Train with The Karda Group

Now here's a guy I would really like to train with;
Branden Wyke is one of the instructors at "The Karda Group". The group trains in a mix of Filipino/Indonesian arts with a heavy influence on knife work.
In an e-mail chat with Branden he described the training group:

"A lot of the guys have instructorships in a different things. A few are instructors under Inosanto in Kali, Silat, and JKD. Some are Muay Thai instructors, and one of the guys in Wing Chun. Then some of the guys have spent time in a lot of other stuff like lua and some Filipino martial arts like Sayoc Kali, and Atienza kali.
We've spent most of the time the last couple of years working on knife and empty hands vs knife because there seems to be a lot of unrealistic practices going on -either guys aren't training under the right amount of randomness and stress or they were training a LOT of stuff that was about killing an empty handed man...we wanted to get away from that kind of stuff and explore what was really working and in the right context.
We've been working the emptyhands stuff too -just organizing it in a structure that can roll with it well if the other guy pulls a weapon."

Now, I have to admit that I am not that skilled in knife work myself, which is something I intend to work on. I have some basic disarms, Aikido knife defense, basic weapon stripping etc.
With that said, here are my observations on Branden's teaching and technique:

First of all, Branden has had very good instruction. You can tell because he teaches very well also. No esoteric terminology, basic stuff western lunkheads and Dojo Rats can understand.
While all the defenses in his videos use gross motor skills (something that will work in a stressful situation) he demonstrates sensitivity to the opponent's weapon and body movement. In other words, Branden does not try to out-muscle his attacker, but he follows the movement of the blade and adjusts to a controlling position.
He does however, use his body mass to bear against the attacker rather than arm strength alone. This fits with the general theme of internal martial arts; follow the opponent's movement and force him to deal with your body mass as a unified whole.
Let's not fool ourselves; there is going to be some huffing and grunting in a real struggle against a resisting opponent, and this type of training adds necessary realism. One thing to note - Branden exhales consistently, which maintains a breathing rhythm allowing him to pace his endurance and emphasize the yin and yang of yield and press.

I suggest anybody interested to look at the other video's on "The Karda Group" website, linked HERE.

You can contact Branden for training information here:

Public Class:
Location: Relentless Martial Arts
6202 S. Sheridan Tulsa, OK., 74133
Times: Mon 8-8:50pm & Wed 6-6:50pm
Contact: Branden Wyke
918 806 8912
Branden@KardaGroup.com

Urban Combat Training

I love this guys stuff.
It's not polished, it's raw. He goes by the name B.T., for Black Taoist, and hangs with a bunch of other cats that are really into internal Chinese arts, specifically Bagua and Hsing-I.
In other videos, their forms are crisp and uncomplicated, and they put a lot of emphasis on reality-based training, something not always found in the "heady" and theory-infused world of Internal Martial Arts. His website is listed at the end of the video.