Pekiti-Tirsia Seminar [Archive]

Danny T

12-10-2005, 08:55 PM

Just wanting to let everyone know the Progressive Martial Arts Training Center in New Iberia, La will be hosting Tuhon Bill McGrath for a Solo Contradas seminar January 21-22, 2006. This will be 16 hours of training in the 3 sets of Solo Contradas. For those wanting a look at some of the advanced material of Pekiti-Tirsia International this will be a great opportunity.

Tuhon McGrath is an excellent instructor and martial artist as well as a wonderful person. Very approachable and quite enjoyable. His trademark jokes are a bit goofy but fun. So even if you aren't quite advanced or in another art this seminar will be a great learning experience.

Time will also be made for testing for those wanting to test on Sat evening.

More info can be obtained at www.pmatc.com (http://www.pmatc.com/) or contact me at office@pmatc.com

Danny Terrell
Progressive Martial Arts Training Center
Wing Chun * Pekiti-Tirsia * Muay Thai * Grappling
Louisiana State Director and Representive
Pekiti-Tirsia International
Wing Chun Association of the USA

Danny T

01-28-2006, 10:47 AM

Hi all,
Jason Buggs, attended this seminar and posted a review of it on the Pekiti-Tirsia forum under the Contradas post. Here is a copy of his review.

by Jason Bugg
Last Saturday & Sunday I attended the seminar held at PMATC and hosted by Danny Terrell in New Iberia, LA and I have to say that I had a great time. I would encourage anyone to attend any of his events based on the experience that I had. You will find him and his students friendly, skilled and willing to share with no pretense or ego. Mr. Terrell places a great deal of importance in making sure everyone is having a good time, and throughout the two days he came over and helped me on various areas of execution and timing, and asked my multiple times if I was enjoying myself.

The instructor was Tuhon Bill McGrath of Pekiti Tirsia International and the topic was the 3 sets of Contradas. Being my first seminar with Mr. McGrath I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I had seen him on video and I assumed that he would be much like the video, dry, informative and intense. Well, I was right about the informative and intense part, but he is far from being dry. I would have to say that over those 2 days I laughed more and learned more than I have in any seminar I’ve attended in the last 20 years. Mr. McGrath’s delivery was down to earth and while he was showing the information on Mr. Terrell if did something off the program and Tuhon had to improvise to get back to "what we were doing" he would let out a little giggle while he did any one of a million things, that said to me, "this man is doing what he loves".

He created mini drills within the techniques he taught to develop our skill sets so we could get various aspects of the motion. So in one instance we would work a drill that dealt with footwork, then one for timing, then one for motion depending on where we would get stuck at. In some instances we would have us start with a drill to familiarize use with a concept and then he would introduce the Contrada. A drill might come out of a Knife level 3 set or a movement in a Recontra, which gave us further insight into the system. In some instances he'd create a drill in a drill to bring us along.

In the 3rd set of the Contradas we were taught the Siguidas to accommodate the countering motion that was built into that set.

During the two days we were exposed to the walking stick set, shown some of the Pekiti staff and how everyday objects (like a shoe string) could be used to buy you time in an altercation. There were so many nuances discussed and explored in the Contradas that we probably could have spent a year on just that block of information. Along with keeping the material light and fun, and displaying a phenomenal level of skill, the other thing that really impressed me with Tuhon McGrath was his focus on safety. Goggles were mandatory; certain moves were done on certain people and not on others based on age and potential impact and he would warn us to be careful on certain moves so we didn't injure each other.

Additionally, I was able to view a couple of people testing to have blocks of information signed off in their “blue books”. This was both informative and inspiring.

I look forward to making the same trip next year and bringing a couple of friends.

Respectfully, Jason Bugg
Houston American Kenpo Training Platform
__________________
www.ikenpo.com (http://www.ikenpo.com/)
www.imuakenpo.com (http://www.imuakenpo.com/)

Jason Bugg
713-569-2614

Jason,
We at PMATC are pleased you and the others in attendance had a great time. Thank you for the kind words and the review.
On a personal note, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with you and the others. It is exciting and humbling to meet and know fellow martial artists with open minds and a willingness to simply learn and share rather than express what they do is the best. Thank You for your effort and I look forward to having the opportunity to train with you and your group again.
As to your statement about Tuhon Bill; "this man is doing what he loves." The truth is quite evident. He is a very good martial artist, instructor, and human being.

Danny Terrell
Progressive Martial Arts Training Center
New Iberia, La.
Wing Chun * Pekiti-Tirsia * Muay Thai * Grappling
Louisiana State Representive
Pekiti-Tirsia International
Wing Chun Associaton of the USA