Sebekkha: "ancient Egyptian" martial art

**yesman** · Posted On: 1/02/2009 4:04am

Hi Sushi -boy. There were on average about 10 of us at any point in time. Mostly londoners, no other arabic or egyptians present. I believe he trains in Forest Hill at the moment - so you can go check him out, there is a website site I think siaacademy or something. He didn't have a site or anything when I was around.

As for Don Gwinn, if you mean what I said is bullshit then you know more about my life and my experiences than me - what I said is absolutely as it was. If you mean the art is bullshit - well I've already acknowledged that in my opinion it wasn't that good, but I also stick to what I said about some stuff seemingly being orginal and I have trained in martial arts on and off for over 25 years so seen a bit of what is around. Anyway at the end of the day go and check it out yourself - it's the only way at the end of the day - get your own evidence.

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 1/02/2009 3:23pm

Relax, buddy, I was just taking a swipe at Comba-Tai. Because I'm petty like that.

**yesman** · Posted On: 1/05/2009 12:09am

fair enough

**Master'o'none** · Posted On: 6/19/2009 9:46pm

I only joined Bushido because this thread caught my eye. I "studied" with Gamal Selim when I was 12 (1988) I remember when the BB article came out. Back then Gamal was operating his studio (offering lessons in egyptology and Sebbekka) out of his home on Hill Ave. in Pasadena, CA. I guy in my class at school had been studying with him for a number of years and seemed to know something. Gamals studio office had all kinds of shaoling knick knacks and statutes placed around but not much egyptian decor other than a replica Tuttankhamen mask.
The lessons were basically as follows. 30 minutes of stretching and what I learned later to be yoga poses, 15 to 20 min of kicking and punching drills and 10 to 15 mins of application of a technique. I went for about 6 months and the only technique I can remember Gamal teaching me was how to apply a figure four leg lock. There wasn't a lot of self defense value in anything I learned there. I will say the workouts where demanding though. I was pretty chubby at the time and I remember losing quite a bit of weight. The only reason I stopped going was because my grades fell and my dad said no more.
If anyone questions the authenticity of this "style" then they should pat themselves on the back. There just isn't any documentation to support Gamal's claims. At least none that can be found by searching the internet.

**kwoww** · Posted On: 6/20/2009 12:39am

Well, at least it looks like he's been consistent over the years (see yesman's post)

**BaronVonDingDong** · Posted On: 6/20/2009 12:28pm

This guy sounds like the complete opposite of Giovanni Belzoni (1778–1823), an Italian performer known as the "Patagonian Sampson" who started off as a hokey strongman with tricks like lifting tables holding ten men, but went on to become one of the foremost Egyptologists of his day, supervising several important excavations and discovering the second pyramid at Giza.

Belzoni provided the British Museum with the core of what would become the world's greatest Egyptological collection (until Egypt asked for it all back). He was also known for wrestling bears.

**Dsimon3387** · Posted On: 6/20/2009 12:51pm

In the center in China town where I have a class there is a guy who teaches ancient Persian martial arts.... I have a tendency towards "live and let live, as long as it is not a scam or what have you... but not some of the guys I teach with. One of the guys is an old wizened Kung fu guy and he grabs me (Chin na haha) and says "Darrell come on we are going to watch a demo of Persian martial arts as he fakes an air of importance" as he laughed. So we get down into the studio and he rakes this poor bastard over the coals haha. He had the guy so spooked while demoing something to us he popped me upside the head. It was worth the laugh though.

Hillarious, these reconstruction projects inevitably turn out to be Kung Fu of some sort or another, or karate... what gets me is that people that claim them seldom put in the time to even make them look different. This teacher as stated on the thread even has Shaolin stuff around... how Egyptian! The Persian martial art I saw? Tia Kwon Do, Thai boxing and Kung fu. Sigh

**Yoj** · Posted On: 6/20/2009 1:37pm

The egyptian armys combat stuff is pretty much standard self defence style boxing/jujutsu derivative, I base that on swapping techniques with a guide I was traveling with that alleges he was in their special forces when he had to serve. Of course he could have lied, and to be honest I was more than a bit tipsy at the time, having taken a litre bottle of Absolut vodka with me.. But what else are you going to do in the Great Western desert miles from anywhere at all....

**Yoj** · Posted On: 6/20/2009 3:38pm

Originally Posted by Dsimon3387

Are you sure he wasn't in the back making incantations to Ramses in secret? practicing the secret arts of the Pharoahs?

Why that sneaky bastard! He cursed me with Ramses Revenge! Which is also not something you want in the desert..... Or sat on a camel.

**nwmouse** · Posted On: 9/23/2010 9:47pm

I met the good "Dr" himself in South Africa in 1988. He went by the name of Gamal Selim in those days, before he bought his online Doctorate, and lived in Pasadena. His great ambition was to "Be In Da Moovies". I guess when that failed he skedaddled to the UK. I can tell you one thing - Gamal Selim was an arrogant man, and spouted a lot of new age hogwash. He was good in martial arts, and allegedly trained the Green Berets, but if you were new to Martial Arts and on one of his New Age (hogwash) courses he showed no patience or mercy. He measured a person's character by how fast they could hop across the floor like a crocodile. :ninjafigh