"Interesting" thread follow up

[Datu Tim Hartman]

Great questions, Tim!

In some of his videos, GM Presas did reference his Grandfather for some of techniques like Palis-Palis.

I was first taught Palis-Palis in the 80's. At first it was shown stick and dagger, eventually becoming single stick with locks and controls.

:asian:

 

[bart]

This clarifies a lot, bart... I was wondering, among the many Bisaya (Cebuano) eskrimadors you've trained under, were they pro-Pilipino (Tagalog), or were they more 'regionalistic' (and spoke, or tried to speak only in Bisaya and English, by-passing Tagalog (Pilipino) all together)? The majority of the people I train with (my good friends) are Bisaya and there seems to be a very "anti-Tagalog" perspective from them. I don't know many Tagalog eskrimadors, it'd be great to hear more from you about this (learning more about this cultural nuance).

In my limited experience, I think that overall to them it is a "non-issue" in regards to training. They tend to be "apolitical" for the most part in that sense. They simply speak in whatever language is the medium of conversation whenever and wherever they are, as is the common practice amongst Filipinos in general.

I think however in the hearts of some of them is a resentment to the imposition of Tagalog on the rest of the country. To them Tagalog is just as foreign to their province as English is and they resent being forced to learn and use that language. This is especially so because Tagalog is essentially just another regional dialect, and in a way its use suggests their native dialect is "second best". But for the most part they are all intelligent people and understand that in order for a country to function as a whole, it's citizens must be able to at least rudimentarily understand one another and that a national language needs to be in place to foster such an environment. The type of resentment that you find is common amongst all of the dialect groups and not just the Bisaya. If I had to choose I would say that they are Pro-Pilipino, but only very reluctantly. Some of them would perhaps favor English over Tagalog even as the basis of "Pilipino".

As for Tagalog eskrimadors I think that they will be aplenty at the FMA Expo in Las Vegas if you're going to be there. There will be people from Bakbakan , LSA, and some other Manila Based groups. For the most part, I think that it's a non-issue for them as well. Lots of them are not native Tagalog anyway, coming from Pampanga, Batangas, Ilocos, etc. But because they live in a Tagalog speaking place, they speak Tagalog.

Just my thoughts.