Andrew Janson will be bringing the Rapid Arnis magic to a joint seminar with Krav Maga Combatives on November 27th. This seminar is open to everyone, regardless of experience or background. Please visit the Events section for full details.
Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
Annual Summercamp 2011 – grading results
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011Described as "The hardest Rapid Arnis grading ever" by Chief Instructor Pat O'Malley, Rapid Arnis practitioners from all over the UK braved three gruelling days of non-stop testing, fighting, and conditioning to achieve their respective grades. Congratulations are in order for the following individuals, not just for the excellent level of ability they showed, but for surviving the various cuts, bruises, broken noses, and stab wounds, to come out smiling on the other side. Well done chaps!
James Janson – Blue 2
Carl Rein – Brown 1
James Dismore – Brown 1
Ed Quartey – Black
Paul Murray – Black
Andrew Janson – 1st Degree Black
Arnis Alliance 2011 Results
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011A big congratulations to the Rapid Arnis London team for their performance in this year's Arnis Alliance tournament at The Martial Arts Show. Birmingham NEC played host to some of the best fighters and instructors in the country, as they competed in a wide range of fighting formats. Sadly, the doublestick section of the tournament had to be cancelled due to time constraints, but the singlestick was immensely exciting. A massive thanks to Kwoklyn Wan for hosting the tournament, Jon Broster for organising it, and Pat and Lucy O'Malley for sponsoring/supplying it. We are already looking forward to next year!
The results:
Andrew Janson – men's heavyweight division – BRONZE
Carl Rein – men's middleweight division – SILVER
James Janson – men's middleweight division – BRONZE
Andres Olivares – men's lightweight division – BRONZE
James Dismore – men's lightweight division – RAL MAN OF THE MATCH (unanimously voted best strike of the day)
Excellent work lads – we are all very proud of you!
Pictures and videos coming soon…
Specialist workshop – March 13th
Saturday, March 5th, 2011Nigel Herterich will be coming over to pay us a visit on March 13th for Specialist Workshop. There are only 12 places available for this workshop, and they are available to everyone, regardless of experience level.
Here are the details:
Date: Sunday March 13th
Time: 2pm-6pm
Venue: Fit Rooms, 254-258 North End Road, SW6 1NJ
Content: Bone breaking and dislocation; Takedowns and finishes; 3rd party intervention
Cost: £30 in advance; £35 on the door
I will be collecting money for this event over the next week. You can either drop it to me at class (SOAS, Monday and Thursday) or transfer it to me via Paypal or bank transfer.
This is an excellent opportunity to train with one of the top guys in Rapid Arnis, and is certainly not to be missed.
Pressure-test workshop – Feb 27th
Sunday, February 13th, 2011We will be running a pressure-test workshop on February 27th at Fit Rooms in West Kensington (nearest tube station is West Brompton). There are only 8 places on this workshop, so please be sure to sign up early to avoid disappointment.
Date: Sunday February 27th
Time: 2pm-5pm
Cost: £25
Content: Padwork, light sparring, multiple opponents, eyes-closed drills, etc…
The workshop is aimed mainly at those wishing to test their skills in a high-pressure environment. This is essential for senior Rapid Arnis practitioners, and highly recommended for those wishing to develop the combative element of the system.
Dartford Challenge Results!
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010A massive congratulations to Louis Beale, James Janson, Paul Murray, Andres Olivares, and Thijs Gerberandy for a great performance at this year's Dartford Challenge. For most of the team, this was their first time in competition, and they certainly made an impression. A big thanks also to Nigel Herterich for hosting the tournament, and thanks to all who fought for their great sportsmanship, and excellent standard of play.
Medals won by the RA London squad:-
Louis Beale
Freeweight longstick = GOLD
12- stone doublestick = SILVER
12- stone padded stick = SILVER
12- stone singlestick = BRONZE
James Janson
12+ stone doublestick = SILVER
12+ stone singlestick = BRONZE
Paul Murray
12+ stone doublestick = BRONZE
12+ stone padded stick = BRONZE
No medals for Andres and Thijs, but well done for making the effort lads – having seen the footage, i can safely say that you've got a strong foundation to work on. Good on you for getting stuck in in your Dartford debut!
We are proud of you all.
Exciting news!
Monday, September 13th, 2010Hi guys,
It seems that September has been a very busy month for us, so here's a roundup of the latest news:-
Niamh wins medals!
A big congratulations to Niamh Conolly, who went to Leicester on September 4th to compete in the women's stickfighting tournament. Divisions were made according to experience level, and Niamh took a silver medal in the Advanced Singlestick WEKAF, and a silver medal in the Advanced Singlestick Arnis Alliance formats. A big thanks to Jo Hicks and Abi Steady in Leicester for hosting the event, and once again a massive congratulations to Niamh for her performance.
We are back at SOAS!
That's right folks - we are back at SOAS, Vernon Square, and are running classes on Mondays 7pm-9pm. Classes are £7, and London University students only pay £3 (since their fees are subsidised by the SOAS student union). This means that we are now running classes Mon-Thurs every week! A monthly payment option will start in October for those who wish to train regularly.
Sparring day Thursday September 23rd, 6pm-9pm
We will be holding a sparring day at SOAS Vernon Square on Thursday September 23rd, 6pm-9pm. Usual class fees will apply. There will be the usual mix of freestyle sparring in various different formats. However, Louis and myself will also be offering instructional sparring to those who want to sharpen up a few things here and there. If anyone has extra kit they could bring down, that would be handy for faster turnarounds.
Fresher's Fayre in Russel Square, October 2nd, 10am-4pm
We are booked in for the SOAS Fresher's Fayre on October 2nd, 10am-4pm. Note that this will take place at SOAS Russel Square (we teach at Vernon Square), and we will be representing the SOAS Kali Society. Nearest tube station is Russel Square on the Picadilly line. We will be organising a presentation of the various things we do in class, and should have enough time to show off a wide range of weapontypes, drills, applications, and sparring. Needless to say, we will need plenty of help from our students to do this, as well as hand out flyers and talk to people about what we do!
With regards the Fresher's Fayre, we will be organising a meeting to discuss who'll be doing what, etc… – if you could lend us your support, it'd be much appreciated.
Match report: 2010 Martial Games, at Birmingham NEC
Thursday, June 10th, 2010On the 22nd of May 2010, Rapid Arnis London fielded a team of 4 fighters for the 2010 Martial Games/Roland Dantes Cup. This was our first ever large-scale tournament, and our debut in both the Arnis Alliance format and WEKAF format (though only Andy competed in the WEKAF).
The competition was fierce, with a huge number of FMA schools contributing fighters. This diversity in styles made for some very exciting matches: Every fight was totally different, and watching the different styles face-off against each other was an awesome sight to behold.
In the Arnis-Alliance tournament alone, the following schools were represented:-
- Rapid Arnis London
- Kenpo Arnis Niten Ryu
- Rapid Arnis Yorkshire
- Urban Martial Arts
- Filipino Self Defence
- Warriors Eskrima
- Impact
- Kombat Kali
- JKD Northampton
- EA Doce Pares
- Bakbakan
- Bacon's College
- Tabak 1900
- Bob Breen Academy
- Doce Pares Dartford
- MMA Dartford
- FMA Academy
- Can Do Martial Arts
- LFS Martial Arts
- British Balintawak
- Bakbakan Kali Ilustrisimo
- Chambers Academy of MA
A high standard of sportsmanship was displayed throughout the competition, and many new friends were made.
In the end, Rapid Arnis London walked away with 1x Gold and 3x Bronze. Not bad for our first foray into the Arnis Alliance format! We'll definitely be back next time to unleash the beast, Rapid Arnis style…
The Rapid Arnis Dream Team:-
Andres Olivares (welterweight)
It was a close fight, and Andres gave the other chap a real run for his money, but the points just didn't go in his favour. However, the fight really brought out the best in him and he is making some serious progress. We are confident that Andres will be laying the smackdown in fights to come.
Niamh Akiboye Conolly (womens)
Niamh really made a name for herself in the womens division with her aggressive combinations and solid ranging. Her loss to Rapid Arnis stylist Jo Hicks (now 4 times undefeated champion) meant that she walked away with a Bronze medal, but plenty of new friends and admirers.
James Dismore (welterweight)
Teenager James gave it his all with his fights, even beating fellow Rapid Arnis'er Matt Bigsby. Good control of basic techniques and very well picked (and some painfully heavy) blows got him through to the semis, where he took Bronze. James has been training with RAL for about a year now, and it was a pleasure to see him putting his training to good effect. We see big things for him in the future.
Andrew Janson (superheavyweight)
Andy's fancy footwork reaped some positive results when he took the Bronze in the WEKAF (which he entered out of curiosity, not even knowing the rules!). His trickery and ringcraft gave him the edge in the Arnis Alliance format, and he (just) took home the Gold! He'll be back next time, defending his title…
The Support Team
A massive thanks to Imi and Jay for helping to corner the fighters and attend to them medically. Also thanks to Anna for taking some excellent action-shots, and Fari for video footage and general babysitting of the team. We couldn't have done it without you guys!
Altogether, a job well-done. Congratulations team! 
Intensive Training Diary – Day #16
Thursday, June 10th, 2010What a terrific course it's been – our thanks to those who attended our classes over the last 4 weeks, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon! Much thanks to Louis for the content of Day #16:-
Singlestick
- Rapid Arnis Tapi-Tapi (with full range of techniques, both sides)
- Adding largo box drill
- Adding 6-count Tapi-Tapi drill
Competitive sparring
- Single stick, Arnis Alliance format
- 1 minute rounds, best of 3
- Point awarded for clean shot – headshots take priority
- First to 5 points wins
- Winner stays on
Intensive Training Diary – Day #15
Friday, June 4th, 2010Seeing as we're rapidly approaching the end of this summer's Intensive Training Course, i thought we'd have something a little bit special, and mix things up with some pangamot (also known as panantukan, or "dirty boxing") and a little bit of karambit. Here's Day #15:-
Combo practice (arms + legs)
5x 2 min rounds flat-out, 1 min rest between rounds
Freestyle vs oppo using thai pad and belly pad. Blitz one combo repeatedly for each 2 min round. Pad-man decides combo, and spells out before each round. Try to include all techniques:-
- jabs
- crosses
- hooks
- uppercuts
- elbows
- knees
- front kicks
- roundhouse kicks
Introducing the karambit
Use the karambit as a force multiplier (ie. an augmentation of the hand) rather than a new tool. Augment normal strikes and evasive maneouvres with back-cuts, twists, and rips. The idea is to destroy the attacking limbs of the opponent without them noticing your true intention.
- jab
- cross
- hook
- uppercut
- overhand
- elbow
- parry
- bob'n'weave
Pangamot
Using the concepts introduced above, now apply the same intent with empty hands – destroy the opponent's arms, and pick apart their guard to reach their head/torso.
Tactical Sparring (20 minutes)
1 minute rounds, 1 minute rest between rounds. Gradually increase length of rounds.
Using some of the new dirty boxing techniques and applications you have learned, try to outwit your opponent in a series of tactical rounds. Full power shots to the arms and body are encouraged, but head contact must be kept light. Fighters should be in full control of what they are doing 100% of the time.
THE FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS
"The spirit of the Southern Philippines epitomises the unconquerable spirit of the Philippine Islands. Men of all creeds and colours have scrambled for a foothold in the Southern Philippines. Their bones still lie there, and only the spirit of these intrepid men remains. The Spaniards had not envisioned and could not perceive the courage they were to meet from the defenders of the land."
