# A call to all you FMA practitioners. Speak up!



## geezer (Sep 22, 2014)

Hey all you FMA practitioners, why is this sub-forum so dead? As I skip around on MartialTalk, I see that there are a lot of folks out there who are deeply involved in Eskrima, Arnis, Kali and so on, but almost nobody ever posts anything here unless it's to mourn the passing of another FMA master. That's a pretty sad state of affairs. Some of you guys post daily in other departments, but not much if ever here in the "General FMA" department. C'mon, we can do better than that! 

Let's start with _introductions_. Arnisador, Blindside, Brian V., KPM, and all the rest, let's start with some fresh introductions and describe what "flavor" of FMA you do. 

I'm Steve, AKA _Geezer._ Like so many others, I first got interested in FMA way back in the late 70's watching Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto in the movies, and then by reading Dan's book _The Filipino Martial Arts_. I studied some questionable "kung-fu" in the 70's, then switched to Wing Chun in '79 and began my FMA training with GM Rene Latosa in the early 80's. Later in the mid 90's I left the martial arts for a long time but jumped back in to both FMA and WC in 2007 and have stuck with both ever since. I basically still focus on _Latosa Escrima Concepts_ and a related system, _"DTE"_ or _Direct Torres Eskrima._ I also run my own program called "PCE" or _Practical Combat Escrima_ through the NVTO (National Ving Tsun Organization).  

Regardless of my own approach, I enjoy all FMA, and have taken seminars and learned what I can from a lot of different folks, sometimes just enough to better appreciate what they can do. There are a lot of awesome teachers out there, some of whom are virtually unknown. Let's do what we can to fix that, guys.

So, what do _you_ do???


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## Brian R. VanCise (Sep 22, 2014)

Absolutely Geezer, 

*Let's get this forum rocking again*.  We are blessed on MartialTalk with some extremely talented people.

My background is heavily Modern Arnis but I was also heavily influenced by the Inosanto blend.  Through the years I trained in some Silat most notably with Pak Herman Suwanda, Bob Orlando and many more.  Brian "Buzz" Smith and his flavor of Kuntaw has also been a big influence on me.  Brian is absolutely one of the best at what he does and his Kuntaw is world class!  I also love what the Dekiti Tirsia Siradas practitioner's do and have been lucky to train with the Grand Tuhon "Nene" Tortal on more than a few occasions.  His movement was a big piece of the puzzle that put everything together for me.  Like a watershed moment.  My good friend Rich Parsons right here on this board has been also instrumental in helping me.  Rich is one of the best at what he does as well.  So many influences through the years, so many people who made a great contribution at one time or another.  In IRT I am all about training and getting better.  Experiencing what everyone has to offer!

*Great thread Steve!!!*


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## Blindside (Sep 22, 2014)

I am mostly a Pekiti-Tirsia Kali student, and have been an active practitioner for about 10 years.  I got interested in FMA after finding a VHS tape of "stick versus other weapons" and with a title like that I had to have it.  It turned out to be the 6th tape of the Dog Brothers "real contact stickfghting" series.  I showed it to a fellow kenpo student and then we bought the rest of the series.  I trained off of those tapes for several years and was simultaneously looking for FMA instruction.  This was a bit problematic as I was working seasonally in Wyoming (not exactly a FMA mecca) and spending the winters in Seattle.  While in Seattle I did a bunch of backyard training in Cabales Serrada and a private family system, but nothing really clicked and it was hard to form a base if you are only around it for a couple of months.  Eventually I hooked up with a PTK instructor out of Salt Lake City, and it sort of took over my martial path.  Ever since I got into PTK, the amount of seminars I have taken with outside instructors has dropped as I have tried to focus on my own art rather than little bits of other systems, I would like to remedy that at some point, but it is simply a matter of my lack of time.  

In order to kickstart my own personal growth I started participating in the Dog Brothers Gatherings last year, and as of this moment I am finding difficult to type as I took a couple of handshots yesterday.  Higher consciousness through harder contact.   Ow.


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## MJS (Sep 23, 2014)

I train in Modern Arnis with the IMAF group, under Brian Zawilinski.  I've attended many seminars and camps with Brian and many of the other MOTT's.  Brian has spent an extensive amount of time training with GM Remy, so I'm fortunate to have someone who trained with the source, as a teacher.  One of my other teachers, and close friends, Paul Kischkum, has also spent quite a bit of time training under Brian, as well as many other FMA teachers.  I enjoy training with Paul, as he adds his own special flavor to what he teaches.  I've attended some seminars with Tuhon Leo Gaje, here in CT.  Ron Kosakowski, who has a school in CT., has had Tuhon Gaje here many times.  While I'm not an active PT student, I did enjoy what I learned from that art.

A few years ago, at one of the big CT Arnis camps, I had the opportunity to train with 2 MT members...Rich Parsons and Tim Hartman.  I've had the chance to interact with both, either online or phone, and I was looking forward to training with both of them.  That was my first experience with Balintawak, and I enjoyed it very much.  

In addition to the other arts that I do or have done, I've spent quite a while in Arnis, and I enjoy it very much.  It's certainly an art that is pretty complete and devastating.


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## Dylan9d (Sep 23, 2014)

I trained a mix of Doce Pares and Doblete Rapillion, privatly for a year.

I especially liked the knife work.


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## arnisador (Sep 23, 2014)

I started in Okinawan karate--one style in high school, then had to startg over in a different one at college, then started over yet again in graduate school. Very frustrating! I ended up in Modern Arnis because my high school buddy Tim Hartman was someone I would see often back home even if I was here-and-there otherwise. I got my lakan rank in 1989 from Remy Presas in Buffalo, NY. I now teach the WMAA system, Presas Arnis, and also have experience in JKD. I teach just once a week to students at my college. I've been on *MartialTalk* since the very beginning, back in 2001.


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## Stickgrappler (Sep 23, 2014)

Hello:

*puts left palm to right fist*

I have been interested in FMA since I started reading some Manong Dan Inosanto articles in early BB and IKF mags late 1970's-early 809's after getting into JKD by way of Bruce Lee films and books.

Functionally I'm a noob, on and off training, concentrated on raising a family. Sometime in mid to late 1990's, I got a modem and onto the Internet. Subscribed to the now defunct Eskrima Digest, bought the Dog Brothers Real Contact Stickfighting series frrom Panther.

Primarily interested in FMA with a JKDC philosophy. Within FMA, primarily into DBMA. But I like looking at other MA and my MA (or lack of MA) is not all FMA.

Very truly yours in the MA,

~sg


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## Blindside (Sep 23, 2014)

Dylan9d said:


> I trained a mix of Doce Pares and Doblete Rapillion, privatly for a year.
> 
> I especially liked the knife work.



Dylan, could you on this or another thread talk a little about the Doblete Rapillion?  One of the things that fascinates me is all the relatively unknown and private family systems out there, when someone says "Doce Pares" or "Pekiti" or "Modern Arnis" I sort of know what they are talking about, it would be great to hear about the lesser known systems.

thanks!


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## Rich Parsons (Sep 23, 2014)

Geezer,

  My Balintawak instructor Manong Ted Buot died in July of 2013. I have staid quiet and off the net (mostly) for the last year out of respect to family. 
I apologize for my absence. 

I started my official martial arts training in the summer of 1986. I started in Modern Arnis at the Flint club at the now defunct Flint Dojo Co-op. 
I have trained and taught in this system since then to today, and hopefully for a long time to come. The Grand Master Remy A Presas died in August of 2001. 

In April of 1998, I started with my official Balintawak training. Some other members in the Flint club/group were training a year or so before me. I trained weekly with private classes and also with others students multiple times a week. I really connected with this system. Manong Ted had a series of strokes in December of 2005 and was not able to teach ever again. He died as I stated in July of 2013. 

I was teaching international seminars and at camps since 2003, including Balintawak. There is a small number of Manong Ted's Students who were told they could teach. And of those, few are planning on doing much more than what they did for their own training. 

I am not the longest training student of Manong Ted's. Yet based upon conversations I have with him, I know I am one of the most senior for his lineage, for talent. (* This is within this system, do not read more into it than there is. *)


I am looking to move my club from my house to a commercial location. I have not found the right location for the right costs yet. 


Thanks


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## Carol (Sep 23, 2014)

I like to carry sharp tools


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## Dylan9d (Sep 23, 2014)

Blindside said:


> Dylan, could you on this or another thread talk a little about the Doblete Rapillion?  One of the things that fascinates me is all the relatively unknown and private family systems out there, when someone says "Doce Pares" or "Pekiti" or "Modern Arnis" I sort of know what they are talking about, it would be great to hear about the lesser known systems.
> 
> thanks!



Well i would love to, but he didn't told me wich was specifically Doblete Rapillion and Doce Pares. My instructor trained Doce Pares here in Holland, got his instructors license and went to the Philippines to learn more about it so he trained with Jose Mena for a long period, but he never gave me info on wich was what.

What he actually did was name it his own as Laban Katotohanan, since he took elements out of both wich he felt was most valuable on the street.


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## kuntawguro (Oct 2, 2014)

I have been a Filipino martial arts practitioner since 1970  promoting Maharlika Kuntaw since 1974, tho to hear it from the Kuntaw camp- I am a charlatan and a fake.  A top competitor in the Michigan and Can Am Karate circuits for many years and finally retired at age 60.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Oct 3, 2014)

*Buzz your the real deal and everyone knows it*!  Organizations and political issues and money grubbing crop up and the FMA's and Kuntaw certainly have their share.  Still when you have been there and done that like you no one can take that away!


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## geezer (Oct 3, 2014)

kuntawguro said:


> I have been a Filipino martial arts practitioner since 1970  promoting Maharlika Kuntaw since 1974, tho to hear it from the Kuntaw camp- I am a charlatan and a fake.  A top competitor in the Michigan and Can Am Karate circuits for many years and finally retired at age 60.



OK Buzz, maybe you are a charlatan (did I spell that right?), but I've learned useful stuff just from studying your Youtube clips. Especially the Sibat stuff. Now what's this stuff about you "retiring" at 60? Yeah I noticed that your knees seemed to be bugging you in the more recent clips, and you've got a bit of a gut. Those are badges of honor  that earn you entry into the patriarchy. I get that from my _doctor _so it's gotta be true, right?. And yeah, my knees and ankles hurt all the time, and we we won't talk about _my_ gut, OK? 

Of course I'm just a kid at 59 and 1/2. And I ain't done yet. So I'm thinking, _neither are you_. So maybe you mean "commercially retired" or something? If so, feel very welcome to give a free demo at one of our open FMA gatherings here in Phoenix if you are ever out this way. We have a lot of good people representing a lot of systems, and I guarantee you'll get respect from all of us!.


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## Danny T (Oct 4, 2014)

Hi all,

Danny Terrell, began boxing at the age of 11, gymnastics at 14 and wrestling at 16. Military combatives and numerous martial systems while in the military and over the years.  Wing Chun (Francis Fong) Jun Fan / JKD, Kali, Silat (Guro Dan Inosanto), Pekiti-Tirsia Kali (Omar Hakim, Tim Waid, Leo Gaje & Bill McGrath), Muay Thai (Chai Sirisute), Silat (Pak Herman Suwanda), Tai Chi (Steve Young, Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming), Combat Submission Wrestling (Erik Paulson)
I own Progressive Martial Arts Training Center where we provide training in: American Shotokan, Wing Chun, Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, Muay Thai, and CSW.
I am also an instructor in Manadnock Police Defensive Tactics and Control Force Police Tactics.


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## crazydiamond (Oct 4, 2014)

Just saying hello,

As with another poster, I am noob, JDKC (Dan Inosanto affiliated school)   Still learning the dual nature of the JKD (jun Fan) + C (kali).  I like both and need to spend more time on this section to complete the balance.

I did enjoy the Inosanto video from the Smithsonian. Nice to listen to the history.

Guro Inosanto - Filipino Martial Arts Demo at the Smithsonian - YouTube


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## Mark Lynn (Oct 25, 2014)

I started in American Karate/TKD in 1982 and attended my first seminar with Guro Inosanto in 1983 and I was hooked on the FMAs.  But back then there wasn't many teachers around so I attended seminars on the FMAs, JKD, MT, throughout the 80's and early 90's.  I did continue my martial arts training in the karate/TKD area but I really enjoyed the FMAs, JKD, MT etc. etc. side of things.  Although in the late 80's I also started training in Kobudo as well.

In the early 90's I trained once a week in JKD kali, and then hooked up with Hock Hochheim and started learning Presas Arnis (his blend of Remy's and Ernesto's material), I started attending camps with Remy in 95 and Ernesto in 96.  I attended 2 camps a year plus short seminars with Remy whenever he was nearby till he passed away.  I attended every seminar I could with Ernesto till 2002 which was the last time I saw him.  I eventually earned Lakan Isa with Remy in 97 and Ernesto promoted me to Lakan Lima in 2002.  Through out the 90's-mid 2000's I attended many many of Hock's seminars in not only his PAC material but also his knife course and his combatives course.

Since I worked for an airline, it allowed me to travel so I got to see a whole host of FMA teachers throughout the 90's till I retired in 2012; including Datu Dieter, Datu Worden, Datu Hartman, SM Dan Anderson, GM Bobby Taboda, Tuhon Gaje, Dan Inosanto, Abon Garimot Baet, Ted Lucay, of course the MoTTs, Jeff Delaney, Raffy, Bambit Dulay, Rene Tongas, Larry Hartsell, Remy Jr., Bram Frank, Bruce Chui, and others.  Some of these instructors I saw several times, some only once.

Sometimes the camps were for a week, like the DAV camp in Germany and Abon's Garimot camp, some like the Brevard camp were 4 days, although most were for 2-3 days like the Symposium, Datu Hartman's Modern Arnis Reunion Camp, some of Hock's camps etc. etc.

After Remy's passing I started going out to see the different instructors in Modern Arnis which is where I met Datu Dieter, SM Anderson, Bram, Datu Hartman etc. etc. and the best way to do that was to attend the reunion type camps where you could see several of them at once.  It also helped me to develop friendships with several of these guys.

Lately I've been trying to crank up a Modern Arnis program where I teach karate, so I have now an adult and now a Junior Modern Arnis program, teaching class about 6 hours a week for the arnis programs alone.  I teach a blended curriculum of primarily Remy's Modern Arnis, Ernesto's Kombatan Arnis, with heavy influences from Hock, SM Anderson, and Dieter.  Although I'll pull drills and teaching concepts from other sources as well.  For my own personal growth I've been attending a Pekiti Tirsa class once a week for the past year or so.  And we are now trying to promote the FMAs in the DFW area by starting a cross training group called MAPA (Metroplex Arnis Players Alliance) which you can read more about in the Modern Arnis forum.


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## geezer (Oct 27, 2014)

Mark Lynn said:


> ... And we are now trying to promote the FMAs in the DFW area by starting a cross training group called MAPA (Metroplex Arnis Players Alliance) which you can read more about in the Modern Arnis forum.



Great idea. We have different FMA groups get together share at regular "gatherings" in our town and everyone benefits. Now if I could just convince the local WC guys to do the same thing.... wait a minute... er, sorry. That's just _crazy talk!_


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## Mark Lynn (Nov 1, 2014)

geezer said:


> Great idea. We have different FMA groups get together share at regular "gatherings" in our town and everyone benefits.



One of the original inspirations for me behind trying to get together with other FMAers, was back in late 1999/2000, some Stockton Cal. FMAers tried to put together a seminar where you trained part of the day at a Decrudas escrima school, part of the day at GM Giron's Bahala Na school and part of the day at Angle Cabalas's school.  I thought how cool is this so I went to it.  One of the guys as he was taking us around to the different schools and all told me about how the Stockton schools wanted to let people know that there was good escrima instruction there.  So these guys were working together to promote the FMAs, I think on Saturday night they had a big party planned in the park, where they roasted a pig, had great food, just a time to mix together.  This was done to promote the FMAs and to mix everyone together to have a good friendly time.  It was a lot of fun.  There was a good feeling of friendship, of working together etc. etc.

By working together everyone benefits.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Nov 1, 2014)

Absolutely!  It is always good to work together and promote the martial systems out there.


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## TwentyThree (Nov 9, 2014)

I started martial arts a couple of months shy of turning 40 in 2008, starting originally in PaSaRyu Tae Kwon Do but being introduced to Modern Arnis by David Jones (under Bruce Chiu) shortly afterward, and I've been a stick chick ever since.  

I've trained under Mark Lynn since 2010 and he promoted me to Dayang Isa in 2013.  My husband and I run the MAPA social media sites on Facebook and Google Plus, and I blog about arnis and martial arts culture and humor (see my signature for the link).


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## KPM (Nov 28, 2014)

I haven't popped into here in awhile!   I've been bouncing back and forth between Wing Chun and FMA since the mid 80's. Sometimes focusing on Wing Chun, sometimes focusing on FMA, sometimes both at once.   I did Inosanto blend way back when with one of his earlier students.  I've done seminar training with Ted Lucaylucay.  The aspect that I really like is Panantukan.  I got away from it for awhile and focused again on Wing Chun.  But now I'm coming back around again, being a bit disgruntled with Wing Chun people right now.  ;-)  I also really like Michael Janich's "Martial Blade Concepts" system, which as many of you know is essentially his interpretation and reorganization of FMA methods for the knife.  -f

I'd really like to see a separate sub-forum for Panantukan to generate more interest in this area.  I think too often Panantukan gets kind of lost in curriculums that also have JKD, Thai Boxing, lots of weapons work, etc.   Some think it is only a set of drills rather than an independent and complete method on its own. 

Keith


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## bigcntry (Dec 13, 2014)

Hello, My name is Anthony aka bigcntry. I just started training with an instructor in Garimot arnis. Attended a seminar last weekend with Gat Puno Baet and look forward to continued training in his system.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Dec 13, 2014)

Hey Anthony, nice to have you here!  Would love to here more about Garimot Arnis!


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