Today marks the 7th anniversary of the passing of Maestro Sonny Umpad. I have not had the opportunity to train with him, but watching some of the Youtubes of him in action, he was super-graceful! He moves very well. Plus he made his own weapons as well as coming up with training devices to help his students hone his skills.
Please check out Guro Maija Soderholm's videos below. Enjoy!
Flow Training with Maestro Sonny Umpad with Maija Soderholm.
The focus of the flow is multiple hit entries. What I wanted to show in this video is Sonny's teaching style, and how the flow progresses from basic to more and more difficult.
Feeding is an art, and Sonny was a master at it. What starts as a slow, deliberate drill, becomes more and more challenging through the lesson.
That was a fun day.
Flow Training with Maestro Sonny Umpad - Sangot with Maija Soderholm.
The Sangot (Sickle) flow teaches about circles, spirals and continuous movement. It trains how to never 'run out of angle'.
Flow Training with Maestro Sonny Umpad - Sikaran with Pangamut warm up .
Empty hand flow training, starting with elbows, adding hands and knees, then Sikaran flow.
Training is to understand range, timing, and the strong and weak angles. Sikaran is also great training for balance and staying light on the feet, whilst retaining the ability to issue power when needed.
Students are Eric Nomburg and Ken Ingram.
Flow Training With Maestro Sonny Umpad - Hand Targeting and Timing .
Sonny shows his superb ability to play with timing and rhythm during a flow. The focus is only on the hand as target and I believe during this clip, there are over 20 hits that land ... and yes, I am trying to hit him too.
Visayan Corto Kadena Eskrima - Sword Practice with Pendulum .
Sonny Umpad teaching blade manipulation exercises for the Sandung, using a moving pendulum.
Maestro Sonny created many different types of pendulum 'targets', and developed flow exercises for practicing aspects of VCKE when training alone.
Visayan Corto Kadena Eskrima - Practice with Pendulum - Double Blade
Sonny Umpad teaching random flow exercises using a double ended pendulum.
Maestro Sonny created many different types of pendulum 'targets', and developed flow exercises for practicing aspects of VCKE when training alone.
Embedding disabled... please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPCUahAWEGE
Maestro Sonny Umpad Teaching in 2004 .
Typical workout with the Maestro. 3 Sword flows with the Long Pinuti, Barong, and Short Pinuti, concentrating on blade manipulation and the defensive box. Student is Maija Soderholm.
Embedding disabled - please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CY00mHQI-g
Maestro - you are missed!
Other Sonny Umpad posts you may be interested in:
- Today, would've been Maestro Sonny Umpad's 66th birthday! (Jeff Finder on Sonny's Stuff)
- Maestro Sonny Umpad would've been 67 today - posting some great quotes.
For further info, please check out:
- Official Site
- Dog Brothers Martial Arts DVD of Sonny Umpad
- Guro Maija Soderholm's blog
- Sonny Umpad's carvings on Jeff "Stickman" Finder's site
- Wiki
- Amazon - Sonny Umpad's Eskrima: The Life and Teachings of a Filipino Martial Arts Master
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing your teacher you give him great honor & respect!
Hello:
Thank you for your comment, sorry to mislead, I never had the honor to train under the Maestro.
Posted as tribute and in his honor.
Very truly yours,
~sg
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