Instantaneous Adaptation!

This visit to Germany has been an exercise in advancement and evaluation as well as some very intense training. We trained about 30 hours over 6 days. In this time we have covered the full spectrum of the Inayan System of Eskrima, as founded by Mike Inay. As a legacy to Great Grand Master Mike Inay, the "Aix-la-Chappelle" group in Aachen have trained diligently and with dedication amidst many challenges. 10 years ago we started this group together, Kadua Guro Simone Schloetels and I, for the purpose of preserving a lineage in Europe that is true to the vision of Mangisursuro and is consistent with his lineage to GGM Angel Cabales, GGM Max Sarmiento, and GGM Leo Giron.

As a tradition the Inayan System of Eskrima is both a combatively effective form of martial art with roots in Filipino Martial Culture, as well as a system of personal development. To this end the Aachen group has remained ever faithful and loyal to the essence of Inayan.

Training started with an evaluation of the students and their individual progress as well as an evaluation of the work Kadua Guro Schloetels has made with her group. In Europe, martial art is very serious business, not something just for kids as it is often viewed as in the USA. This is evident with the high standard the Germany Inayan group perform at.

There were elbows to the face, stick strikes to the head, and there were injured hands. Typical for Filipino Martial Arts, insofar as high intensity training is concerned. Sweat and blood, were part of almost every class. Even a few heated tempers, as the intensity was high, so were the emotions. Yet in the end, there were still smiles and salutes for good training and lessons learned in earnest.

At one particular point the senior student of the group, Katja W. was working with full power and full speed countering. There is a salute that expresses "No Matter how Hard the Strike, I shall block it", this is a salutation that Dr. Katja W. can most assuredly use in her Inayan Eskrima. The blows were coming down hard and fast, and yet she was able to powerfully and efficiently defend in the proud Inayan way. Herr Mahringer was taken to task with his Kadena De Mano and proved that it will take more than a few elbows and knees, no matter the speed and power, to overcome his Inayan Eskrima. And one of the newest additions to the little group is "Kleine" Eva, whom showed her fighting spirit when it was declared "Beat on Eva day", at the end she was rewarded with her 1st Level Medallion and heartfelt congratulations from her classmates.

Working Inayan Kadena De Mano one day, then Inayan Siniwali in the evening, finally moving to different styles each day was very taxing for the concetration of the students, and added to the intensity of the experience. We even managed to work in some Inayan Dumog elements, both empty hand, solo baston, and dagger drills with the Filipino Grappling art.

The most common comment was that this particular visit helped bring the system together as a whole for each individual student and help them bring in to perspective the diversity of the knowledge base offered by the Inayan System of Eskrima, and how much value they have recieved so far in their training. Efficacy and quality have always been a theme of the Inay family method of training, and the students and members of the Inayan Training Organization and the Inayan System of Eskrima in Aachen, Germany surely preserve that in Europe. From traditional martial art, to ground fighting, to street fighting application, we covered some intense and diverse material in the end feeling well satisfied with our progress and looking forward to further growth.