On March 4 the Spartan Pankration Academy in Laval Quebec (suburb of Montreal ) had the distinct Privilege to host world renowned Master of the Blade Tom Sotis for the first ever AMOK! seminar in Canada.
We were all excited to have Tom come down and the talk was like a brush fire. Only because I had read his literature and gone through the forum, I more or less had an idea of what it was going to be like.
So I thought. I and all were in for a rude but pleasant awakening. As soon as everybody had arrived and Tom was introduced he huddled with one of my senior students, Peter, on the side of the room and then came back to the center. He was about to show everyone, including Peter, what the mindset of this seminar was going to be like. Peter was given instructions to come at him with everything he had, blade in hand, and Tom was going to respond in turn. As soon as he let out the AMOK! scream peter rushed and so did Tom at each other both screaming and stabbing at each other with all out rage.
Peter and all in the room were shocked at the explosiveness and ferocity in which was transpiring in front of them. Then after a minute it was over and the stillness in the room was almost eerie. It was obvious that everyone was dumbfounded and intimidated by what just happened .That's the way Tom wanted it and that's the way it went throughout the whole seminar. The point was to show how vicious a knife attack can be and the case was proven. The pace was set and everyone's mindset was adjusted to follow the mood. I'm pretty sure people had their reservations before the class as to what to expect but that was quickly snuffed out from the get go.
Tom dazzled every one of us with his mastery and also his skill to convey the information clearly so that everyone could indulge in the practice. He made understanding the blade and tactics easy even to the beginner. It was obvious half way through the seminar around lunch break that all the attendees were excited at this new information and approach in training, and even myself who has some what of a FMA background for the past 20 years, and were eagerly looking forward to getting back to class to soak up more of this addictive adrenaline rush of blade tactics.
The whole seminar was filled with Tom's skilful knife slinging and true and straight approach to edged weapons training. Having been caught up in the rush of the practice I had to step back at one point to see what the mood was like and to my delight it was evident that everyone was entirely embedded into the sparring like drills that Tom had us doing. In the end the exhilaration in the room was thick with excited and satisfied practitioners who could not get enough of AMOK! The seminar ended with the whole school dueling, just to give everyone a chance to put to use what they just learned.
Even for those who have or came from a FMA background like myself and a few others it was obvious which direction we have to now take and that if it means being true to ourselves, then we cannot deny AMOK! People quickly became convinced of AMOK's superiority and effectiveness and showed it at the end of the class when I was asked as to when we were going to begin working AMOK!, in which my response was ….. IMMEDIATELY!! Tom was a true gentleman and Master with unequivocal qualities as a teacher and a friend. I am very happy to have come across this Phenomenon and feel that I have hit the lottery from the prospective of gaining a friend and teacher.
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