Tuhon Phil Gelinas offered a seminar this past Thursday which saw several students from maelstrom as well as the FMA community in the Lower Mainland attend. Areas covered included both knife and empty hand. The material was well-presented, and Tuhon Phil got to use what appeared to be one of his favourite demonstration partners.
Tuhon’s parting words struck quite a chord: Pekiti Tirsia kali is a living system, with people all over the world constantly practicing, critiquing, investigating and improving it. There is no magic involved: it is the product of human minds, which we all have, so don’t classify yourself as a practitioner who will never reach some theoretical “expert” level held by the founders because we have all the same tools they did. Sure, it’s possible those of the past will remain more advanced in their skills and understanding, but we may also surpass them. This is an important idea to internalize about any field of endeavour.
