Company: Comtech
Tape Name: Conceptual Gold: Five Keys To Kali
Tape Cost:
$59.95
Length of Tape/Time: Approximately 1 hour
Number of Moves/Techniques:
5 fundamental positions + many options
Return Policy: Refund on damaged or defective
tapes only
Experiences in dealing with this company: Fantastic
The Instructor:
James Keating
Company’s Address: P.O. Box 142, Walla Walla, WA., 99362
Company’s
Phone Number: 541-938-3451
Web Page: http://www.jamesakeating.com/C1.html
E-Mail:
comtech@bmi.net
Primary Grading Criteria:
1.
Production/Tape Quality: 10
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 10
3.
Comprehension Score/Immediate Understanding: 9
4. Degree to which this will make
someone a better Martial Artist: 10
5. Score on delivery vs hype: 9
6. Degree
to which we would recommend this product: 9
7. Wasted Time ( The higher the number,
the less “ fluff” /repetition ): 9
8. Playback Score/Watching if over-and-over
again: 9
9. Would I purchase more of this company’s products:10
10. Overall
grade based on cost vs. Value: 9
Grand Total: 94% ( Good = 3.5 Stars )
Secondary Grading Criteria:
1.
Beginners benefit: Good
2. Intermediate benefit: Very Good
3. Advanced benefit:
Very Good
4. Time to benefit: Probably not immediate for beginners
5. The need
to buy additional tapes to understand this one: None
Written Summary:
I am usually
impressed with James Keating’s video teaching style and this video is, in my opinion,
the best work that I have seen to date by Mr. Keating. I was very impressed with
this video for several reasons. For one, this is not a technique tape but instead,
is a concept training tape ( a big plus in my book any day ). Another reason is that
Mr. Keating assumes a minimal level of expertise on the part of the viewer. In other
words, he doesn’t waste time discussing or demonstrating material that most of the
viewers should already know in the first place ( or that is readily attainable from
many sources ).
The underlying theme of this video is to train the viewer
in the five “ universal “ upper body positions of Kali, a filipino ,martial art.
However, if you watch this video closely, you can see that these five upper body
positions can apply to kenpo, jun fan, wing chun, some hard karate styles, and probably
some I haven’t thought of yet. So the term “ universal “ is indeed applicable to
this material. Mr Keating begins the video by showing the five basic positions and
how to link them together with some flowing motions. Done with an opponent, Mr. Keating
subsequently adds footwork and flow to where these empty hand applications begin
to look more combative. Before I could say the word “ kata “, Mr. Keating states
that the element of touch makes this drill more combative and realistic than a traditional
style kata. Throughout the video, Mr. Keating adds the elements of trapping hands,
limb destructions, and dumog style takedowns into the basic 5 hand position drill.
Single knife, double knife and double stick are then incorporated so that the viewer
can begin to realize the overall applicability of this drill to his particular style
or interest. I believe that Mr. Keating refers to this as helping people along the
path of discovery of how this drill and others like it can help to broaden one’s
understanding of most any martial art.
This is one of those rare examples
of a video that I would include in my personal list of “ Thinking Man’s Guides To
Martial Arts “ videos. In other words, you have to engage your gray matter a bit
to fully grasp this video. I would recommend this video to any martial artist with
some degree of experience.
CJ
