La Jolo and Calix Australia

[Luke Crow]

Has anyone had anything to do with these guys?

http://calixworld.com/school/item/109-calix-australia

Italian knife and stick techniques sounds interesting. Has anyone had any experience, not necessarily with this mob, but any schools or instructors, anywhere?

[Luke Crow]

I also posted about this in the Weapons forums, and then realised this was probably a better place for it. Sorry for doubling up, and delete the thread in 'Firearms and Weapons' if you feel the need. I originally posted -
La Jolo and Calix Australia
Has anyone had anything to do with these guys?

http://calixworld.com/school/item/109-calix-australia

Italian knife and stick techniques sounds interesting. Has anyone had any experience, not necessarily with this mob, but any schools or instructors, anywhere?

[PizDoff]

In the future, simply Report the thread using the exclamation mark in the triangle then the mods will review and move if needed.

[Luke Crow]

Thanks mate.Will do.

[jnp]

Threads merged because cross posting the same thread in different forums is against the rules.

[DdlR]

Has anyone had anything to do with these guys?

http://calixworld.com/school/item/109-calix-australia

Italian knife and stick techniques sounds interesting. Has anyone had any experience, not necessarily with this mob, but any schools or instructors, anywhere?

I've had some training in traditional Italian knife and stick fighting in Piobbico, Italy. The sparring vids on the site you linked to don't look much like what I learned - it had a more ritualistic, fencing/dance-like flavor - but AFAIK different styles from different parts of Italy are widely diverse and some styles have been radically "updated" over the past generation.

[Luke Crow]

I've had some training in traditional Italian knife and stick fighting in Piobbico, Italy. The sparring vids on the site you linked to don't look much like what I learned - it had a more ritualistic, fencing/dance-like flavor - but AFAIK different styles from different parts of Italy are widely diverse and some styles have been radically "updated" over the past generation.

Cheers. There seems to be a lot of flashy grip changes and foists in the videos, too.
When you say 'updated', do you mean added to with disregard for tradition, or simply improved upon?
Cheers

[DdlR]

Cheers. There seems to be a lot of flashy grip changes and foists in the videos, too.
When you say 'updated', do you mean added to with disregard for tradition, or simply improved upon?
Cheers

I'd say that's a matter of perspective. In some cases, traditional arts have been significantly transformed into competitive sports, with modern protective gear, etc., in order to survive at all, because the traditional forms just weren't attracting the attention of enough young people to ensure a "new generation" of practitioners otherwise; the stigma of an activity being "what grandpa used to do", etc. IMO that's unfortunate from the cultural preservation point of view, but it could be argued that the "updating" process tends to streamline the art by removing a lot of ritual and so-on. Ultimately, it depends on how you value combative pragmatism as compared to historical/cultural authenticity.

[Luke Crow]

I'd say that's a matter of perspective. In some cases, traditional arts have been significantly transformed into competitive sports, with modern protective gear, etc., in order to survive at all, because the traditional forms just weren't attracting the attention of enough young people to ensure a "new generation" of practitioners otherwise; the stigma of an activity being "what grandpa used to do", etc. IMO that's unfortunate from the cultural preservation point of view, but it could be argued that the "updating" process tends to streamline the art by removing a lot of ritual and so-on. Ultimately, it depends on how you value combative pragmatism as compared to historical/cultural authenticity.

I'll take the combative pragmatism over the cultural authenticity anytime when it comes to knife work. That is not to say I do not value historical and cultural authenticity, or appreciate anachronistic arts - to the contrary, actually. I enjoy mucking about with McLemore's bowie forms, and large knife techniques in general, as well as fencing from all schools and I LOVE a good bout of singlestick. I am also very interested in traditional spanish knife techniques, but material on this is pretty hard to find, in my experience, outside of Loriega's own book (which a lot of people doubt the authenticity of, despite it being a damn good read IMO) and his translation of Manual del Baratero. Do you know of any specific texts that go into a bit of detail regarding Italian or Spanish trad. knife skills and schools, beyond the superficial descriptions of some duels in fiction and old travel books?
Oh, and good show on the Bartitsu. A very cool style. Don't let anyone tell you it's impractical - they can't ban walking sticks!

[DdlR]

There are lots of early period sources for dagger fighting, but not much written down from the 19th century other than the Manual del Baratero; a bit of material from French sources.