AMOK! - Knife Fighting Goodness or Cult?

**Grashnak** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 6:00am

Following up on a thread in Newbietown (where I know some of you don't venture), I offer up for consideration the deadly knife fighting arts of AMOK! (the exclamation point is part of the name - don't leave it out).

http://www.knifefighting.com/

Points to consider:

1. Its called the AMOK! brotherhood.

AMOK! is a multi-cultural brotherhood indifferent to gender, race, creed, wealth, fame, education, social status, or any similar social convention. While no experience of any kind is required to join, we are, nonetheless, largely comprised of persons who cross-train between firearms, military combatives, law enforcement tactics, executive protection, martial arts, and extreme sports enthusiasts.

2. Individual AMOK! schools or groups are called "Tribes" and they describe themselves as AMOKs.

The Amoks in our Tribes stand together outside of the training hall as well as inside. No member of our family will ever be homeless or in need of medical care. While individuals must fight their own battles, no member of our family stands alone against unfair or overwhelming odds. Amoks look after one another.

“Among Amoks… Brotherhood is a verb!”

3. Apparently you can "gain sufficient knifing skill" to start a Tribe by hosting a seminar or by taking the one day set up course.

Who can start a Tribe?
A Tribal Leader can be any individual who has the initiative and motivation to organize a practice group on their own, or any group may designate a leader from amongst themselves.

How does a person gain knifing skill sufficient enough to start a tribe? There are four ways:

1) A person can first attend tribal workouts, seminars, and/or camps.

2) A person can train privately with an AMOK! Instructor.

3) The Tribal Leader can initiate group training immediately by hosting a seminar.

4) A person can take an intensive One Day Tribal Start-Up Training Course.

5. They have a tribal oath:

AMOK! Tribal Oath
Under penalty of knifers law
I swear to my AMOK! family
To always protect our practices
And uphold the AMOK! Knifer's Code

Okay, so there is some LARP-like stuff there. What about the technique?

Well, I'd like to talk about it, but there is not much to go on. They seem to be pretty secretive (ooooo, don't teach t3h d34dly secrets to people outside AMOK!).

Some of the background starts off okay (based on FMA for example) but then it goes off into RBSD-land.

Forged in the crucible of conflict, today AMOK! continues to validate its reputation in some of the world's most dangerous places and war zones. In South Africa , the stabbing and murder capitol of the world for instance, AMOK! is the choice of combatives for professionals in harm's way. This is no accident or coincidence- it is a result of design. In an effort to elucidate how and why this is so, this article will trace the evolution of AMOK! from its early martial stages to its present combative methodology.

Oh, and AMOK! is not a weak dojo art. It is designed for WAR you motherfuckers!

Martial arts, intended for dojo/street circumstances, are rarely aimed with lethal intent (defensive in nature) and enjoy the luxury of unlimited preparation time (years). Conversely, combatives intended for street/war circumstances, are almost always aimed with lethal intent (offensive in nature) with very limited time to prepare (weeks or months).

On the plus side, they do encourage non-cooperative/aggressive training.

Non-Cooperative Scenarios

Though AMOK! is still infused with Malay/Filipino principles, it has replaced its practice of developing and discarding pattern flow drills in favor of improvising non-cooperative scenarios to maintain the no-pattern rule and still control the training engagement enough to foster development.

True combatives demand that practice accurately replicates the conditions and situations most likely to occur . Because of the transient and fluid nature of combat, Amoks do not practice by rehearsing tactical scenarios, but rather by improvising them, and so random-exchange/progressive-resistance practices are used to replicate those conditions.

So who are the instructors? Are they legit?

Professor Tom Sotis is the founder and "North American Regional Leader"

Tom Sotis - Founder of AMOK!
& North American Regional Leader
Tom Sotis began his relentless pursuit of combative truth over thirty years ago. Working as a criminal investigator and bounty hunter in the early 1980's, experience quickly taught him "Weapons are the way of survival, and the blade rules.” This motivated his serious pursuit into combative methods and edged weapons.

In 1992 Sotis established the International Blade Fighters Guild and founded AMOK!, with knifework becoming his sole occupation since.

Thirteen years and twenty countries later, the names Sotis and AMOK!, are now synonymous with the highest excellence of combative knifework.

Sotis' reputation as one of the finest combat instructors in the world was hard-earned, and he continues training agents and operators in some of the world's most dangerous places.

Sotis' seminars and camps attract students and instructors of all levels from numerous empty hands martial arts and weapons systems.

Today he enjoys an adventurous lifestyle traveling, spreading knife culture, and making new friends.

Doesn't actually provide much useful info, but google turns up a wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sotis

Tom Sotis is an edged-weapons instructor and the founder of the modern mixed martial art known as AMOK!. Sotis has had an active martial career spanning three decades. Between 1970 and 1984, Sotis trained mainly in Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, Jiu Jitsu, Boxing, and Kickboxing. In July of 1980, Sotis was coached to win the World Professional Karate Organization's Light Middleweight Kickboxing Championship.

Experience
During his only break from formal training, Sotis gained extensive streetwise experience working as a criminal investigator, bounty hunter, and bodyguard in Los Angeles, California. After more than 100 encounters, the reality of edged-weapons convinced him to research both blunt and edged-weapon methodologies. After returning to New England, and while pursuing martial arts, he continued with law enforcement activities for another 15 years.

Filipino/Malay Experience
Returning to the East Coast in 1983, he continued Kenpo-Kobudo training under the tutelage of Soke Eugene Coutu and was introduced to Kuntao by Frank Masiello. In 1996, Sotis was invited to train exclusively, in indigenous Filipino bladework by the legendary Leo T Gaje Jnr in Philippine mountain camps. He became the first person to ever learn all three of Gaje's knife systems: Pekiti Tirsia Daga, Dagaso, and Qol Demama. Present at the graduation was Lt Col Ecarma III of the Philippine Presidential Security Command, who presented Professor Sotis with the Order of Sikatuna, the highest award ever given to a martial artist by the Philippine Armed Forces.

AMOK! Combatives and the International Blade Fighters Guild
In early 1992, Sotis founded the International Blade Fighters Guild. While promoting the IBFG in Russia and Bashkortostan in 1994, he was challenged by military instructors at the Spetsnaz Training Compound in Ufa. Consequently, he was appointed Special Advisor to the Special Forces (Spetsnaz) and to date, he remains the only American ever to receive the unit's coveted honorary Ruby Beret

I am not familiar enough with FMA to pass judgement on the names mentioned. I yawn with disinterest at the whole d34dly Spetznatz stuff though. Other google hits are mostly RBSD type sites (Comebackalive.com - groan).

Finally, what does it cost?
Well, the one day tribal start-up course involves you flying to New England and paying Prof Sotis $1000.

Tribal Start-Up Package Includes:

• Pick-up at Providence airport*
• Reputable Hotel with continental breakfast.
• Transportation from hotel to training location.
• AMOK! Membership and Tribal Leader Authorization
• Literature, Graphics, and Logo's for promoting your tribe.
• Detailed Customized Notebook
• Training Knife
• 3 hour morning session (9am-12)
• Light lunch provided (12-1pm)
• 3 hour afternoon session (1-4pm)
• Transportation back to airport/hotel.

One person.......$1000 /day
Two people.......$1000 /day ($500 each)
Three people....$1200 /day ($400 each)
Four people......$1200 /day ($300 each)

At least you get to stay at a reputable hotel.

So, what do you think? A system of deadly brothers and sisters of the blade, or people who drank the coolaid?

**mrblackmagic** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 6:59am

Who knew Freddy Mercury was teh d34dly?

**Askari** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 7:08am

There are a lot of google hits for this group, lots of pics, but I dont find anyone complaining about the training they received.

**Matt Bernius** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 8:06am

Couple points (no pun intended) --

- Tom Sotis's instruction - if whats written there is true, then its really good. Gaje is considered to be one of the top (if not the top) knife instructor in the FMA.

- As far as the use of Tribal tropes - That doesn't necessarily mean Bullshido, especially for arts emerging out of different cultures. I've seen a lot of writing come out of Gaje, especially during the late 90's, that would have immediate been dismissed as Bullshido by most people on this board. Discussions of the Manila Pitbulls group, metaphysics, and tribal warrior ideals. However, taken in the context of a Filipino writing in the Phillipines, they all fall into a broader cultural context (and knowing the fact he and his can do grevious knife damage). What we as westerners think as LARPing often has deep culutral connections. Martial arts are cultural products and as such reflect the culture around them.

Does that let all LARPing tendencies off the hook? No. It's more to say that often there is more going on than people "playing X."

- Matt

**Grashnak** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 8:19am

I certainly don't know if the instruction is good or not (as I mentioned, I don't pretend to be an expert on the FMA instructors he names) but there certainly is a lot about the website that sounds like a LARPing/RBSD deal.

Has anyone attended a seminar or met anyone who has studied with an AMOK!?

Sadly, there are so many people out there claiming to be "one of the world's leading (insert d34dly art here)" that it is hard to tell who really is the real deal.

The whole brotherhood, singing kumbaya-singing thing makes it seem more suspicious than perhaps it would otherwise appear.

**kung_fu_zombie** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 10:38am

Vietnam most have been hell for Tom

**Airman Kai** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 10:48am

Originally Posted by Grashnak

The whole brotherhood, singing kumbaya-singing thing makes it seem more suspicious than perhaps it would otherwise appear.

I really can't weigh in on this as a whole, but the "brotherhood" thing is, in my opinion, just a way to reach out to an older male audince (28-45 yrs). I would suspect that they are trying to foster an enviroment where law enforcement (older male demographic) would be a prime consumer of their product.

**leo1970** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 3:28pm

Well if this counts for anything I own a book that has him fetrued in it. Many pages of it are pics of combos ....looks tight. The name of it is Masters of the Blade ,it has 20 or so of the leading world experts in the blade field .

Masters of the Blade (457 pages). by Reynalodo S. Galang published by bakbakan International cpyright 2005
www.bakbakan.com

**BackFistMonkey** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 3:38pm

These guys may be completely legit but I have a hard time with a group that calls someone using a knife a "knifer" ... and talks about getting together for some " knifing " .

I seriously wonder what you could learn in one day to become to a Tribe Leader .

nice Kukris ...

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 7/12/2006 3:40pm

Originally Posted by mrblackmagic

Who knew Freddy Mercury was teh d34dly?

LARPer you’re a boy make a big noise
Playin’ in the str33t gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo’ face
You big disgrace
Wavin' your flashlight all over the place

We will we will CUT you
We will we will CUT you