An often misunderstood but potentially deadly weapon, the cane
is one of the few self-defense tools you can take virtually anywhere no matter
what level of security you’re facing. In this hard-hitting video production
from Paladin Press, veteran fighter Alain Burrese shows you how to maximize the
combative use of the cane, turning it from just a leg support to an invaluable
part of your arsenal. Stripping away the flashy martial arts moves to leave
behind the bare essentials of big stick fighting, Burrese teaches you the rapid,
vicious strikes that take advantage of the cane’s size and heft, and then
transitions seamlessly into brutal combinations of striking and blocking that
will have your opponent wishing he’d never mistaken you for an easy mark. From
there, he shows hooking and grabbing techniques that enable you to move into
joint locks, chokes and stick submissions relying on street-proven principles of
movement, not fancy dojo dancing. Whether you carry a cane out of necessity or
choice, this video will give you information on big stick fighting you can use
to keep yourself safe on the street. For information purposes only.
Color, approx. 150 min. total.
This is the most complete cane resource available. In
these two dvds you will learn:
1. Explanation of the cane and various grips:
Learn about the cane and ways to hold it.
2. Blocks: Over a dozen variations of blocks including
one hand swinging blocks, outer forearm blocks with the cane, inner forearm
blocks with the cane, raising cane blocks, reverse hands swinging blocks, pugil
stick blocks, cover blocks, sweeping blocks, and defensive pokes.
3. Strikes: Over a dozen striking techniques
including classical strikes, whipping strikes, one hand strikes, thrusts, wrist
flicks, pugil stick strikes, sword strikes, baseball bat strikes, and more.
4. Hooking Techniques: Learn to use the Hapkido
Cane's hook with techniques for hooking the neck, shoulder, legs, and groin.
5. Combing Blocks, Strikes and Hooks: Learn to
combine the basic blocks, strikes and hooks to defend yourself from various
attacks. You will be able to expand on this instruction to develop your
own combinations to defend yourself with the hapkido cane in numerous
situations.
6. Defenses Against Grabs: Learn to defend against
a variety of grabbing attacks. After learning the techniques on this dvd,
you will be able to defend yourself against cane grabs, wrist grabs, one hand
lapel grabs, two hand lapel grabs, two hand chokes, front and rear bear hugs,
two hand wrist grab from behind, rear chokes, head locks, around the head
takedowns, and when you are on the ground with an attacker on top of you. Alain
teaches multiple defenses for many of these attacks!
7.Punch Defenses: There are twenty punch
defenses taught in these dvds, and some of these defenses have variations, so in
fact you will learn more than 30 techniques to defend yourself from punches or
someone reaching for you. Alain's hapkido cane curriculum teaches more
hapkido cane techniques than any other hapkido resource out there!
8.Kick Defenses: Learn to defend yourself
against front kicks, roundhouse kicks, and side kicks. Multiple defenses
against each.
9. Chokes: Learn to use the hapkido cane to choke
your opponent. Choke takedowns and modified techniques to be less than
lethal also included.
10. Defenses Against Someone Grabbing the Cane:
What do you do when your opponent grabs your cane? Alain teaches you a
several techniques for the various ways an opponent may try to take your cane
from you. These include one hand grab defenses, two hand grab defenses,
pugil stick grab defenses and what to do if he grabs the hook.
11. Conclusion: Alain concludes by showing how you can
take the knowledge gained in these dvds and apply it to other weapons as
well. Weapons such as short sticks and umbrellas. He also discusses
ways to use weaker canes and umbrellas in case you don't have an oak or hickory
cane and an Unbreakable
Umbrella.
Alain Burrese's Cane video is a very worthy investment. As a
student of the cane for several years now, I have learned from several
instructors and gone to other resources in print (books like Dr Kimm's) and
video (ICHF, Canemasters, and others). The real value of this set is not so much
for the novelty of the material but rather for its thoroughness. I saw some
material that was "new" to me but generally I had seen most of it
before.
Mr. Burrese has organized the material very well and each section builds more
and more on the previous material. He does incorporate some "other"
material in, most of which looks like it comes from Pugil Stick training and
some stick fighting material. However, it blends well and fits the overall
concepts well. His style of teaching inspires confidence and he addresses a lot
of little concerns that come up after an extended period of study. For that, his
insights are golden.
Overall, this reference DVD covers the cane very well. It should be noted that
the material here is presented for the heavy, hardwood style cane and may differ
from some of the Hapkido "lighter" cane styles. If you use the heavier
Canemasters-style cane, or similar, this is a good set for you. This set is
huge, with 2 DVDs and a running time of over 3 hours! The Production Quality is
good, with a blue background and the people in white. Techniques are shown
several times, slowly and with a clear explanation and then quickly in more
realistic speed. For some, there are views from the top and side. Titles and
chapters are clearly labeled in the index and it's very easy to skip to the
precise section you want.
Disk 1 (1 hour 37 minutes) Contents:
Intro - Good intro that touches on practicality of the cane and some legal
aspects. He promises to show material that is for the most part practical, and
to supplement it with a little material that is artistic and flashy as well. He
provides a quick lesson on cane anatomy and discusses the pros and cons of
various canes, from Canemasters to cheap mail-order ones. He does leave out the
common aluminum cane however.
Blocks (30 minutes)
Strikes (20 minutes) - includes whipping strikes, circular strikes and various
other ways of striking, both from a "traditional Hapkido" point of
view as well as other practical-if-not-so-pretty strikes. He addresses targeting
strategies as well.
Hooks + Combos (10 minutes) - nice overview of ideas as well as hook-anatomy and
the use of the hook.
Defense vs Grabs (37 minutes) - a couple techniques shown in various situations,
including wrist grabs, sleeve grabs, lapel grabs, chokes, bear hugs, headlocks,
and a few ground escapes. Overall, a nice overview of cane material with
techniques that can apply across the various situations.
Disk 2 (1 hour 36 minutes) Contents:
Defense vs Punches (53 minutes) - 20 techniques + variations and what-if's.
Defense vs Kicks (14 minutes) - 2-3 techniques each for front, roundhouse and
side kicks.
Chokes with the Cane (12 minutes) - various techniques of opportunity including
use (introduction) of the half-shaft grip.
Defense vs Cane Grabs (12 minutes) from various types of grabs.
Application to other weapons and Conclusion (5 minutes) - Nice short review and
application of the techniques to other weapons like sticks of various lengths or
the unbreakable umbrella. There are a few recommendations on legal aspects and
nice conclusion to the DVD.
The only areas where it could be considered "lacking" may be in the
lack of defenses against other weapons. Also, the vast majority of the material
is geared towards an able-bodied practitioner with little attention paid to the
use of the cane by someone whose balance and physical skills warrant an actual
need for a cane. As a student of Hapkido and of the cane, this is the set that I
would recommend as the foundation set for the hardwood heavier cane that has
become so popular of late. Everything a student needs to begin with is covered
here and covered well. It will take a long time for a student to master what
they learn from their instructor and everything on this set. At that point, they
can look for some other supplemental material. But, for a one stop source of
quality material for the cane, this is the resource to buy.
have only had time to watch the first disc so far, and I would have to say I'm
impressed. Quite different in many respects to the Savate based work I have
been doing, uses a crook headed cane for a start, but I can see plenty of
possibilities for cross over. Nicely presented with clear action sequences,
useful camera angles and professional presentation I think the only thing
missing from the introduction is any mention of cane length, this is quite
important in the European styles and I'm not sure if this is the case here.
Otherwise excellent I have been leaping all over my front room waving my
blackthorn country stick all about( it has an inch long steel spike in the
tip) Get this DVD, get Craig Gemeiners too(Paladin has it)A very happy and
impressed Phil
This was posted on www.selfdefenseforums.com
Another Hapkido Cane Review:
This review was posted on selfdefenseforums.com as well as other forums:
HAPKIDO CANE: Big Stick Fighting from the Dojo to the Street, by that force of
nature, Alain Burrese.
Once again Alain has created a quality product out of the strongest interests
of his life, self defence and Hapkido. It is a two dvd set running close to 3
hours (the box says approximately 150 minutes but that is short) for only
$59.95, a very good price. He has made excellent use of slow motion and angle
repetition to teach the techniques without the endless slow motion repetitions
from 95 separate and distinct angles used by others to pad out their product.
I currently own a dvd on knife work that the cover says to be 55 minutes long
and is really 35 minutes long, for the same price. Ptoooooeeee!
The Meat:
• 10 separate blocks are covered, many with 2 or 3 variations, and an
excellent use of side stepping and body dynamics for power.
• 13 different ways to smoke someone with a cane plus variations.
• How to hook has half a dozen target variations and two combinations.
• 14 defences to clothing grabs are offered, and 7 responses to cane grabs,
plus variations.
• 27 responses to a miscellany of bear hugs (front and back) head locks,
rear chokes and fighting on the ground.
• Then comes Defences against a Punch. The first defence has 7 variations
and in all, Alain covers 20 defences.
• Kicking defences cover front snap kick, side kick and roundhouse with 8
responses.
• Defending against a choke gets 4 choices with variations.
• And then he finishes with a discussion of how to use other stick like
objects such as short sticks and umbrellas.
I have known Alain for many years and so I know he is a true gentleman and a
committed martial artist. I am not surprised he is putting so much into a dvd
set for such a low price. His knowledge of Hapkido and the Hapkido cane
syllabus is prodigious.I think I know cane work because I teach it myself and
have some 30 years experience in the martial arts but the volumes of
experience Alain brings to his work amazes me. I guess we are competitors but
in fact, I have no qualms about recommending his approach to anyone, though it
is very different from my personal style.
The OFFSIDE:
While it is obvious to the trained eye that Alain has worked hard to make this
expression of Hapkido practical, I believe that this dvd is more suited to
someone who wants to learn Hapkido cane elements rather than a strict “wham
bam” self defense methodology. And yet, it is much better than the other
“cane as a weapon” dvds that are out there, that I have seen.
My limited point of view is self defence for seniors. I think some of the
moves would be beyond a senior’s capabilities given their decrease in muscle
mass and their unwillingness to practice. The majority of techniques, of
course, are quite viable for the smaller or older student.
So if you are still young and looking for the edge in an sd situation, and
want to learn some nasty Hapkido, this is an excellent investment in your
future.
Ted T.
This comment came after the original post:
I had an opportunity to view this. It's a fine, fine product and I would
likewise recommend it to anyone who is interested in hapkido or self defense
in general. - Golok
Hapkido Cane