Board of Directors of the Guild
Words form the National Director
How to learn Danse De Rue Savate
Certified Academies of Danse De Rue Savate(sm)
Silver Glove Preparation Seminar
Coach Stephen "Agujas" Wall held a silver glove preparation Seminar for the Guild Members this Past Weekend. Fun As always with Coach Agujas and his Free spirited enthusiasm. the new Location for the Savate Danse De Rue Club is an excellent facility that the Zipoteros of Arizona will be pleased to have.
Thank for All
Prof. Popeye
Hey everyone,
Professeur Buitron will be in town the 14th and 15th for a Seminar. I just got
back from Scottsdale, Az. where we had a Silver Glove preparation seminar. We had
a great time and got a lot of work in. I am also in the works for starting a club
here in the Metroplex (finally). I have a nice place where to train. Contact
mewith any immediate questions by email. I will be getting back to you with
the details of the seminar when I can actually get the info downloaded on my
computer.
Later everyone.
The experience of the Silver Glove Preparation
Seminar in Scottsdale, Az. this past weekend was one of two days of hard but
enjoyable work. First of all, we had a nice comfortable facility to train in.
Now a nice comfortable facility is not a
necessity in order to train, but it can be an aid in a long day of going over a
wide variety of material. The sets in the Silver Glove manual were the primary
focus of this seminar. In order to perform these sets in the correct manner, one
needs to
have a solid command of control, fluidity, knowledge, and confidence in what
theyare doing. Only one thing can a person to get to this point....DISCIPLINED
PRACTICE. An individual does not just wake up one morning and has a Silver Glove
handed to him or her. These things became even more evident this past weekend. I
cannot even count the number of times I felt like a fish out of water during
theseminar. I'm thankful for the patience of Professeur Buitron and his
willingness to
break down and teach and re-teach numerous times the movements and theories
behind the sets we worked on. This being my 17th year in Danse De Rue Savate,
hopefully this can be the year I can finally earn my Silver Glove. To those of
you reading
this that do not have a ranking or are at the Blue or Green Glove level,
continue working hard and do not get into the mind set of there is not a lot to
learn after such and such a glove. I have found out that the more I know, the
more that I have
to learn.
Coach
Mechanico
AZ Savate hosted it's annual gathering this past weekend focusing on Silver Glove material for this year's Passage de grade. The opportunity to spend so much time on the higher level material of DDRS was a treat. Prof. Buitron gave in depth explanations of the how's/why's DDRS is so effective. Demonstrations/training coupled with detailed instruction cements the knowledge and the higher glove/instructors truly gain ground in DDRS. Discussions ranged from techniques to military history to Savate's history through the years and how they are intwined.Very interesting and informative.We had a great time. The weather was great.Thanks to Prof. Buitron, Initiateur Gavin, Coach Martin.
See you all in the Windy City in May!
Coach Agujas
Coach Steve “Aujas” Wall of DDRS Arizona hosted an intense two day Silver Glove seminar in Scottsdale, AZ on the weekend of February 28 to March 1st. Coaches Aujas and Kendall “Mechanico” Martin will be presenting to the assembled Board of Professors at this year's Passage de Grade for the grade of Silver Glove 1. A successful challenge of this passage will make these two men the fourth and fifth zipoteros promoted to the grade of Silver Glove 1 in the fifteen year history of the International Guild of Danse de Rue Savate.
In conversing to people outside the Guild on the subject of Silver Gloves, I am
sometimes asked why we have so few of them after fifteen years of existence. I
give them two answers: commitment and pain. IGDDRS Founding Maitre, Isidro
“Chilo” Chapa, once told a young Paul Buitron, “Making fighters (zipoteros) will
cause you great pain.” It did. In so many more ways than one. Investing in the
training of people to reach the level of Silver Glove involves a great deal of
work, commitment, faith, and love for people and this art. This is true for a
teacher. This is true, also, for a student of Savate Danse de Rue. It is pain.
It is sacrifice. It is commitment. It is not something you do for a short time
and move on to “the next cool thing.” It is your life's work. It is not merely
what you do. Your savate is an integral part of you and a reflection of who you
are.
Professor Buitron told us at this seminar: “It takes ten years for a style to
become a system. It takes twenty years for the system to become a tradition.” So
why are there so few Silver Gloves in Savate Danse de Rue? Let me explain what I
mean by commitment and pain.
Someone who is committed to something is not, as U.S. founding father Thomas
Paine wrote in his pamphlet Common Sense, a “summer soldier or sunshine
patriot.” An individual committed to a cause and goal values perseverance and
persistence above all. The measure of this commitment is what the individual
will endure and sacrifice to reach that goal. There are lots of fun things one
can do with tuition money and the free time created by not training. But the
committed person foregoes temporary pleasures and makes great sacrifices to
attain their goals, improve the quality of their lives, and add meaning and
definition to their limited time here on earth. Martin Luther King was right
when he said: “The true measure of a man is not where he SITS in times of
comfort and convenience, but where he STANDS in times of conflict and
controversy.” Persistence pays like nothing else. Most every good instructor of
martial arts I have ever known agrees on that point. Anyone can achieve “black
belt” or its equivalent, but few ever do. Why? Because they quit when it gets
“hard.” That brings me to the subject of pain.
Training is painful. No kidding? Really? Yes. It hurts to get your body into
condition just enough to keep up with the class. When you get into condition and
in your best physical shape, it still hurts to get pummeled and slammed as you
absorb strikes and falls. It hurts as you get north of 40 years of age to get up
and work through the pain while everyone else seems to get younger. It hurts to
be a distance learning student of DDRS. It hurts to drag your tired body across
the country and sleep on planes and airport lounges. It hurts to have to pay for
travel expenses. It hurts to be away from your friends and family. It is lonely
work to have to study alone and try to learn your material. It is painful to be
a trainer and spend your time, effort, money, and passion to promote a class or
seminar only to take a financial bath. It is painful. It makes you want to quit.
It is HARD. You make mistakes, and you pay for them by getting hit, slammed, or
losing money. That is what PAIN is all about, my friends. That is why there are
so few Silver Gloves in the IGDDRS.
Savate Danse de Rue has a long, steep, and thorough learning curve. By Red Glove
alone, our members know more and can accomplish more than most Boxe Francaise
Savate Silver Gloves II's have ever met. I would take one of our Red Gloves on a
military deployment with me before I would choose any dozen BFS Silver Gloves.
The Guild is not in the business of manufacturing rank holders. It is in the
business of training people to move and think like warriors - not simply
sportsmen. If it were easy, we would have as many Silver Gloves as a tae kwon do
studio churns out black belts. But the Guild reflects reality. Anything that is
truly worth having comes at a great price. A Guild Silver Glove is made of
blood, sweat, sacrifice, commitment, and most of all……COURAGE.
Aujas and Mechanico. Steve and Kendall, my friends, you are to be commended for
your commitment and courage all these years. Our hope, faith, and prayers are
with you as you live to train, teach, and share your art. All the best as you
prepare to challenge this Silver Glove rite of passage.
Salut,
Padraic O'Gawain
Initiateur Jilguero
DDRS - Salle Illinois