WHAT GOING ON IN THE MFA ACADEMY WORLD

It’s been a long time since I’ve post a new blog so here it goes.

The Poekoelan Community Social Site:

This year I’ve purchased a new software package for the Poekoelan Community site at www.poekoelan.net. I now have a site 100% owned by Poekoelan Tjimindie Stylist which should be easy right? Not by a long shot!!! When I had my Ning site I had an IT team to assist me to straighten out any and all problems, not anymore. I have me, and Geoff that is the IT staff as well as, what IT help we buy. I found owning a Social Site is a lot of work, and very time consuming.

I have a company making custom Add-ons for my site, and trying to give the best features that my member like about all of the sites like Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, and so on in one site. I’m looking to invest more money into this site to make some add-ons that I have ideas for. However, I don’t know if they can do what I want them too, but it’s worth a try. I’m looking to improve the video player, photo viewer, and other comfort features.

Then I’ll be adding onto the site a Community Store that will allow members to create stores so they can sale products to other members, and non-members. Once it’s in place, I’m hoping to open what I’m calling a Poekoelan Flix. This is where martial arts instructors can send me their instructional videos and have people rent them from the Poekoelan Community, and stream the video straight to their computer. This is how it’s going to go, 15 minute video will be $1.99, 30 minute video will be $2.99, and a 1 hour video will be $3.99. This will happen sometime next year hopefully if God is willing.

MFA Kuntao/Silat Level One DVD:

When I first made a Level One DVD Four Disc Box Set, I only meant this for my students, and not for public sale. After getting so many emails wanting to buy this DVD Box Set on the MFA Level One DVD, I’m making it open for public sale. That’s right, you have spoken, and I’ve heard you.

I’m in the studio reshooting the Level One material to improve the audio and video quality to get you the best product I can give you. The Level One DVD 4 Disc Box Set will have the following information:

1.       Basic Strikes from Panantukan, Pukulan, and Kuntao

2.       Basic Kicks

3.       Blocks

4.       Langkahs (Footwork)

5.       Cimande Jurus 1-20 with applications

6.       Latihans

a.       Hand Langkahs

b.      Foot Langkahs

c.       Elbow Langkah

d.      Drills

7.       Elbow Form (Kembong)

8.       Combinations (Kicking, Strike, Hand-Foot)

9.       Entries into Combinations

10.   And much more…

So be on the lookout for this 4 Disc DVD Box Set being released to the Public for the first time in 2012.

Guru Jim’s First Book – MFA Pangasinan Arnis (The Article, Teachings, & Rambles of Guru Jim) Vol. 1:

I should be finishing my first book next year sometime after many years of writing it. This book is on just the Filipino Martial Arts that my teacher Tuhon Tony Marcial taught me over the years. I have wrote about my own additions over the years of trading information with other Filipino Martial Artist, and my own additions which I have created out of my many years of experience.

I’ve taken a lot of my articles that I’ve already have out, and added more information to those article as well as new article that I wrote just for this book. This isn’t a book about the 12 Angles, or footwork like so many instructors has out. This is a book about Advance Drills, and Combative Techniques which take a totally different approach than any other book.

My book will be released as a paperback and in digital Kindle form which can be found on my web site www.pukulan.net, or Amazon.com. After this book comes out I’m planning on publishing a Level 1 Student Manuel to assist with students learning from the DVD. So be on the Watch out for these books.

Conclusion:

Well, I have much more planned for 2012, and I’ll be hard at work to keep bring you the very best in the Malay Fighting Arts. You keep watching, and I’ll keep producing them. Thank you for your time in reading this Blog.  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

Man I’ve Been Busy!!!

Hello to everyone that reads my blog. This has been a very busy month so far, and a lot has happened with my Distant Academy, Testing Mas Geoff for his higher degree, finishing my book, and computer problems. However, I’m over coming it all and making head way.

MALAY FIGHTING ARTS DISTANT ACADEMY

First, a friend of mine has been having problems with his serve, and I lost my MFA Distant Academy. However, I have my new Distant Academy up and running on a new serve at www.pukulan.org. I’ve lost some of my videos due to poor planning on my part. However, I’m redoing those videos, and putting more videos in each section for a better understanding of what’s going on each section. I depend on feedback from each student so I can post more videos of each section so students after you can see and get an even better understanding.

I’ve almost got the whole Yellow Belt in place and starting to work on the Green Belt section. I’m also taping video for the Distant Academy’s new class on Harimau Poekoelan Silat section. This is an A-Z “Instructor Certification” of Harimau Poekoelan Silat. We are also going to be release a Pangasinan Arnis section to certify people in the Filipino Martial Arts as well. Finally, we are going to be placing a Poekoelan Tjimindie section on the site so people can learn Poekoelan Tjimindie. Each item is only $15/Month per class. This is a great deal to be certified under an instructor that’s been doing these arts longer than most of these instructors’ been alive.

POEKOELAN TJIMINDIE 3RD BLACK BELT TEST

I was in Oregon a couple of weeks ago testing Mas Geoff for his 3rd. Black Belt. Mas Geoff underwent a 48 hour test that tested his knowledge of Poekoelan, Poekoelan History, his ability to perform each Langkah, and his ability to use the system. Mas Geoff did a lot of high energy forms, and sparring back to back. I limited him to want animal he could fight with, but his opponents had no restrictions. Mas Geoff did in fact suffer an eye injury during his night walk. This is where you walk along a path and have to fight many different fights along the way. Mas Geoff’s eye injury wasn’t so serious that he couldn’t continue.

Mas Geoff was deprived of sleep except for four hour on the last day of his test. In the end Mas Geoff was award his 3rd. Degree Black Belt by me during the closing ceremonies. Mas Geoff’s hard work is a testament to him and his training. I also want to add that Mas Geoff’s students were very impressive to watch. I was very grateful that I was ask to come out to Oregon and test Mas Geoff, and I look forward to going back to his school.

MY FIRST BOOK IS ALMOST DONE!!!

Yes it’s true everyone, my first book (Malay Fighting Arts – The Articles, Teachings, & Ramblings of Guru Jim” is always done. This book should be out hopefully by Christmas 2011. My first book is on Filipino Martial Arts. I just took my final pictures to finish the actual work on the book’s creation, and now it’s off to my editor. After we get done editing this book then I have to make sure the picture have the correction resolution for the final format.

This book as taken me almost 2 years to write and it’s been a true labor of love. I just hope everyone that buys this book will get a lot of out of it. This is not a basic book, or the typical 12 angles book. This is a full out drills, and techniques book that pulls no punches. I use my terms, and not the terms that everyone and their brother uses.

This book is on how I was taught, and how I teach the arts to others based on realistic defensive situation I’ve been in. I tell it as I lived it, and I have one hell of a perspective from Bar Bouncing, being a Bounty Hunter, a Correctional Officer, a Combat Veteran, and a Police Officer. These are the skills that helped me develop my fighting system to defend myself from some very dangerous criminals.

IF IT RAINS IT POURS

Is the above statement true or what??? On top of everything happening to me, my computer won’t turn on. My desktop is fried as far as I know and I have to get it in the shop quick, fast, and in a hurry. However, I do have a backup and it’s called my laptop. This is allowing me to finish my book since my book is on a USB Port, and my videos are on an external hard drive.

Yes folks, I have backed up a lot of my stuff, but there is a lot of stuff I didn’t. So because of that I have to redo it. However, I broke out my trusty old laptop, and it’s serving it purpose. It might be old, and it might be slow, but it works damn it. I guess that the same thing my wife can say about me.

However, I don’t see any problems with the academy and no delays on loading up videos once they are shot. I can transfer them straight to my laptop, and then to the Distant Academy. As I said, I’m over coming it all and making head way.

NOW I’M LEAVING THE BEST FOR LAST!!!

On top of all of this, I’m once again a grandfather. My daughter once again gave birth to my granddaughter Jaymee. On July 6, 2011 my granddaughter Jaymee was born at the Olathe Hospital. I was a pround grandfather the first time I became a grandparent and I’m once again a very proud grandfather.

Well, take care, and see on my next posting.

Open Challenge to Poekoelan!!!

I have an open CHALLENGE to all Poekoelaners out there!!! I challenge people like Dick Kulge, Bill Doubich, Barbara Niggle, Eugene “Peanut” Tuffs, Gale Shotzinger, and anyone reading this that does Poekoelan to the toughest battle of their lives. I challenge you to fight your own pride, and chest pounding. To fight against keeping the family feud from going on. I challenge you to make a new path for our art. We still worry about who beat whom back in the day. Let me tell you this, I HAVE BEATEN CHAMPS, AND I HAVE BEEN BEATEN BY CHUMPS! The one that won was only the better person at that moment in time.

Fight against deeming Roy or Willy an evil person. Fighting against saying an entire lineage is no good based on whom they learned their skills from. The lineage that is no good is the one that has a lot of hate in it. However, you can redeem your lineage by ending that hate. I would love to say that my teach was unbeatable, but let’s get real. Every man is beatable, even Great Grandmaster William J.C. Wetzel. WOW, listen to everyone gasp in disbelief. How do I know Willy was beatable, easy, he was a prisoner of war in Indonesia. They had to get him there somehow, and the Japanese found out what it would take to put him there.

I challenge every Poekoelaner to put away their hate for whomever, and move forwards into a new future. One where we can all learn from one another, and learn all that Willy taught. Myself, I never really heard of Poekoelan Sera, or Poekoelan Tjialong before, and I would love to these arts in action. Willy taught different thing at different times. For example, Gale Shotzinger’s students may never have learned Langkah Satu, Dua, and Tiga because Willy and Goeroe Peanuts haven’t developed them yet. Bill Doubich teaches these Langkahs, but not Umpat and Lima. However, Barbara Niggle teaches them because she was learning these Langkahs after Willy, and Peanuts developed them.

Just because one person doesn’t know this or that doesn’t invalidate their skill. It just means they or their teacher were trained during different times. This is where we all come together all learn every that Willy taught over the years. This way we all can learn, and we all can have everything.

I challenge the Poekoelan Community to put this broken family system, and lineage back together again. I challenge the Poekoelan Community to become one family without saying one person’s lineage is wrong, or an art of demon. I challenge the Poekoelan Community to value everything thing every instructors have. I challenge you, and are you Man/Woman enough to accept this challenge???

I HOPE YOU ARE, BECAUSE THIS WILL BE THE FIGHT OF YOUR LIFE AGAINST AN OPPONENT THAT BEEN KICKING OUR BUTTS FOR YEARS.

Guru Jim’s Poekoelan Award

When I started to come on the internet scene talking about my training, and the systems I did in 2003. I was quickly attacked by a few of the Poekoelan Crowd. From time to time I still get people challenging me on my skill level, knowledge, and my ranking mostly the students of only one school. I’ve never hid my background, nor did I never lie about my background. I told the truth from the get go, and if you don’t like my instructors that’s on you. Whom I trained with is who I train with, and I put in some very hard work.


I have loved these art from the get go, and I have explored many different methods of combat. I’ve learned upright fighting such as Silat, Kuntao, Panantukan (Filipino Boxing Similar to Western Boxing), Traditional Jujitsu at Rec. Centers, and Kajukenpo Karate. Then I learned locks from traditional Jujitsu and Dumog (Filipino Grappling). After learning Harimua (Indonesian Ground Fight not grappling) I wanted to explore the grappling arts. I started learning more about grappling in the early 90’s. I was teaching my students how to fight in every way possible. You could say I had the first MMA School in Cleveland.

My students would spar with each other using some contact, not full, but mild contact. If someone got knocked to the ground, there were no stopping the fight, and getting back up. The student had to flow right into Harimua if the other student was still standing, and fight his way back up, or take the guy down to his level. Then students had to use either Harimua to continue fighting, or start grappling. In grappling, to win the student had to get the other student to tap, but in the sparing it was who controlled the fight (i.e. the one mostly hitting the other person).

When people saw this in the early to mid 90’s, I was told I was only teching barroom brawling. However, I had to cut this back some in the late 90’s due to the lack of space I had to teach in. So some students didn’t get to do a lot of this, but they still didn’t. Sparing in my school is a big thing. This is what teaches you how to fight, and how to deal with an uncooperative opponent. Of course we use sparing gear such as hand and feet gear, shin guards, and face guards. I found hands, feet, and shin that fit you with little padding but fit you like putting on a sock or glove.

Through out most of my martial arts career I took a lot of crap from Poekoelan, then from people in Cleveland about knowing Silat, and then the way I taught my students how to fight. I had a friend of mine name Ed asked me to teach Silat in his school, and I said yes. I worked hard trying to get students, and I got a few but nothing big. One day I had a student of Ed’s come to me and asked if I knew any grappling. I told I did, and since he was a Correctional Officer he asked me to teach him. Before you knew I became the grappling teacher of Cleveland. However, I wanted to be known as the Silat Instructor of Cleveland, but that didn’t happen. Once I left to join the Army, Ed had to search for another grappling instructor.

Today, I’m best known for Poekoelan Tjimindie, and not the Malay Fighting Arts which is my blend of Kali/Silat/Kuntao. How did I get known for Poekoelan, over everything else? Easy, I took on an impossible task; I’m going to reunited Poekoelan. I opened a small forum and put that on as a category and people in Poekoelan started chatting in it. I then moved my forum to a better forum program which got even more Poekoelaners to join. I then thought it was about time to open the first Poekoelan social site called the “Poekoelan Tjimindie Community”, and even more people joined. This would brand me as a Poekoelan Instructor, over everything else. People started getting along, and moving ahead with conferences. Instead of people calling me names, and making fun of me. The Poekoelan Crowd started calling me the Back Bone of Poekoelan. Really, they’re the Back Bone of Poekoelan. If the members didn’t join the Community, and decide that they wanted peace and unity. I would have been just looking at an empty forum.

So, to the Poekoelan Community, Thank you so much for this award. However, it’s all of you that should be getting this award, because it was you that wanted a new future for our art. I only gave you a place to do it in. But it’s nice to be recognized for all my hard work.

Thank you everyone that is even read this. Without you, I’ll only be talking to myself.

Guru Jim Takes The 5 Second Ride - Taser Training

The Malay Fighting Arts has a new Guru!!!

Congratulations to Guru Carl Magnuson for achieving his Black Sash in the Malay Fighting Arts. After more than 3 yrs of hard work, he demonstrated great skill, and knowledge to earn the title of Guru. Again Carl, Congrats.

Malay Fighting Arts Techniques