trying to create a historically accurate portrayal of the Vikings, the film makers instead opted to make a low budget fantasy film that ends up being sort of a cross between pseudo-history and Conan the Barbarian. And the acting of Ralph Moeller, who plays the role of the movie's hero Kjartan, is very evocative of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan: both actors have hugely muscled builds and deliver their lines with all the feeling of a talking tree trunk. Moreover, when a film director has to rely on a voice-over narration to explain the story because the filmed scenes are too incoherent to convey it without an explanation, you know you're dealing with a weak piece of storytelling.
   
   The list of why this film should not be considered a historically accurate portrayal of the Vikings is too long to fit into a short review, but let me point out a few of the more glaring flaws. The costumes look more like early Scottish garb than Viking attire--so much so, that I wondered if the film makers were not reusing old costumes from Braveheart. There are some accurate Viking-era weapons on the screen, though mostly on the belts of extras, but the story's main characters use long handled, two-handed swords that are the purely the stuff of B grade fantasy, and Kjartan even wears his sword slung across his back--again channeling Conan. This kind of detail is not hard to get right--there's no excuse for not doing so.
   
   Nevertheless, if you watch this movie for what it is--a low budget fantasy film set in the visually stunning scenery of Iceland--it will not disappoint your expectations. But as for me, I'm still looking for a film that accurately portrays the Vikings as they really were.



2. Within the space of a couple of days I watched both "A Viking Saga: Son of Thor" and "The Viking Sagas". Two very different films despite their similar titles. I am a fan and supporter of low budget historical films and these two films have a lot in common and yet at the same time, are very different. "A Viking Saga: Son of Thor" was done more as a minor educational film, they use that term "educational" a lot in their advertisements and after watching it, it seems more like something funded by a museum than a sincere attempt to do justice to the subject as a full-on adventure film. The film is centered around a longhouse recreation, perhaps the museum I suspect this was done for, and a small group of Viking re-enactors. Amazon's brief description is the whole movie; it is a very simple plot, with constant flashbacks to the attack on the young boy's village as the only major action in the film. The longships on the cover are not in the film, there are only two much smaller ships used for trading. The story is basically a Swedish one, with an emphasis on trading and the river routes down into what was later to be known as Russia. It is a very interesting aspect of Viking history, but unfortunately, it is handled in the most simplistic of ways. Even a die hard Viking fan like me will be hard pressed to appreciate this movie. The concept is excellent from a historical point of view; the execution however seemed to be done very simply and cheaply. I honestly cannot recommend this movie.
   
   "The Viking Sagas" is very different. Not a big budget Hollywood historical epic, it still has a lot going for it. Shot entirely in Iceland, where the story takes place, it is a classic tale of revenge and reversal. The plot is very atypical and has some interesting and complex turns, and much of those are based on an actual history and on the Icelandic judicial system that does indeed go back to the Viking colonial days. I quickly found myself curious how it would play out, though there was no doubt our hero would triumph. The scenery is beautiful and stark and knowing a bit about Viking horses, the Icelandic ponies were a nice refreshing historical touch. The star is Ralf Moeller and he is fairly wooden and too muscle-bound for the untrained warrior he is supposed to be, but I can let that slide. To me, the "name" in this movie is Sven-Ole Thorsen, the "Swedish Champion" from Sam Raimi's "The Quick and the Dead". He shows up as a minor character or stunt actor in enough movies that he almost seems like a new Alan Hale Senior to me. His character is the archetypical "martial arts master" but he too has an interesting twist to him plot wise. This film is not epic, has some B-movie qualities, but if you like adventure films like that, then I suspect you will like this one.



3. Not to bad but could have been much better. Historicaly it was pretty much on the button though.



4. This movie was obviously an attempt to create a new "Viking Saga" based on Icelandic saga material. The student of the Sagas will find much that is familiar as some scenes are only slightly modified from Njal's Saga and some characters are clearly modelled on characters from a wide number of sagas. For example Magnus is modelled on Njal, while Gunnar seems to be modelled both on Gunnar in Njal's Saga and Kjartan in the Laxdaela Saga. Kjartan on the other hand seems partly modelled after both Bolli and Kjartan in the Laxdaela Saga. Influence can be seen from those sagas plus (possibly) Grettir's Saga and the Eyrbiggja Saga. The movie generally succeeds at mimicking some of the stylistic elements of the Sagas themselves.
   
   However, the movie seems to fall apart in some other important ways. I found the narration to be at times monotonous, and the good vs evil themes in the movie seemed rather foreign to the genre. The Lawspeaker (a short-term role) was turned into a heredetary Lawgiver role reminiscent of a sacral king, and the fight at the Althing was put in for plot reasons, not because of any case of such a thing happening in the Sagas. These elements significantly detracted from the overall movie. It would be nice to see a much better movie based on the sorts of stories the Sagas excel at-- family histories, tales of the human condition, and the like.
   
   I thought the acting was good and the cinematography well done as well. Worth seeing but not fantastic.



5. I guess there are times when the majority of the reviews do not live up to the movie. This movie was horrible to say the least. Horrible plot, acting, and props. Don't waste your time on this on, not even if you watch it for free.