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Contents
Introduction Twenty years of Stav in the UK The Stances Working with the Web Understanding the Five Principles Mott and Megin The Staff and Spear The Axe The Cudgel and Sax Close Quarter Combat Training What are Martial Arts For? Stav Training for Self-defence Conclusion References and Resources Copyright belongs to Graham Butcher July 2012 Published by: Ice and Fire Ltd. 31B Manor Road Barnet Herts EN5 2LA UK www.iceandfire.org.uk email: admin@iceandfire.org.uk 1 3 8 12 17 22 27 32 39 42 48 56 65 66
Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training Twenty Years of Stav Training in the UK
In the Autumn of 1992 I was in the Newsagent in the Bransholme centre in Hull, near where I lived at the time. I felt myself compelled to purchase the current edition of Fighting Arts International, a high quality magazine edited and published by the Martial Artist and Photographer Terry O'neil. There were several interesting articles inside but the one I was primarily drawn to was an interview over several pages conducted by a writer named Harry Cook. The subject of the interview was Ivar Hafskjold who had quite recently returned to Europe from Japan and had settled in East Yorkshire, only a few miles from the village where I lived. The article described both Ivar's experiences training in Japan and the family system he had learned as a young man growing up in Norway. The piece concluded by saying that Ivar was willing to teach anyone who was interested in training with him. At the time I was teaching a self-defence system of my own devising in the village but was not under instruction myself. Something about the article inspired me to contact Ivar. After meeting him one evening and having been shown some of what he had learned in Japan I began training with him on a regular basis. The subsequent chapters describe in some detail the content of that training so here I will concentrate on giving the reader some idea of the history of how we are able to train in Stav today. Ivar was born at the end of the Second World War in Dremensfjiord in South West Norway. His family were old
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Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training Working With the Web
Stav is sometimes defined as 'knowledge of the rune staves' and that is an accurate enough description. Stav martial arts could be described as 'working with the web'. When asked what weapons we train with the correct answer should be that we train with a variety of different length weapons, staff, axe and cudgel mainly but we are learning to work with the lines of the web and with that knowledge we can use any weapon or even none. The web is the inherent structure of the universe, that may sound a little pretentious but in fact nature relies upon a simple relationship between gravity and structure to maintain the form of all things. The most basic form and structure depends upon triangulation and the assembly of triangles into a web-like structure. It would be easy to allow this chapter to turn into a discussion on structural engineering and although that subject has its place in Stav I need to concentrate on a martial understanding of the web here. The way that a weapon is held, the line on which it strikes or cuts and the line on which it enters its target are all important. If working unarmed then the guard or ready position, the line of a strike or any other movement and the target on the opponent's body would all again be working with particular lines. No one can avoid working with the web since we are in time and space and the web is the structure of time and all that exists. The objective is to develop our awareness
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Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training Understanding the Five Principles
A very basic understanding of Stav could be to say that you need to know the runes, see the lines of the web and to understand the five principles. Simple, yes, but it still takes many years of training and practice to begin to grasp these concepts. The five principles have simple names, Trel meaning serf or slave. Karl meaning farmer or freeman. Herse meaning warrior or chieftain. Jarl meaning lord or priest and Konge meaning king or cunning man. These principles are drawn from the traditional class or caste structure of Europe. The principles reflect the structure of a society which has moved beyond the purely tribal and has begun to develop into kingdoms. The nation is quite a recent concept and a discussion of how the five principles relates to the modern nation state is beyond the scope of this book (it may form the basis of another one in the future though). In martial terms the five principles provide strategies depending upon our situation and our objectives within that situation. Correct action in a conflict situation depends upon our status relative to the other people involved. This is not to say that there are not moral imperatives that sometimes have to be acted upon but even then the consequences of acting may be very different depending upon where we are perceived to fit into the scheme of things. No one can make decisions for us but the five principles do provide a framework for deciding upon a course of action. Let us consider the implications of each principle.
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Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training One Handed Weapons, Cudgel and Sax
One handed weapons are generally considered suitable for quite advanced training. The body generally responds better to two handed weapons because there is less scope for movement than when working with just one hand. In Stav training we are learning to see the lines and align the body to the web. Once you can do this then it doesnt matter what kind of weapon it is and the awareness of web lines is just as necessary for unarmed combat too. Learning to work with the lines seems to be easier using a long two handed weapon which is one of the main reasons that beginners start with the Staff exercises described in a previous chapter. The two favourite one handed weapons are the cudgel and sax. The drills we use will also teach you how to use a one handed sword but we generally prefer to train with items which are available as tools and everyday objects rather than specialised weapons. Hence the cudgel is an everyday walking stick and the sax may be a large knife or machete, the British Army Issue Glock is a particularly good example of a modern day version of a Sax. So effectively a cudgel is a stick which would not be longer than from your waist to the floor and the Sax is a big chopping knife. The basic training with both weapons is essentially the same five or six cuts or strikes. The routine I use and Ivar Hafskjolds is very similar, begins with a cut or strike from low right with the right leg back. As I step forward the weapon strikes up to a high left and with a left step forward cuts back
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Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training Thoughts on Close Quarter Combat Training
It used to be that most people who got involved in Stav had some background in other Martial Arts. Sometimes Ivar would say that unless you already had a black belt in something then he couldnt really teach you. Also when Ivar arrived in the UK having done his 14 years of training in Japan he had done a lot of Aikido, starting at Steven Segals dojo which resulted in Ivar being an extra in the film the Challenge with Scott Glen (although apparently any footage which included Ivar was cut out of the film so he doesnt actually appear) and Aiki-Jutsu which is a much harder and more realistic form of Aikido. Ivars primary aim was always to perfect his weapon training so his highest gradings were in the Ryu (school) mentioned in the previous chapters on weapon training. I know as well that Ivar was also suffering some ill effects from the training he had practised in Japan, it is very common for Occidentals to have knee damage from Budo training. I think the Japanese just have stronger knees than we do or they are more used to kneeling from an early age. Whatever the reason although we did some unarmed training, mainly based I think on the AikiJutsu, Ivar was primarily keen to concentrate on weapon training and I was happy to go along with that. One of Ivars other original 4 students, David Watkinson took a particular interest in Close Quarter Combat and that became his focus from an early stage. David also spent quite a lot of time in the Philippines where he gained practical experience of indigenous knife fighting, which is taking his study pretty
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Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training What use are martial arts?
One of the reasons we have tended not to emphasize unarmed self defence training in Stav is that developing what works for each person is a very individual thing. Many aspects of martial training have a social and communal application and context. It could be suggested that there is a core of pure martial arts knowledge and practice, a way of martial training for self development and personal growth and no other purpose. If one becomes serious about martial arts for a long period of ones life, as indeed Ivar Hafskjold has done and I have done too then ultimately one is using martial training as a vehicle towards self realization, a spiritual goal I guess you could call it. From this core there are a number of possible ways of expressing martial arts publicly, one or more of these ways will also probably be the door through which one originally came into martial arts. I will identify these doors as the following: Professional conflict management skills. Combat Sports Theatrical Fighting Fitness Training Meditation Self-defence Professional conflict management skills are those required by personell who work in some form of conflict and danger management. This obviously covers the military, but also the police, prison officers, body guards and anyone else who may
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Ice and Fire Stav Martial Training A Stav Approach to CQC Training
In the previous chapter I may have seemed to be suggesting that you dont really need to be good at martial arts to express it in various practical ways. In a sense this is true in that you may be a good athlete and actor and thus be able to do well choreographed stage or screen fighting. Tom Cruise was most impressive in The Last Samurai but as far as I know Mr Cruise has never claimed to be a martial artist in any sense, just a very dedicated actor. To me it always comes over when there is a real knowledge behind the acting. Steven Segals films are an acquired taste but I always enjoy watching him in action because he is very good martial artist as well as being a film star. (Ivar will vouch for this having trained with Mr Segal in Japan many years ago) True martial arts knowledge can provide a foundation for any of the activities described in the previous chapter. It depends which way one is travelling, whether into Martial arts via one of the doors described or from a place of some knowledge into a specific application. I don't believe that just getting good in the area of one specific window or doorway of martial practice will necessarily lead to a deep understanding of the core or soul of martial arts. Neither will developing a profound practice of martial arts necessarily enable one to function effectively in an unfamiliar application without practice and experience. But it does provide an invaluable foundation on which to build that practice. Over the last couple of years I have attended Fight
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