Sijo James W. DeMile's Blog

****Disclaimerfor Jacque Patenaude, Quebec, Canada...  Jacque used to  greatly exaggerate  his claims about training with me in Wing Chun Do (WCD).  Now he is outright lying about his past experiences in WCD on his Webpage..  Jacque only trained with me for two weeks in an instructors camp for the basic level of WCD.  He was supposed to return for the advanced levels that covered Closing of the gap, Spring Energy applications, Chi Sao (sticking hands), Phon Sao or (trapping hands) and the street applications.  He never attended any more camps and only participated in a two day seminar I did on the basics of WCD in Sarnia Canada.  I did a one day seminar in his new school to help him get started.  I am embarrassed when I see his tapes on closing or trapping when he credits me as the source.  The tapes are an example of his not understanding any of the advance techniques.  They are a mishmash of once beautiful concepts.  When he visited my home he stole my notes on trapping and made copies of them.  When I confronted him he said that they were only for his personal reference and he would not show or use them.  Yet, he later did a magazine article in which he used the notes as if they were his own.  The notes may as well have been written in Hawaiian since he obviously did not understand them.   I do not know what he teaches, but it is certainly not WCD.  

Here it is October already.  Sibok Rocco Ambrose and his son David just left after co-producing the next three segments of soft Chi Sao.  I have done the basics of closed position Chi Sao and Sibok has presented his interpretation of the applied basics as well as advanced applications of listening, reading and controlling the opponent's energy.  I was impressed with Sibok's clear verbal presentation and very visual overview of each concept.  Although Chi Sao is only an exercise, it is a critical training step in establishing the complete understanding and application of Phon Sao trapping.  The basic positions and range and type of movement taught in Chi Sao lay the foundation for evolving into spontaneity and freedom of motion, which is very important in being able to adapt to the unknown actions of the opponent.  Of course, there are different applications of Chi Sao, such as flip flop and random, as well as firm and hard, but we feel the soft approach allows the average student a better method of producing earlier and more practical results. I review these alternate methods in the Basics DVD.  Since Chi Sao is an exercise, nothing is lost, regardless of which style you practice, as long as you do not become too rigid in training.

I have been working diligently on the Power, Speed, and Basic Trapping DVD's which include Slap and Wrist Sparring.  These, along with Chi Sao, are all elements to the Art of Trapping, which Bruce Lee felt was the ultimate key to a strong defense while blending your motions with a dynamic offensive flow.

April is beautiful here in Rogue River Oregon.  It really is an inspiring time.  Already the coat is finding more time in the closet than on my back.  I have been spending a lot of time working on my Trapping DVD's.  I shoot, reshoot and then reshoot again.  Each time I watch what I just shot I see something is missing or that a technique could be shown in a different way in order to make it clearer.  This is going to be my legacy of all my years of training and how I perceive all the concepts and trapping techniques I learned from Bruce Lee.  It is taking the seed he planted in my brain and developing it into a full blown applied principle that would work for anyone.  This has turned into a much bigger project than I originally planned.  I was just going to put down a lot of random thoughts on trapping and let the student sort through them for any answers he may discover.  After shooting my first DVD's I could quickly see the student would never be able to define or refine any of the technical concepts.  This awareness made me step back and work on simplifying my shooting structure.  I am making good progress and hope to have some final edited DVD's soon. 

I am thinking of having a weeklong open Trapping Seminar, here in Rogue River, maybe in August. Nothing replaces hands on experience when training in anything technical.  I have had a few interested inquires, but will have to see what direction the economy takes.

March is almost history and the only positive thing is spring has sprung.  The economy is still caught up in the political vortex and today we read that the island of Saipan, our winter hide-a-way, has gone from a billion dollar garment industry to zero in three short years.  Our secret paradise where rent and food was cheap, tourists were few and the local people still happy in their simple life, has now begun to cloud with the unknown of tomorrow.  The beautiful beaches and constant 80 degree temperature will not change, but the void created by no jobs and no prospects of things getting better has to have a dramatic effect on the tranquility we remember.  Unfortunately, crime rears its ugly head during difficult times.  Even honest people are sometimes driven to steal to feed their family.  We get the Saipan news on the internet and it will be interesting to see if our quiet little island becomes a jungle where fighting to survive becomes the main focus.

The forum is back and hopefully there will be continued interaction for those wanting to get a better understand of WCD and/or other systems.

Time flies a little to fast for me.  September was only yesterday and I put in a blog with full intention of doing a weekly follow-up.  Shame on me for losing five months in a blink of an eye.  Anyway, here I am again trying to understand what is going on in our crazy world.  In September, things were rosy and looking up.  Today a dark cloud hangs over everyone's future as they look for some light at the end of the economic tunnel.  It amazes me how quickly the housing slump turned into a world downward spiral that does not seem to be bottoming out.  All my seminars throughout the world have been put on hold as the potential students redirect their training fees into survival fees.  The WCD instructors have all been say the same thing, that student dropout rate is increasing as the students join the ranks of the unemployed.  Irene and I are lucky.  We have our 13 acres, with our chickens and organic garden.  Irene was wise enough, when we left Hawaii, to eliminate all our bills.  We go crabbing on the Oregon coast, fishing in the lakes and shopping at wholesale foods.  Our life has been simplified and if feels good.  I built a video studio as part of my shop and am finally focusing on producing training DVD's.  I have been going to do this for the last few years, but have always been distracted by one thing or another.  Finally, no distractions.  I am pleased at the first definitive DVD that I am doing on Chi Sao.  There will be a series of DVD's on trapping as well as presenting the basics of WCD.  2009 will be my year to finally accomplish a clear and concise outline on my views of all the personal concepts and techniques I learned from Bruce Lee.  The only seminars I will do will be here at the International Training Center.  They will be immersion training camps focusing on accelerated learning of all the various aspects of trapping as well as will offer camps for those interested in learning how to teach short children's and women's self defense programs.

Footnote.... My motivation to accomplish as much as I can this year is because of the unknown future of my ability to continue teaching.  I have had three major back surgeries and anticipate two more.  I walk with a cane and am having difficulty in walking any distance.  I have a pace maker that makes me feel like I am part robot.  Of course, I am in my seventies now, so age is a factor in my daily up and down competition with life.  My attitude is good and I enjoy each day.  But, reality lets me know the clock is ticking faster each day and if I have goals to reach, I better not watch the clock.

Developmental Training

Aloha, I got involved with Hypnosis in 1958 when I went to LA and took a course from a Hypnotist named Melvin Powers. In my rap sessions with Bruce in my apartment we used to discuss ways to accelerate training. I explained I thought hypnosis was a key element for imprinting neuro-muscular reaction with a minimum of training. I used it in my personal training both in Martial arts and personal development. Bruce said that he thought that hypnosis was just a modern application that was thousands of years old and was practiced regularly by the monks. He deduced that meditation and hypnosis just took different pathways to arrive at the same destination. Both focused on internalizing thought as well as mental/physical potentials. Hypnosis had a stigma for putting a person into a state where he would lose personal control over his judgments, but self hypnosis allowed him to tap into his inner conscious while still maintaining control. Meditation, although similar, was limited because it was like being on a lake without oars, you just floated around. I convinced him if you took away the label of “hypnosis” and just applied the basic techniques, you then had access to the oars to take yourself anywhere you wanted to go. I taught him, what I later called “Directive Meditation” Which eliminated any reference to hypnosis, but allowed him to achieve proper subconscious depth to be very responsive to suggestions he develop from his own research. I showed him how to give personal suggestions or how to use a tape recorder for more involved suggestions.

That is what my CD's are about. Whether he used it, I do not know. I suspect he did since he was always looking for ways to accomplish his goals quicker. I believe, even stronger today, that self hypnosis is the best way to achieve accelerated result in any area of personal concern. It is like conventional training is taking the staircase while hypnosis or proper “Directive Meditation” is taking the elevator.

- Sijo