Are you...

     - interested in Southeast Asian weapon arts?
     - worried about street violence?
     - wanting to get fit and have fun?
     - looking for a unique training experience?

Find out about training at maelstrom Martial Arts

Upcoming Events in 2012

See below for details:

The First Canadian Dog Brothers Gathering
Saturday February 25, 2012

Toronto, Ontario

The MAGIC WORDS: "No judges, no referees, no trophies. One rule only: Be friends at the end of the day. This means our goal is that no one spends the night in the hospital. Our goal is that everyone leaves with the IQ with which they came. No suing no one for no reason for nothing no how no way! Real Contact Stickfighting is Dangerous and only you are responsible for you, so protect yourself at all times. All copyright belongs to Dog Brothers Inc. California law applies."

See the FB event

Next mini-course:
Mae Sowk - Forearm Shields of Krabi Krabong
January 19-March 8, 2012

Thursdays at 8pm for 8 weeks

The next maelstrom mini-course will be on the techniques, traditional Thai dance, and fighting tactics of the mae sowk (forearm shields/clubs) of Buddhai Sawan krabi krabong. The mae sowk (alternately mai sun sok/sawk) are half-round lengths of iron wood with two handles - somewhat like the Okinawan tonfa - but with a loop of rope through the back part that holds it to the forearm.

Typically one is worn on each arm - or worn on the secondary arm with a sword in the primary hand. The shields are used to block sword and staff attacks, punch, elbow, and club. The mae sowk can be quickly extended into the hand as a club and used to hammer the opponents weapons, arms, legs, or head, before being retracted again to act as shields. Mae sowk fighting styles include a monkey-inspired low crouch that helps to protect the body by minimizing the exposure to attack, hiding behind the two shields.

For more information on the weapon, see our Making Mae Sowk page.

The mini-course will teach the striking and blocking techniques of the mae sowk, and the unique approach to fighting with them. As well, the traditional martial dance ("ram") will be taught. Due to the demands of the postures and low crouch, a significant amount of time will be spent strengthening the knees and hips. Students with issues with leg joints may find part of the training too strenuous.

Participants will be limited to eight (8) people due to the small number of mae sowk available. Mae sowk are very difficult to find. Each participants will have the option to purchase their own pair of hand-made mae sowk from Tiger Mountain Woodcrafts. For more information about the mini-course, or to reserve your place, send email to info(at)maelstromCore(dot)com.

Empty-hand / Panantukan class (change of day/time)

Empty-hand kali/panantukan class move back to Tuesdays nights at 8:00pm starting January 2012. Use of boxing technique applied to focus mitts, thai pads and hanging bags provide a framework for the applications of non-sport technique such as elbows, low kicks, knees, head butts, slaps, and body controls.

Winter Term (Jan-Mar 2012)

Focus: 2nd Set of Seguidas

Pekiti Tirsia System of Kali includes as prt of its curriculum a number of key bodies of technique. The 2nd Set of Seguidas for single stick is one of three sets of seguidas ("follows" or "responses") and features twelve blade-oriented combinations. Each combination builds on a particular response to an attack including nullifying the initial offensive technique, closing range, entering and exiting. The hallmarks of this set are manipulation of the blade with the free hand, range control, and evasive footwork. The term will focus on the set itself as well an exploration of the individual seguidas.