Literally, "The Hall Of Blaise" or "Blaise's Hall". Named in the same spirit as the Old Norse Valhalla, Blays-Halla represents the ultimate academy where truly dedicated men and women can receive hard-core instruction in WARCRAFT the combat proven, battlefield tested, real-world Arts of War.

Warcraft is the collective term used to classify all of the many facets of the Blays-Halla curriculum. Unlike other training halls, Blays-Halla refuses to be associated with the "martial art" label. The reason is three-fold. First and foremost is the fact that the vast majority of so-called martial art schools aren't martial at all. These schools' techniques have become so watered down and ritualized that their effectiveness in combat is questionable at best. Or, while their techniques may still be somewhat functional, the instructors teaching these moves would be quite hardpressed to actually pull them off in a fight. The lack of individual prowess, actual combat experience, and an effective training method often leads to the 'martiality' in these instructors' martial art to be nothing more than an agreed upon fantasy between themselves and their students. Be honest with yourselves, you know at least one 'master' who fits this profile...and that's one 'false prophet' too many.

Secondly, most martial art schools, according to their own descriptions, teach only "self-defense".While this is absolutely commendable, it still falls way short of the semantic meaning of the word "martial". The definition of martial, as relative to martial arts, states in part : "pertaining to, connected with, or suggestive of war or military operations..."

Where we come from, it's a pretty far leap from 'self defense' (minimal damage to opponent, passive / reactive mindset, curtailed aggression) to "how to kill your enemy effectively and efficiently." Yashai Warcraft teaches students how to fight from both an offensive and a counter-offensive mindset. There is no self-defense per se.

Thirdly, the media has thoroughly destroyed the credibility of the term 'martial art'. This has led to an entire generation of 'TV' martial artists. The Power Rangers are fun entertainment for kids, but when movie star martial artists try to sell adults and sincere martial art practitioners the same BS, there becomes a serious need for a reality check. Kids grow up to be Black Belts. The problem is, many Black Belts never grow out of the cartoon combat stage.

So that's why the Blays-Halla Battle Academy isn't too wedded to the label 'martial art'. We practice Warcraft. We're not like the local neighborhood strip-mall karate school. We're not commercial. We don't teach kids. We train with real weapons. And we fight...often.

We humbly apologize if we have in any way offended anyone inadvertently. That is not our intention. We just want people to have zero doubt as to who we are and what we're all about. Now, if you're still with us, let's walk onwards.

There are 14 levels of training at the Blays-Halla Battle Academy. These levels are in turn representative of the 3 major elements that make up the Blays-Halla curriculum.

The first and foremost element of Yashai Warcraft is the "Discipline of Steel", which centers around weapons and armor and their exact usage in combat.

Integrated within the Discipline of Steel is the second element - "Discipline of Flesh". This element consists of unarmed combatives. The empty-hand skills taught at Blays-Halla are directly related to the proper wielding of weapons, with the knife and sword being the primary tools of choice. The unarmed methods of combat that make up the Blays-Halla Discipline of Flesh were each systematically distilled from armed fighting styles, perfected by real warriors, on actual battlefields. Novice students are constantly reminded that men and women have died for the techniques that they are learning. Human blood has been shed to field-test each and every movement and concept that we practice. If it doesn't work, we don't teach it!

The third and final element of Yashai Warcraft is the "Discipline of Spirit". This particular element pervades each and every lesson taught at Blays-Halla. Without spirit, a technique is 'dead'. The goal of Yashai Warcraft is to help a student reach his or her maximum potential as a human being. This comes from building up one's spirit, not from how many kills one has accrued. Upper level students are taught the morality that must go hand in hand with the Power to kill. Both the wisdom, and the follies, of our elders are preserved. Therefore, philosophy and/or religion are sometimes aspects of class. This presents students with an accurate historical, ethnological, and psychological context for the things that they are learning. We at Blays-Halla realize that each individual has his or her own personal morality, philosophy, and/or religion. However, we aren't teaching our students the complete technique if this particular aspect isn't included. If every warrior who has ever taught us thought spirit was important, who are we to eliminate that key element?

 

1. The Filipino Warrior Arts -- emphasis is on the fighting methods of the Southern Philippines (Moro systems) and on those styles developed by Battlecircle ('pit') champions. We call this blend Patayin Estilo, the 'Death Match' system of sword and battlestick fighting.
2.  The Jun Fan Fighting Method / jeet kune do concepts -- the system of combat developed by Bruce Lee (Lee Jun Fan).
3. Nagondzog -- the traditional Apache methods of hunting, survival, and guerrilla warfare.
4. Silat / Pentjak Silat -- the warrior styles of the Tausugs (Sulu), Minangkabau (Sumatra), the Wali Suci (Java), the Bugis (Sulewesi), and the Melayu (Malaysia). We call this blend Silat Sabungin, the 'cockfighting' system of Filipino and Indonesian short-knife fighting.
5. Hrafns Vegr-- "The Raven's Way": the fighting methods of the Dark Ages Vikings. Emphasis is on the styles of the Einherjar and the Ulfhednar. The dedication to the old Arts of War is still maintained at a few remote Scandian villages in the barrens and deep forests of the far Northlands.
6. Capuan Boxing / Pammachon the Roman gladiatorial system of cestus fighting taught at Capua, one of Rome's most famous gladiator schools. Pammachon, an ancient Greek word which means "total fight", is the hard-core version of pankration. Yashai Pammachon allows boxing (using myrmex), kicking, wrestling throws & takedowns, strangleholds, joint destructions, and pressure locks.

The decision to incorporate any lesson ever taught at Blays-Halla into one's life is a personal one. Students, therefore, are never bound by the curriculum and can add to, or subtract from, any of the Yashai 'battle tricks' or teachings as they see fit.