god help us all

[tenzen]

Breaking news and by breaking i mean u might break your knee from slapping it while laughing histerically. It involves a guy we all have mixed feelings towards by the name of antonio graceffo. Thats right folks hes back at it again and this time its an instructional video of his own made up system from all the south east asian arts he has learned.

My reason for informing the public on this is well for one its probably gonna make a decent discussion which we havent had here in some time and secondly i wanna know everyones thoughts on this.
Oh hes calling it seak. South east asian kombatives.
that last part is what really gets me. ^^^^^^^^

[Tee Sok]

So he included bokator into the mix.
It's absurd because I heard bokator is also a made up system.
I think the arts and their history and teachers have to be preserved.
This will create another veil of confusion to the confusion that already
exists....

[kyuss]

Heard about this because a friend was sending me tons of stuff from his facebook.
He is doing a seminar in LA this weekend.
It always makes me laugh when he says he is the FIRST black belt in BOKATOR, like it means something. from his page, "In 2005 Antonio was the first foreign student of the Khmer martial art of Bokator. The story he wrote in Black Belt magazine was the first article ever written about the art. In 2007, Antonio became one of two Americans promoted on the same day, to the rank of Black Krama in Bokator. These were the first foreigners ever to obtain this rank." They changed the word to krama when he was always using black belt and got criticized for it though it doesnt make any difference.
Discounting people like giordano who was there from 1999 and on and many others who trained for decades in the real authentic full forms of the cambodian arts. Even the cambodians know the bokator is made up like a modern muay boran. Antonio prides himself on being a great researcher and master why does he not realize and site that the style is just a new compilation and not the authentic form? Doesnt that detract from his ability to see what is real?

i give the guy credit he is a great seller and hustler. He also had two MMA fights and he is close to 45, so he isnt young. I thought he was a young dude but he is not. He seems lost on his journey of what to exploit to make himself famous.

Most important though he proudly explains himself a student of LEK so he has also drunk from the grape kool-aid!

Graceffo:Filmed an instructional DVD this morning called SEAK, South East Asian Kombatives. Very excited! My own style, based on ALL of the Southeast Asian martial arts I have learned from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere. Teaching the first seminar this Sunday in LA.

Anybody get his book kun khmer. i am hesitant because it says a diary and not a book about kun khmer, i dont want to read about him saying this or that but i want to understand the true cambodian stuff.

I am surprised he hasnt attacked this forum yet. He is known to be vocal about his detractors(LOL).........

[tenzen]

If he shows his face on this forum and starts flapping his lips im gonna rip him a new one. I havent read any of his books because they are all diaries and nothing much about martial arts other than he is training. At least thats what i am told. As a practitioner of real khmer arts not hapkido with a khmer over lay i take offense to alot of the things he says in regards to what he claims to know. He is a sham and so is the bokator he trains in. The frech practitioners are actually decent but its not the same thing. In some places in america if your fortunate enough to find it which i was able to do, there are alot of good teachers of real khmer arts and they work. They are not for theatrics but for combat. I am practicing a blend of old and new. It works for me.

[Johntlp]

i followed antonios writings. always found them a bit amusing but never really thought of him as a serious martial artist of any sort even from the brooklyn monk nonsense. it was entertainment. His book on the cambodian stuff is probably more about him than the arts themselves
the idea of combatics is way strange being he is strictly a sportsman and did sports.
i agree he is mostly an entertaining salesman for the true arts and true research I would always go elsewhere. I feel though he is mostly a frustrated actor and at 45 still finding his way as kyuss said.

[kyuss]

well i guess tenzen wont be getting his level ranking and certificate from Guro graceffo anytime soon...LOL!

GRACEFFO: The plan right now is to have seminars and DVDs and I will be offering certifications, once people have completed the levels.

It seems all the cambodians know about this guy here and in cambodia that he is just using the whole cambodia thing to push his teacher and his rank. I mean who doesnt know that at this point? just odd they let it go on.

[tenzen]

What!? Are you serious man. I cant get a black krama from antonio now!? Oh im writing my congressman about this and hes gonna see to it that this issue is addressed by the president in the revision of obama care. Lol

I really want to know how having two mediocre performances against very poor competition in stripmall mma qualifies you to teach combatives. Seriously because if thats all you need my resume should qualify me to be 007.

[george stando]

Oh My God---all you guys calling out the dork from brooklyn. Only bad things will come of this......

[tenzen]

Its not that we are calling him out. We just question his ability to make an instructional video on combatives. I have seen his internet show and he does those arts no justice what so ever. He is mediocre at best so i dont see this being a high quality production. Also i dont feel that what he is making should be marketed as a fighting system. I mean yea he has 2 amateur mma fights but that doesnt qualify him to scratch a monkeys backside in my opinion let alone make up your own thing and sell it as something its not. Oh and he lost one of the 2 mma fights.

Hey who knows this may be the next martial art to appear in a batman movie.....lol

[Johntlp]

i read tons of his stuff. He is not consistent. He runs from one topic to another. he was once as stated a chaiya guy and a chaiya fighter with a few months training, then he dumps that and runs to something else. He is exploiting topics, he is commercial. So combatics is big and mma is big so that where he is now. I read his wikipedia and was in the military but to what extent i dont know since i know next to nothing about the military. Also who is going to buy it? We'll have to see. Also at his age, he is probably getting desperate.

[tenzen]

Good point john. Hes probably trying to cash in before its too late. Alot of people are going to the places he has and are learning the truth. So hes gotta get his last bit of fluff in before its too late.

[kyuss]

Also interesting will be if there is actual interest from the buying public. Havent seen him instruct much and whether that instruction is going to be worth anything at all.
He posts most of his stuff for free and built his whole rep that way and through the internet.
even for this recent seminar what was the turnout? I heard it was a small turnout.
time will tell i guess

[kyuss]

This is just about says it all and frankly sinks the combatives boat he is sailing on:

what is the best martial arts for a real street fight? - YouTube

[tenzen]

Lmao wow. Where is this guys head at.
No one will buy this video he is making.
Not after that at least. U notice his buddy who does the jeet kune do was hinting at being able to whoop him.
Great stuff.

[kyuss]

you know he seems better at marketing than martial arts but the desperation shows more and more.
i would personally like to know about the real cambodian martial arts because it is a fascinating topic and one worth studying and reading about.