Review of the Krabi Krabong Seminar

[gallery ids="15190,15191,15192,15193,15194"]So a couple of weeks ago we were very fortunate to have Ajarn Arlan Sanford at the Kombat Arts Training Academy for a 2 day seminar on the ancient art of Thailand's Krabi Krabong. When most people think of Thailand and their martial arts, they naturally think about their particular style of kickboxing, called Muay Thai. However, Thailand also has a very rich weapon based martial arts system called Krabi Krabong. I found Krabi Krabong to be very easy to learn, very much like Muay Thai. However that is the beauty of these two martial arts. They are very simple to learn, yet they can take a lifetime to master and use these techniques. Krabi blended smoothly with my Kali background. There were times that I had to "forget" my Kali and really concentrate on the chambering of the weapons, the footwork and the blocking. But overall it was easy to adapt to the new art. Krabi is very aggressive, relying a lot on forward energy. If you are the type that like to stalk your opponent, then this art is for you. I also liked how Krabi fit really well with my knees and kicks from Muay Thai. Seamlessly. Finally I found the traditions of Krabi Krabong, such as the Four Directions to be very interesting. As for Ajarn Arlan, I found him to be a very easy going instructor, very approachable and eager to help the students. He has a wealth of knowledge, and hopefully we will continue our relationship so that we can learn from him. In fact I believe he will be back at our academy for the next Beat the Crap Out of Cancer event in November. At this time we will more then likely host a one day seminar with him. Thxs Ajarn for keeping Krabi Krabong alive.