Kali, Silat + surfing?! 🌊⚔️
Hi friends!
It’s been a minute since I’ve sent a newsletter! Summer has been fullover here — training, teaching, learning, collaborating, and spending lots of time outside. What about you? I hope you’ve been finding some space for play, rest, movement, and whatever fills you back up, too.
I wanted to pop into your inbox and share a few CKC highlights from the past few months!
Back in May, I had the opportunity to train with Guro Jay Jasper Pugao of Visayan Style Corto Kadena Largo Mano Eskrima (VSCK), the art of the late Maestro Sonny Umpad.
I really appreciate the way Jay teaches from a decolonized perspective, and I loved how VSCK complements the Inosanto Kali and JKD I’ve spent so many years practicing, especially in its emphasis on flow and play.
Later that month, I got to share some of those VSCK concepts with our CKC NYC Collective during a beautiful day of training outside in a Brooklyn park.
My martial arts home, Unlimited Martial Arts (UMA), was in transition for a few months this spring as we searched for a new space. We finally reopened at the end of May, and in June, CKC got to gather there for the first time. It felt so good to be back together on the mats and help break in our new home. :)
In July, we had the opportunity to participate in a special workshop with visiting instructor Guru Besar Rita Suwanda of Mande Muda Pencak Silat, who traveled from Indonesia to teach.
Silat is a sister art to Filipino Martial Arts, with a long history throughout Southeast Asia, including parts of the southern Philippines. I’ve wanted to train with Guru Rita for a long time — she’s a legend! She became the head of her family’s Mande Muda system at a time when it was still uncommon for women to inherit and lead family Silat traditions. It was pretty special to learn from her in person and to see her and her husband continuing to travel the world sharing their art.
And then... August took us to the beach!
CKC collaborated with Salty Sisters Surf, a women-of-color-centered surf community in the Rockaways, for a morning of Kali + surfing. So, so fun to share our love of Kali with this amazing community — and then have them get us out on the water to surf!
I love how much these two practices have in common: trusting our bodies, staying present and adaptable, finding the courage to try something new — and getting back up and trying again after being pummeled by a wave (or hit with a stick )
Our online CKC community has had a full summer of training, too! We’ve explored stick + dagger, self-defense tactics, Silat ground movement, and more.
One of the things I love most about CKC is how many different ways we get to practice and connect. Sometimes that’s gathering together on the mats in Brooklyn. Sometimes it’s trying Kali on a beach with a new community. And sometimes it’s logging on from our living rooms and training together from across the country.
There are so many ways into this practice — and so many ways it can connect us back to our bodies, our communities, and the art itself.
As we head into fall, I have some exciting things planned and more opportunities for us to learn, move, and train together.
For now, I hope you enjoy these last few weeks of summer — and maybe find some time to move, play, and try something new.
More soon!
Ingat!
Guro Kristen