I had the good fortune of attending a morning segment of a Bram Frank seminar that was very close to my home. Bram is an instructor to my good friend, Tony Torre, who makes his living as Bailbondsman and Head Instructor for the Miami Arnis Group. ( http://miamiarnisgroup.com/ ). I was familiar with Guru Bram’s knife designs and I was anxious to see them employed in person.

The seminar started as informally and genuine as possible. Bram said, " It’s BRAM! " when addressing him. The focus is on improvement and the installation of a thinking and performing methodolgy. Bram explained the use of tools and how impact tools and edge tools are present in our lives and that they are supposed to make life easy and have mulitiple uses. You should understand the idea of using the right tool for the right job. He began his presentation with an impact tool made out of plastic. He covered what is possible, then,.. what is probable. What followed was a nice dissection of action, reaction, complience, destruction, reasonable force, and options. Bram’s teaching skills are as highly honed as his "tool" collection. The primary blade, refined by Mr. Frank, is the Gunting, which means "scissor". This is one of those words that are conceptual in the sense that students use a foreign word freely to mean many things. This is not uncommon in martial arts and too much time is spent on forums arguing about this crap. The Gunting is both an impact and edged weapon that can be adapted to a continuum of force. It is an adaptable, well thought out device. It comes in a edged version, training version, and impact version. They are color coded and also have "Braille" so you can tell what you are grabbing in low light or no sight conditions.

The purpose and application of these "Bram Frank Methods" are best learned or absorbed from Bram himself. He is constantly on the seminar trail and he will be coming to a city near you. His methods are tested and updated by LEO and Military around the world. The feedback allows for upgrading, adaptation and sometimes re-thinking. That’s called growth, and growth is what YOU will get by attending a Bram Frank seminar. http://www.cssdsc.com/

Roger Carpenter with the late Mike Inay

1973-FIGHT TURNS INTO A SLAUGHTER
In Wichita Kansas in 1973 Roger Carpenter battled John Bal’ee. This bout started off under the agreed upon rules but soon developed into a full fledged street fight in the ring. Bal’ee was cut across the face and most Boxing and Kickboxing matches would have called the fight but not here. The bout had to go to knockout. Carpenter elbowed his foe in the face further opening the gash and then continually kneed his foe in the face. A knee sent Bal’ee through the ropes and referee Jim Harrison did not start counting until Bal’ee was back in the ring. This happened several times. 3000 nauseated spectators witnessed the bout which turned out to be a slaughter. The referee asked Bal’ee if he could continue and he barely nodded no. The fight was stopped and Bal’ee was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Roger Carpenter has taught martial arts in the Wichita area for over forty years. This includes men, women, and children of all ages. Holding a 9th degree Black Belt, Roger Carpenter received his credentials from the founding father of Kenpo Karate, George Pesare, on the East Coast, Providence, Rhode Island. This 9th degree, Grandmaster level of achievement is one of the highest in the country.

Roger survives in harsh environments and trains those in need from the skills given to him by his teachers. Roger thanks: George Pesare, for the strength of Kenpo/Kempo, Mike Inay for the blade skills of Eskrima, Ted Olson for the Korean arts, Joe Burgess for Japanese Judo, Robert Mclawhorn for sword skills of Kendo, the Hallacy Brothers for boxing, and last but not least, Jim Harrison, for mixed martial arts-street oriented.