I always look forward to the weapon seminars throughout the year especially the swords, daggers and walking sticks. It never ceases to amaze me how deep this art is. These seminars really give just a snapshot of the scope of Arakan, it's insanely technical without a weapon in hand let alone trying to use one. It was always a long term goal of mine to get to witness some of these techniques but now it's about the experience. the whole room has an entirely different energy to any other class when Rob is demonstrating with a really sharp dagger with the utmost mastery and precision stopping the blade literally millimetres from main arteries with so much speed and confidence, you can feel everyone in the rooms heart skip a beat.
It doesn't matter what weapon is in hand the level of focus and concentration needed to wield the weapon without injuring your training partner brings a whole other level of discipline and control. Which is why it's still such a privilege to get invited to this seminar everyone has to be graded and most people in the room have been training well over 5 years. Anyone lucky enough to attend would agree we are all so fortunate to get a glimpse of such high level arakan techniques we may never get to be truly taught in our private lesson. Definitely an experience I hope everyone who trains can have, for me this is for filling my childhood dream of wielding a sword and leaving me with the most amazing memories.
Tom Wilson
Instructor
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