Modern Arnis Training Camp & Black Belt Hall of Fame - Philadelphia 2012

[Dan Anderson]

Sitting and reflecting on this past weekend at the Modern Arnis Black Belt Training Camp & Hall of Fame. a great vibe came put of the camp that put a smile on my face. I got to hook up with one of my favorite people, Brian Zawilinski. I got to spend some quality time with Tom Bolden and Peter Vargas and got to know, respect and like them. Got to feed off of Tom Hartman's energy and sense of humor.
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Got to meet someone who I've heard tons about but hadn't - Dennis Tosten. We got along like we had been old training partners. Got to reconnect with Joe Briedenstein again. A special treat was hooking up with Mark Wiley for the first time in the last couple of years. He and I are like two peas in a pod when it comes to approaching FMA on a principle level. And Michael Bates - his passion to honoring Remy Presas' dream of having a hall of fame for his art came to fruition. Michael, you made history. For those of you who missed it, no worries. This WILL be an annual event!​

 

[Dan Anderson]

Ahhhh, yes. I forgot something. The Modern Arnis Hall of Fame inductees who were present at the event were:
Tim Hartman
Brian Zawilinski
Tom Bolden
Jim Clapp
Joe Bridenstein
Dennis Tosten
and me.
Dieter Knuttel was in Germany attending his son's high school graduation and Kelly Worden was sidelined with injuries. I hope I didn't forget anybody.

 

[Datu Tim Hartman]

Yes it was a great experience. The awards where as follow (no particular order):

Professor's Choice Award

• Dan Anderson
• Tim Hartman (me)

Pioneer Award

• Brian Zawilinski
• Tom Bolden
• Jim Clapp
• Joe Bridenstein
• Dennis Tosten

Lifetime Achievment Award

• Dr. Maung Gyi

Looking forward to next year's event.

 

[ppko]

I am sort of suprised I didnt see Ken Smiths name on any of that and Chuck Gauss

 

[James Miller]

I am sort of suprised I didnt see Ken Smiths name on any of that and Chuck Gauss

Not sure what you mean. Are you asking why they weren't there or why they weren't inducted?

 

[ppko]

I am not sure if they weren't there but if they weren't then I guess I am asking both

 

[James Miller]

1st off not all of my information is first hand. Mike Bates can make corrections if needed.
The first part is easy to answer. Masters Chuck & Ken were at the IMAF camp in Detroit that weekend.
Why they weren't inducted this year? That's a more involved answer. The MAHOF was Professor Presas’ idea. He planned on doing it on his 65[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday, but passed away before he could make it happen. Prof gave Mike Bates seven names of who he wanted to honor.
These names are as follows:

1. Fred King
2. Dan Anderson
3. Tim Hartman
4. Kelly Worden
5. Dieter Knuttel
6. Shishir Inocalla
7. Lee Lowery

These seven men are the only one to receive the “Professor’s Choice Award”. Professor said he wanted to add names to the list, but died before he had a chance.
Mike decided to try to carry out Prof’s wishes and added another award, the Pioneers Award. This was to honor the people who helped start spreading Modern Arnis in the US.
That group consisted of:

1. Brian Zawilinski
2. Tom Bolden
3. Jim Clapp
4. Joe Breidenstein
   
5. Dennis Tosten
   

Not that this was the only criteria for being inducted, but everyone who was inducted this year started their Modern Arnis training and received their black belts in the 80’s or earlier. Masters Chuck and Ken didn’t start training Modern Arnis until the 90’s.

Another reason may be that this is a yearly event and you can only induct so many people at one time. Datu Hartman told me that he made several nominations for next year’s event and one of the names he submitted was Master Chuck’s.

I’ve also been told that as the MAHOF evolves some of the awards may be reissued. In the case of Master Brian, he wasn’t a pioneer as much as someone who helped the art keep going. Either way there is no question that he deserves to be honored.

Hopefully I didn’t leave out anything out. Maybe Mike can chime in on this as well.