Originally posted by DJAVULS OGA
Maybe it's me, but this sounds like a big pissing match. After reading more of the modern arnis posts I get the impression that there are alot of people trying to cash in on GM Presas' name. How can you tell who's whom?
You are correct about there being a "big pissing match"; however, do not be so quick to dismiss the entire matter in
this manner. There are a number of significant issues that need to be addressed since Professor's death. There have been a lot of titles issued by Professor, in the past and most were very short lived. The obvious question that needs to be answered is are ANY those titles still relavent in the context of Modern Arnis as practiced in 2002 - 2003?
Professor, did promote a number of people to fairly high ranks, who were not skilled in the art of Modern Arnis. Are those ranks still meaningful with his passing? There are any number of people that the latter description could fit. A number of people will submit their own candidates for this dubious distinction, however the person I have in mind lives in Miami, FL.. He was promoted to 5th degree solely on the basis of being Filipino. The facts behind this promotion are documentable. The promotion occured at a summer camp in Massachuetts in 1993, if my memory serves me correctly.
Then there is the issue of the MoTTs, a title that is supposed to supercede all other considerations of rank and titles; plus there is the contention that tapi-tapi is the highest skill level within the art of Modern Arnis. Then there is the notion that a group of people who are ranked at 5th degree black belt are going to succed the late GM as the leaders of the art. That alone is a contestable question in terms of both logic and emotion, particularly, when one considers that there are people who hold 6th, 7th and 8th degrees in Modern Arnis from the late Professor, himself! (I am not one of those people!)
Add to this mix the fact that the current Philippines National Government, recognizes, Mrs. Rose Mary Presas and her children,
Remy, Jr., Mary Ann and Demetrio, fathered by the late GM, as the legitimate heirs to the art of Modern Arnis. This fact certinly spices up the matter and clearly takes it beyond being a "big pissing match"!
Finally, you have the fact that tha late Professor Presas, taught his art in the USA, Canada and Europe from 1975 through 2000, without ever establishing a permanent national or international HQ; he never established a standard body of techniques to be taught and mastered; he never established an objective and written set of requirements for rank promotions; He never allowed others to help him establish a formal written curriculum base for the art of Modern Arnis! Therefore, the resulting proliferation of claims, counter-claims and disagreements are
well within the relm of reasonable expections.
I do not take any position as to who is correct or incorrect. I do not presume to know whose claims are valid and whose are not.
I am not making any claims toward establishing a leadership role in Modern Arnis. My sole interest in this matter concerns the development and hosting of the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium, in Buffalo, NY on July 11, 12 & 13 at the Erie Community College - City Campus Field House. This event will allow EVERYONE from
all sides of the Modern Arnis spectrum an opportunity to meet, talk and demonstrate their mastery of the art. This will be a "stand and deliver" event. The presentors are self selected and only considerations of time and space will limit who will be able to demonstrate their variant of the art.
I first proposed and then decided to host the 2003 Symposium because I saw a lot of things posted, but no one taking the bull by horns to organize an event where the Modern Arnis players could see for themselves who truely has the ability and skills to do the art of Modern Arnis at a superior level of execution.
If you will allow me to paraphrase the lyricist, Mose Allison:
IF talk were criminal, some Modern Arnis People would be leading a life of crime, but in reality, their Minds are on vaction and their Mouthes are working OVERTIME!
Jerome Barber, Ed.D.