.I arrived in Prague International Airport around 3pm (Czech time), Monday, 11th February 2008. Anthony Nowak, Martin Hradecký, Mário Tachecí and Michal Vlček was there to greet me.
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We went to the Opatov Hotel to check in, where I stayed for the duration of my stay. The boys then brought me to the place where we will be training (Mario's brother's housebasement). We started our training the same day for 2 hrs. Finished training we went for dinner and discussed our training schedule. We decided to train 2.5hrs in the morning and 2.5hrs in the evening.
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The next morning for the next few days we trained everyday covering aspects of the jurus (hand movements) and Langkah (footworks), to train the correct mentality, principles of body mechanics and sensitivity. On the Teusday we worked on the double machete and footwork, the Wednesday - machete and footwork, Thursday - blade mechanics and footwork, Friday - empty hands and footwork and on the morning of the last day I was leaving we worked on footwork, basic ground defence and basic sarong application.
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The Jurus (hand movements) and Langkah (footwork) is the heart of SSBD. We are NOT concerned with learning teachinques in the Foundation level but rather the instillment and the understanding of correct mentality, correct body mechanics and the correct sensitivity. Please be advised that this Foundation Training does not teach techniques or rank the participants nor does it certify them to teach SSBD. Click here for training pictures.
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Between training, on the wednesday after our evening session, Martin and Anthony planned a guided tour for me to the city of Prague. Where we met Martina (Martin's girlfriend) and she brought us around for a guided tour of Prague. It was a excellent tour. Click here for tour pictures.
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I left Prague on the 16th of February. I had a great time in Prague, I made new friends (they really made me feel like family). We had lunch and dinner together everyday, we talked and joked, though Martin and Michal didnt speak much english (it was translated by either Anthony or Mario) this wasnt much of a problem because of thier friendlyness and openness.
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Martin Hradecký and Mario Tachecí are instructors in Serrada, with backgrounds with various military and fighting arts. Martin especially is both a combat and fire-arms instructor, he instructs Czech special forces and various law enforcement departments, he travels internationally to study other weapon arts and teach it. They clearly understood that you cant learn an art in a space of 6 days, but rather they analyzed the principles of every movement with open minds (the right way of learning SSBD). These two are some of the most humble and welcoming people you could ever meet, it was evedent to me through their movements that they had more knowledge than what they were showing, it was a priviledge for me to be invited by them.
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Tony was very keen to learn and kept the training in a less serious environment full of smiles and laughter. Michal, at age 22, he trains with Tony and was also eager to learn more, a funny man who likes to joke around.
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To know more about Martin Hradecký and Mario Tachecí, please visit the links :- www.serrada.cz, www.aegisteam.cz
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