philippine style gathering in san francisco

[thekuntawman]

it was a great day. there was many martial artist from different styles. they did some demos in the morning, where somebody on another forums said everybody did the same thing (it did look that way), and then in the workshops we saw many of the same things, but if you listened very careful, you could hear that everyone has a different philosophy to fighting, and teaching the martial art. this was the interesting part, because on the outside yes, the techniques looks the same, but each teacher has his favorite way to counter attack, and attack the opponent. some teachers has a certain way to develop those basic skills, and some has certain ways to teach fighting.

you could see how each teacher has a different relationship to his students, and how the students conduct. some teachers acted like politicians, moving around and passing out business cards. some stayed in a circle of his students (like me). some did not identify himself as a teacher. some, got down on the floor to fight which is very rare to see at a tournament.

the best part of the day, was to see the sparring matches, they have padded stick fighting, and bare stick fighting. to the beginners eye everything looks the same, but you can see the strategy of the serrada group and how they fight differently than the doce pares people. how some people run from the stick then counter, then some people challenge the stick (intercepting) and counter. some people have experience with the helmets, so they take the shot on the head, then counter with a combination. (bad habit!) i was very happy to see so many philippine martial arts fighters in one place, after dealing with seminar goers for 5 hours. i dont know how many of the seminar goers did fight, but it is still good to see that fear is not in there hearts. i was also happy to see people putting the style they learn to the test.

who says all philippine martial arts are the same!

 

[shmoopiebear]

I, too, was happy to see this happen. In Vancouver - Canada, from where I was originally from, we had already had four of them. What is really an honor is when another school's instructor would pick a student from a different style as a demo dummy.

This really broke the ice and set the precedent for the different styles to open up and show more and more of their techniques, as well as the subtle idiosyncrisies of each style. This was especially true in later gatherings. People started feeling less intimidated by other styles and it made for a friendlier environment to bond. Eventually, this became so big that people attended the gathering once a year for their FMA seminar since they could pick up so much material for a such a small price.

The nice thing that developed was forged, stronger relationships and in depth troubleshooting of how styles handled the common problems of combat. It definitely led to many an interesting conversations at dinner. It, also, gae a chance for any group that was relatively unknown to shine and show their style. The gatherings in the north eventually got some pretty high profile instructors to be guests.

I hope the same mentality develops here. Mabuhay!

 

[Argyll]

Originally posted by thekuntawman
somebody on another forums said everybody did the same thing

Kuntawman,

Sounds great sorry I missed it. Where can I find the forum that discussed it?

Best regards,

Argyll

 

[John J]

Here is a review from the event promoter / coordinator.

<Was it a success?>
The event had three goals. 1. To allow current practitioners of Filipino
Martial Arts to come together as community and learn and share with each
other.

In this we were successful. The following groups/instructors did workshops
and/or demos Professor Dan Anderson-Modern Arnis 80, Master Art Gonzales
Tenios DeCuerdes Escrima, The private students and instructors of Sonny
Umpad, Gura Michelle Bautista, Master Rodel Dagooc-8th Degree Black Belt
Remy Presas' Modern Arnis, Punong Guro Remy Presas Jr., Guro Demetrio
Presas, Master Darren Tibon & Datu Frank Lile-Angels Disciples Escrima
Association, Maestro Dexter Labanag-SLD & Larga Mano the Giron Method, Guro
Joel Juanitas-Bahala Na Filipino Martial Arts, Master Khalid Khan-Serrada
Escrima, Guro Mario Quiroz-Sikamilion, Guro Reginald Buford-Oakland Escrima
Club, Professor Max Pallen-Senkotiros, Master Robert Castro-Eskabo Daan,
Gura Michelle Bautista-Kamatuuran School of Kali, and Val
Tintangco-Cubales-Charles Gracie BJJ. With one exception all groups kept
their demonstrations under 7" minutes. Each workshop was 30" to 45" minutes
in length.

The following schools also attended and brought a number of participants:
Guro John Fontanilla-Likodan Filipino Martial Arts, Gints-Full Contact Club,
Sacramento Doce Pares, In Motion Martial Arts, Serrada Escrima Club, and
others. Over 130 instructors and students participated. Over 60 people
participated in live-stick, point, and padded stickfighting matches. These
were fun fights where folks chose their sparing partners though we first
separated folks by experience and weight. I also want to thank the former
organizers and referees from the Northern California Eskrima Coalition who
helped referee the end of day sparring and to the folks who lent their gear
to the competitors. While informal the sparing participants got a real feel
of FMA tournament fighting.

There were also 7 vendors selling FMA related merchandise.

2. To increase awareness of and participation in all Filipino Martial Arts.

This did happen and part of my intent was to generate new interest. I didn't
get all my participant surveys back and I think less than 5% of the
participants were brand new to FMA. In this area there is still a lot of
work to do. I know some vendors did great while others sold almost nothing.
Like I mentioned in an earlier email the event will be shown on "Balitang
America" and journalist who filmed the event is working on getting a segment
on "Stateside" a national broadcast show in the Philippines.

Another area that we unsuccessful in is getting the involvement of the
Filipino-American College student organizations. We intent to have their
involvement for future events. We also intend to have the involvement of
more non-FMA schools as participants for future events.

3. To enhance and expand a positive world view of Filipinos.

I would say this was a definite yes. For the all the demos we were only 5"
minutes off and the workshops were on time after a reschedule to include
lunch (something I forgot =). Most important the event was a space of
openness, respect and sharing. There were a few tiffs and they were all
handled in an adult and responsible manner. This will remain a work in
progress. The SPMA is in the process of incorporating as a non-profit and is
creating a website to specifically promote FMA in Northern California (we
will be expanding this in time). I want to eventually do this for the Metro
Manila seen to promote our arts back home in the Philippines.

The event showed that we as community can work & play together (even when we
have significant differences) and even be on time. This sounds funny but is
an example of the kind of attention to details that makes a difference. The
participant feed back was overwhelmingly positive and this was reflective of
the instructors who donated their time and their students who helped out.

There was also a team of 40 plus volunteers who helped make the event a
success and gave of their time generously. They were also a large
contributing factor.

<How many spectators were there?> There were about 70.
<Any special guests?> For me the special guest were Professor Dan Anderson
and Master Rodel Dagooc. Dan Anderson represented the other non-Northern
California FMA practitioners and Master Dagooc represented the Philippines
(he normally teaches in the Luneta). Also special for me is that I met
several good practitioners who come from instructors and lineages I have
never heard of. They are of the mind frame that likes to stay quiet and
hidden. Having folks like that shows me there is always more to learn.

<Any highlights?> The highlight is that the event happened. Many said it
couldn't. For all the folks that showed up-I tried to contact many more who
declined for various reasons. For some bad blood in the FMA community is
still too fresh. I'm glad to see that there are those who are committed to
something bigger than old resentments. Also some folks were happily busy
with the seminar tours or teaching their classes. I was happy see my student
having a blast in sparring. One of my favorite fights was watching Gelmar
Cabales (Angel's youngest son) go against one of my guys with a lot of
street fighting experience.

<Do you recommend other members try to organize and hold one in their
areas?> I do recommend that other folks try this. The SPMA is a free
resource for you to develop something like this in your neck of the woods. I
got the idea for this from Guro Loki Jorgenson. Also be prepared that some
folks won't like what you are doing regardless of how positive you think you
are (it ain't so in there world). It's just part of organizing. Also learn
to appreciate and respect differences. They are often just opinions and
those things tend to change as the years pass on.

The SPMA is looking to incorporate as a non-profit: if anyone can help with
this please contact me. We will be organizing a similar event October 18 &
19, 2003 for Filipino American History Month. On March 29 & 30, 2003 will be
a weekend of "Exploration & Creation" this event will take a critical look
at current competitive FMA practices and re-examine them inside of
practitioner development, spectator appeal, new developments in FMA
practice, as well as advances in safety and sparring equipment. We are also
planning a non-FMA event called "A Day of Movement & Healing" this event
will focus on martial, dance and healing practices at is set for sometime in
the summer.

These are all in the preliminary brainstorming phases. To participate,
present, and otherwise be involved please contact me bellow.

Maraming Salamat Po,

Elrik G. Jundis
Guro/Director
School of Pilipino Mastery Arts
(415) 601-2735
elrik.jundis@p...
http://www.pilipinoma.com

 

[thekuntawman]

the other forum is at www.martialtalk.com

only the poster makes a comment there was no reply. i think he was trying to say that modern arnis was more complete or just as good as what he saw there, but i think he did not see close enough what everybody was doing. the demos did look a little similar, but the fighting was where the difference from style to style came out.