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STAY TUNED
FCS Cali Instr. Gigie "The Beast" Alunday makes 2009 FMA Digest Woman of the
Year!
Tuhon Ray Dionaldo held the 1st FCS CAMP 2010!
For Manong Rich & Gigie "The Beast", it was 10 days of fun training. Grahm"the Wickerman"
of the Cali Crew joined in the fun for the last 3 days.
The purpose of the camp was to go over the fine details of what makes up the FCS system one day at a time.
Even though we had 10 days, it was nowhere near the amount of time needed to cover 15yrs of information! Manong Rich,
a sponge when it come to knowledge, was fried at the end. As for "The Beast", her energy never ran on empty!
Other than working on new blade templates, stick transitions and fine tuning the old ones, our favorite
was the old school stretching. We nick-named it Kali-Yoga. The very slow, stretched out movements help develop
the so-called "Murder Mucsles". The low stances and micro adjustments really worked on your alignment. The drum
beats and the low movements felt like a sayaw that puts you in a trance like feel. You can close your eyes and
actually see a tribe calling on their warrior spirits.
On a sad note, Master Fred Lazo passed away at the beginning of the camp. He has never missed a gathering
for the past 15yrs. A mentor to Tuhon Ray, Tuhon share lessons that he leard from Master Fred since he was 16 yrs old.
It was a special tribute to all of us. Thank you Master Fred for your friendship and being a mentor to all of us.
For Instructor's night, Manong Rich shared a lesson on his tattoo designing. Again the lessons from
Master Fred Lazo regarding symbolism, Manong shared what he had learned in his tattoos. The 2 main family members
that wear his designs are Tuhon Ray & Gigie "The Beast". The "Wickerman" also carries a design as well as
a few friends.
The best training was saved for last. Tuhon Ray took the Cali Crew for a few hours of firearm safety
and shooting. It's only fitting that Tuhon instruct Manong Rich in his first firearms training. Watching the 105lb Gigie
"The Beast" firing a Saiga 12 was da best.
Dec. 5, 2009 the Whipping Willow Winter Gathering
What a great event! 4 special congratulations are in order from that saturday night.
First off..Master Bill Owens of the Blossom Fist System is now recognized as SIJO Bill
Owens founder of the Blossom Fist.
Next is our very own Sigung Antwione Alferos of the Whipping Willow family, also now recognized
as SIJO ANTWIONE ALFEROS of the Whipping Willow family.
Grahm "The Graham" Baker, though already a 3rd degree black belt in American Kenpo
was also recognized and witnessed by some of Ed Parker's seniors such as Dian Tanaka Whitson, Zach
Whitson, Pat Salantri, Bob Liles and even Mohammad Tabatabai was also there, that happens to witness Grahm receive his
certifiaction from the Whipping Willow Assc.
Finally, Gigie "The BEAST" Alunday and Rich "Manong" Verdejo
was awarded "Future Leaders of the Martial Arts". It was a special night for us! We had our seniors
and mentors of American Kenpo, "The Ambassador of Martial Arts" Senior GrandMaster Ming Lum, our Tuhon of Filipino Combat
Systems, Ray dionaldo and friends all there to witness this great surprise.
We would like to thank all those there and abroad that has helped us with our journey. You
all have pointed us in the right direction and without our senior/mentors, we would still be lost with the wrong crowd.
Xie xie, Sijo Antwione!
Maraming Salamat po,Tuhon Ray Dionaldo!
Salutations, Dian & Zach Whitson
Thank you, Mr. Bob Liles (for always making us laugh!)
Mahalo, GGM Ming
2009 FMA DIGEST WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Our very own db owner & FCS Cali Instructor, Gigie
Alunday makes the 2009 FMA WOMAN of the YEAR! Read about it in this special issue! http://www.fmadigest.com/Issues/special-issues/2009/Special-Issue_2009-Recognition.exe If you can't open this, then log into www.fmadigest.com
HERE'S A FEW SUPPORTIVE COMMENTS:
“Wow!!!!
Tita Gigi I am on bended knees before your image on this email right now.
Seriously,
you deserve it! Congratulations!
Bigay galang at pagpupunyagi sa karapat dapat bigyang dangal
at papuri, ako po ay tiklop tuhod na sumasaludo sa iyo… Dr. Simeon Lao PT, DPT, MTC, CFC, CFCE
“That's awesome.
Congratulations!!!”.. STEVE LAWSON (Blade-Sport)
“That's awesome and congrad. Just dont hurt me LOL”... (Manny) Emmanuel A.
“Thanks! Congratulations, too, on being Woman
of the Year.”… Zena Babao
(2009 FMA DIGEST WRITER of the YEAR)
“Great job on FMA
Woman of the Year. Hopefully we can catch some fish while you are in town”… Peter Denis Jr.(Martial Matrix)
“Congratulations Ading. Naglaing kan!!”...FILIMENA
CASTILLO
“CONGRATULATIONS GIGI!”...MAYNARD GO (Kuya)
“CONGRATULATIONS...YOU
DESERVE IT!!!
We're so happy
and proud of you. I
just visited the site and printed all the articles about you for everyone at home to read. KUDOS, enjoy.... We love
you”… RIWJM & Auntie Feling
“WOW
congrats!!! did u know u were going to get this? that's awesome”!...Linda Lau
“Congrats On being Woman of the Year. That's awesome. You deserve
it. Great Events with humble people”…Legacy
Martial Arts Studio
“Wow, congrats Gigie!!”..Rob Sager (FCS Texas)
“Congratulations, so well desserved. Thank you and Rich
for all of your efforts and sharing.
Appreciatively and respectfully”, Sifu
Michael Tom (White Lotus)
Congrats
on making Woman of the Year. Please send my regards to PG Dowd…Arnold Noche (Original
LAMECO)
Congrats Gigi!!!!! You are the woman!!!! Give my best
to Rich as well...
"Train Hard, Live Well"… John Preston (Modern Arnis)
“Congratulation Gigi! Well
deserve! Great writing by Rich. Big hug”… Pipo
(FCS Puerto Rico Rep.)
hi gigie! congratulations for being the FMA Woman of the Year!
definitely a well-deserved award to one of the most hardworking and talented female martial artist
i have ever met!!! kudos to you sis!...Guro Roger Agbulos (ASTIG LAMECO)
FCS KALI CALI CREW SURVIVES LEVEL I TEST
July 19, 2009
When FCS Cali Instructor
Gigie Alunday said, “I think my guys are ready to test for Level I”, FCS Instructor, Rich Verdejo’s creative
mind went to work. Already seeing their fighting attributes for almost a year,
Rich recommended putting them out of their element. We decided to test them on
how well they can perform with
live applications of Level
I concepts while under physical and mental stress!
Some of the ideas were
derived from Gigie and Rich’s personal experience and influenced by stories of what Tuhon Ray had experienced. After the schedule was made, Gigie discussed the agenda with Tuhon Ray. He simply gave the thumbs up and said, “They’ll have a test unlike any test they’ve had
before”. Here’s the rundown of what went on Sunday, July 19, 2009.
With all the participants
present and accounted for, and injury/death waivers signed, Ruff, Kris, Grahm, and Edwin were shown the agenda for the first
time. This was the time for them to refuse or back out of testing. Just as we have come to expect from our crew, they all agreed to continue.
Lucky them!
It was a sweltering Sunday, July 19, 2009, and the temperature gauge was reading well about 106 F. Keep in mind
that the outdoor test venue is right in the middle of the San
Gabriel Valley. FCS
Cali had their first test and it took a grueling 3 ½ hours to complete! It started
with a demonstration of the Mano/Mano form. Nothing different and it seemed normal,
but that’s where the comparison to a traditional test ends! “Ok,
everyone, put on your gear!”, Gigie shouted. With full eskrima vest and
headgear on, the temperature rose to approximately 110 F. Doing live application
of the contradas for almost an hour at full speed. With the feeder moving around,
it looked more like a sparring match. So far so good, everyone was still standing.
Thinking we were nice,
they were ordered to jump into the pool to cool off. However, there was a catch,
they had to be in full sweats (pants and sweatshirt) and give us 8 laps. Think
it’s easy? After swinging the stick for almost an hour, try swimming without
going under water wearing clothing that gets heavier as it absorbs water. Keep
in mind, their head must stay above the water. They all finished the laps only
to give us the 12 count power strikes on the tires and it must be approved by Rich before they could rest.
With their arms feeling
like Jell-O, the next obstacle was called “Stick 1 in Rosie”. Trying
to control a projectile in their condition was harder than expected. The group
was not allowed to continue until all 4 participants completed this task or any obstacle.
Again, everyone was standing in the blazing sun.
Not wanting to be cruel,
next up was something basic. The guys had to show us some stick transitions and
a disarm of their choice. Not knowing what the feeder/receiver had planned, this
showed us how well they can feed and bait the other person. Same goes for the
knife tapping. With a quick warm up of the basic 4 quadrants, and the hubad,
they quickly went into the 3 round burst which the feeder gets in any 3 cuts and any the receiver has corresponding 3 chances
to pass. They seemed comfortable at this part of the test, but that changed at
the next obstacle.
The version of underwater
CQC (Close Quarter Combat) was basically the 3 round burst fully submerged in 12 ft of water.
Pressure was on for the feeder as they expelled more energy and air trying to get their cuts. Escape seemed a bit easier, but not by much if feeder gets a hold of you and keeps you down for the cuts.
The bravery badge goes
to FCS Cali Ruff Prepuse. Having a near drowning experience in a flood as a child,
Ruff had a hard time jumping into the center of the pool. Even though this is
just a simulated attack underwater, the phobia of his past experience became fresh again.
With the support of his FCS brothers, Ruff completed a modified version of this obstacle and was still fully submerged
in the water.
The last exam was purely
for our entertainment. Though using a latigo is not in any part of the level
1 curriculum, not only did they have to crack the whip, but also had to hit a target.
Hoping to see someone crack themselves or each other, the joke was on us. Not
only did they crack the whips, they all hit a target within their first 3 tries. Since
no one cracked themselves with the whip, Rich thought for sure he’d get a good laugh with the final task. That task was to hold a Styrofoam target as FCS Instructor Gigie tore it down to size with a latigo ng
caballo (carriage whip). Again a bitter sweet end! Everyone stood bravely as Gigie’s accuracy was dead on. Some
continued to hold the target until it was smaller than a business card!
“I don’t
say this often, but I was very pleased by everyone’s performance. I can
truly say Gi has a kick ass group. You ready, here we go. I’m proud of
all of you’z! Don’t get used to it, cuz there’s still work
to do!” - FCS Kali Cali Instructor, Rich Verdejo
“You guys so
ROCK!! I’m so proud of all of you and for all the hard work you’ve put into your art. Mg Rich put you through the ringer and you all came through relatively unscathed. We took you out of your element and comfort zones, and you all performed great! Mad props, guys! Keep up
the great work and get ready for the continuing madness” J - FCS Kali Cali Instructor, Gigie Alunday
WELCOME TO LEVEL 2 –
FCS Kali Cali Crew
- Edwin
Abo (also of Pakamut)
- Grahm
Baker (also of UCS)
- Kris
Paragas (also of Pakamut)
- Ruff
Prepuse
Click here to see the video higlights!
1st Caribbean FCS Gathering
Puerto Rico
April 24-26, 2009
The setting for the 1st
Caribbean Filipino Combat Systems Gathering was held in beautiful Puerto Rico. Tuhon Ray has been traveling and teaching in Puerto
Rico for approximately 15 years and decided to add the Caribbean to the list of FCS Gathering venues
to support the growth of the FCS family world-wide. In addition to the Winter
and Summer FCS Gatherings held in Tampa, FL every year, Gatherings are also in Russia, Germany, Mediterranean, and Caribbean.
Puerto Rico is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. The great part about visiting Puerto Rico is that we didn’t need a passport! It is a beautiful island with great beaches, delicious food, and the people were friendly
and hospitable.
FCS in Puerto Rico is represented by Lakan Guro Carlos
“Pipo” Lopez and he also works closely with Lakan Guro Hernan “Rico” Cortes. Together they have grown FCS in Puerto Rico and continue to teach and provide opportunities like the having the FCS Gathering in a picturesque
venue.
We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday, April 23 and had just
missed the snorkeling trip. However, we met up the rest of the crew from Florida and Slovakia for dinner. The food was incredible as we had our first, and definitely not our last Mofongo which
is made of out mashed plantains and loaded with your choice of meat and seafood stews.
On Friday, we made our
way to Balneario Pico de Piedra,
Aguada, Puerto Rico which was the venue for the gathering. Aguada is located in the Coastal Valley of the West Region and was the perfect setting
for the gathering. The beach included an outdoor stage pavilion which was where
we trained on Friday for the Members/Instructors night and also on Saturday, for the first day of the public sessions.
The Instructor/Member night offered and introduction to the material that would be covered during
the gathering. Tuhon Ray went over the concepts of Punyo-Mano with an introduction
to the 6 variations to the basic entry. He also covered the idea of Elastico,
which is translated as “rubber band/elastic”. These are defensive
maneuvers developed from the situation where opponents find themselves with their respective sticks are grabbed. Tuhon Felix followed with an introduction to the C1 template and how it can be directly translated to stick
fighting applications. Lakan Guro Rico Cortes closed the evening with an introduction
to FCS Tactical.
The temperate climate of Puerto Rico in April served as the perfect backdrop to the start of the gathering. Attendees traveled from as far as Slovakia, California, Florida, and all over the island of Puerto Rico to be present at the 1st Caribbean
Gathering. Tuhon Ray opened the day by presenting contradas which is a classical
drill emphasizing basic defenses, strikes, and footwork. The drill started off
simple enough using roof, umbrella, and wall blocks and basic strikes which then progressed into a 5 second free flow striking
burnout. (Click here for a link to our video gallery and check out Tuhon Ray
and Mg Rich V in the video “Dueling Banjos – FCS Style”).
When we were all warmed up from the contradas, Tuhon
Ray presented an introduction to the 6 variations of the Punyo-Mano entries. The
drills were set up to work both the offensive attacks and defensive techniques in the Punyo-Mano range, with the focus of
the techniques on striking and manipulation of the punyo. Concepts of baiting
the punyo strike were analyzed in order to understand how to manipulate the opponent’s next strike in order to set you
up for your attack. The emphasis on proper footwork and body mechanics are the
apparent keys to success with these techniques.
Many times stick fighters
find themselves in a situation where they are holding onto each other’s sticks.
From this situation arose the concept of Elastico meaning elastic, which Tuhon Ray developed to counter. In Kali, elastico is used to describe a stick strike where the strike is initiated by holding the tip of
the stick while striking and letting go at the end of the strike to propel the snap.
This strike has the potential to generate a great deal of power in a short distance.
The foundation of the techniques is in disarming your opponent with an elastico strike.
Elastico strikes can be generated using three variations using the arm, neck, and body.
We worked on these techniques using the Punyo-Mano entries as our foundation. Various disarm techniques were used from an outside disarm, to an inside disarm as
well as a transfer disarm.
Tuhon Ray introduced Tuhon
Felix, founder of Filipino Combatives, as the next instructor for the day. Tuhon Felix brings with him over 30 years of experience in Sayoc Fighting Systems
and was the first student to be promoted to the rank of Tuhon in the system. Tuhon
Felix presented the C1 stick fighting template, which is the first of 12 templates within Filipino Combatives. The template is based on the feeder-receiver methodology and consists of 12 feeder attacks and the corresponding
12 receiver defenses. However, in order to throw us off our game and develop
ambidexterity, he had us drilling the template with both the left and the right hand.
However, it did not stay there. Tuhon Felix went into the fighting application
of the template and how it can be used in different ranges. Most impressive was
his demonstration of the proper stick technique employed when popping off
a bottle cap one-handed!
To end the evening on
Saturday, we took full advantage of the beach setting to hold a sayaw close to shore.
Historically, the sayaw “dance” was part of Filipino warrior culture traditions used in preparation for
battle. It was a means in which the warriors were able to share their energy
and strengths with one another in tribal bonding. The bonfire was set with the
palm trees in the background and the sound of the ocean. Drum beats for the sayaw
was provided by Seijo and Nate. The first to enter the circle was Tuhon Ray and
Tuhon Felix. They circled the fire in a free flow carenza sharing their energies
with each other, followed by the Lakans, Guros, Instructors, and the remainder of the tribe.
It was the perfect end to the first day and an experience that will not be forgotten as we bonded as a tribe.
As the traditional gathering
schedule dictated, our day started early on Sunday. This time, we were unable
to secure the pavilion by the beach, so we took to the sandy shore. Tuhon Ray
started the day with Lakad Sikaran. Keep in mind, we were training on the shore
where the waves were crashing. However, this did not stop us from destroying
our partner’s base to take them down and completing the techniques. On
the other hand, it was easy to wash the sand off ourselves in the ocean and run back to train some more, which is exactly
what we did and took advantage of the breaks to get in some body surfing time.
After getting some sunbathing
time, Tuhon Felix came in to introduce his panantukan drills and explain the Guard 5.
It is also a feeder – receiver drill which takes a basic 5 count hit and works both the offense and defense. He also showed how it can be applied to stick fighting and with blade.
To end our session, Tuhon
Ray continued his presentation from the morning session on the 6 variations of Punyo-Mano.
They all start out from the basic inside or outside entry and each variation addresses a set of different types of
attacks and the counters to the attacks. Each variation in Punyo-Mano has different
striking options which incorporate the use of the live hand for punching or disarming the opponent.
The sun was starting to
set and that signaled that it was time to close the 1st Caribbean Gathering.
It was a great gathering packed with lots of new material to keep us busy. The
emphasis of our training for the weekend was the importance of good, solid BASICS!
The
beautiful island, delicious food, and great people made this gathering one of the best and we felt guilty calling it work. How can it be work when you’re having so much fun? Thanks to Pipo for making
this an incredible trip and taking us on kayak fishing adventures and excursions in the bioluminescent bay. We highly recommend the Caribbean Gathering to anyone looking for great training, and the fact that you
can easily squeeze in some vacation time is just the icing on the cake!
Tuhon Ray Dionaldo FCS Seminar with Tuhon Felix Cortes of Filipino Combatives
April 18-19, 2009
dA bEST
qUALITY pRODUCTS hosted a 2 day seminar that featured Tuhon Ray Dionaldo, founder of Filipino Combat Systems, and guest instructor
Tuhon Felix Cortes, founder of Filipino Combatives. The event was held at the
NEW White
Lotus Training Center in Northridge, CA which is owned by Grand Master Douglas Wong and his wife, Master Carrie Ogawa
Wong. Not only was the facility able to accommodate the gathering, it also has the potential to hold 3 events at the
same time! The facility boasts a 5500+ square foot facility with a 42' x 42' Olympic Palmer spring floor for Parkour
and Freerunning, 2 separate padded training floors, hanging heavy bag section, grip tape wall and incline wall for wall flips,
and trampoline and mini tramp! It was a great venue to host the seminar, and
we were all very eager to train with both Tuhons!
What
are the 3 B’s to success in any martial art? Basics! Basics! Basics! Without solid basics, your skill cannot be improved.
Tuhon Ray started out the day with warm up exercise on basics. We quickly
partnered up and got to work on improving our basics. With our training partners
striking at us with the first five strikes, it was our job to block using the umbrella, wing, or walls and counter through
the center. We repeated this process but changed our counter strikes using laptik
strikes, witiks, abanicos and redondas. We then formulated the strikes all together
to end with a 5 second burnout after each strike from our training partner.
With
the group all warmed up, Tuhon Ray introduced his new punyo mano drills. The
punyo mano drills focus on manipulation and striking with punyo. The drill consists
of 5 right hand entries, each technique emphasizing principles of Tuhon Ray’s punyo mano concepts. These principles in the punyo mano range are what propelled Tuhon Ray and put him on the map. With his
knowledge of the kerambit, blade, sarong & stick fighting, his favorite is the range of punyo mano, “fisted hand”. Basically, the principles taught apply to any close range fighting from empty hand
to blade to sarong.
Next on the agenda was the sarong. Tuhon
Ray demonstrated his use of this flexible weapon using the same concepts that he had explained previously. Again using the same punyo mano entries, we split the center line and let the sarong manipulate and submit
our opponents. It was a great way to show how the same concepts can be applied
to all weapons.
Tuhon
Ray also showed a few techniques of Sikaran Lakad and locks from Modern Arnis. Using
the theme of the seminar, “Punyo Mano Entries”, he then showed what the legs can do in that tight range. Knee and ankle locks were utilized to take your opponent down. While on the ground, stick submissions were applied. The
room burst out in tapouts demonstrating its effectiveness.
Tuhon
Ray then introduced his colleague, Tuhon Felix Cortes. Tuhon Felix Cortes comes
from a Sayoc Kali background. Though Sayoc Kali is more known for its blade expertise,
Tuhon Felix specialized in stick fighting. With over 30 years of experience,
he formed his own system called Filipino Combatives. He started off his section
by introducing his first stick template called C1.
C1 is
a 12 count template that is done on both sides and uses the feeder/receiver concepts.
It consists of basic laptik, witik, and redonda strikes as well as hand switches.
The receiver then also has its own 12 count template on defensive moves and footwork to counter the strikes from the
feeder.
Though
he considers C1 very basic, it has lots to offer making it exciting and fun to all practitioners. It also centered on the other theme of the day, Basics! Basics! Basics!
Tuhon Felix’s high personality also adds a plus when he’s on the floor.
Having plenty of fights under his belt, he’ll tell you straight forward that drills look very pretty until you
apply them in a real fight. Then it gets raw and unpredictable. We practiced these drills to create better body mechanics and with high intensity to prepare us emotionally.
This
weekend was not only very informative with new material, but also packed with fun! Sharing
the floor with Tuhon Ray and Tuhon Felix was a great honor. Both Tuhons were
very down to earth and made them very approachable for questions as well as laughs,.
We would
like to thank all the schools and attendees including Sayoc Kali, Toma’s Modern Arnis, Inosanto
Academy, Babao Arnis, Claremont Martial Arts, Galius Martial Arts, and especially our brothers from FCS
Alabama, for participating and creating a successful event! It was truly an honor
to share the floor with you all! We look forward to seeing you all again at our
next event!
Click here for more pictures from the event!
For more information on booking seminars with Tuhon Ray and Tuhon Felix, please contact Gigie Alunday at dbqp92@yahoo.com.
Unity Training - Chula Vista, CA
April 11, 2009
What a way to start a pre-celebration of Easter Sunday with a gathering called “UNITY”. Hosting the workshop was “Sweet” Pete Salas of the Chinese Kenpo Federation
at 241 3rd Ave. Chula Vista, Ca. It was produced by Tuhon Chaz Siancgo of Pulahan-Derobio Eskrima, Guro Narrison Babao of Babao Arnis and
Guro Albert Mendoza of San Miguel Multi-style/ Doce Pares. A big THANKS to them
and the participants that made our 2hr travel worth the time.
Starting off the event was Tuhon Chaz Siangco showing their basics of Combative Ranges and how to break in & out of them. Not only were
the basic ranges expressed, but also utilizing control manipulation to get the “kill” if necessary. Last phase was the break phase to be ready for the next opponent and so on.
Tuhon Chaz shared Pedoy philosophies with history of their late Grandfather Braulio Pedoy, founder of Pedoy Eskrima.
Guro Narrison Babao of Babao Arnis/ Doce Pares was the second presenter of the afternoon. He shared a few wrist locks which he learned from FMA legend GM Cacoy Canete. We then proceeded with his self expression of the techniques. What
made the lesson was how anyone can personalize a technique and make it his own. And
yes, the locks were painful!
Guro Joe Abueg of Babao Arnis was offered the floor and showed an awesome display of long double sticks. His blocking principles were sound due to the use of physics and psychology. It also helps that he’s an engineer and was able to analyze the movements in the blocks! By the way,
we did put it to the test as we blocked a baseball bat and yes it worked, thank God.
And again, though he’s been a practitioner for decades, he is always searching for a better way of improvement.
The group to take the floor after the lunch break was Eskrima de Campo JDC-IO by Jason Autajay & Ronnie Vilonia. This was a historic event as the group has generally kept a low profile. We are fortunate that there is a group here and we waited in anticipation as they demonstrated their style
for the group. Though simple in their methodology, this system has exceptional
strikes which are explosive and accurate that needs no flash. Their focus on
accuracy not only of the target but also of the striking surface as well adds to the complexity of such a “simple”
motion. Demonstrating only 3 strikes, it took up a significant amount of time
just to get a feel of it. It was a great display of the use of the largo-mano
system.
Albert Mendoza also shared with the group to end the session.
Once again, thank you “Sweet”
Pete Salas for hosting a great event, and thanks to Tuhon Chaz Siangco, Guro Nar Babao, Guro Joe Abueg, Guro Albert Mendoza,
and Eskrima de Campo Trainers, Jason Autajay and Ronnie Velonza for representing and sharing their systems. Hope to see you all again at the next Unity training!
Click here for more pictures from the event.
PASSING OF SIJO ADRIANO EMERADO, MIX MARTIAL ARTS PIONEER
Sijo(founder) Adriano Emperado passed away April 4,2009 at the age of 83, in Maui,
Hawaii.
Sijo Emperado is one of the 5 founders of a Mix Martial Arts system called KAJUKENBO, meaning Ka=Karate,
Ju=Judo/Jujitsu, Ken=Kenpo, Bo=Boxing.
Born on June 16,1926 in Honolulu, Hawaii, grew up in the
rough Palama district. Having to defend yourself was a common occurance. So he wouldn't get beaten up by bullies,
he was taught to box at the age of 8. Being of Filipino decent, he began his eskrima training of the 12 angles at 11
yrs. old, judo at 14 and Kenpo
at the age 20. He was also senior of Grand Master Ed Parker, founder of Ed Parker's American Kenpo.
In 1947-49, 5 martial artist, Adriano Emperado (Kenpo), Peter Choo (Karate), George "Clarence" Chang (Kung-Fu),
Frank Ordonez (Jujitsu) and Joe Holck (Judo) combined thier knowledge and created KAJUKENPO, a Mixed Martial Arts system.
Today, Kajukenbo is practiced all over the world and has influenced many other martial arts & artist
as well.
Sijo Adriano Emperado and his influencial role in the martial arts community shall always be remembered.
Disneyland Martial Arts Festival 2009
March 28, 2009
dA bEST qUALITY pRODUCTS and Disneyland Martial Arts Festival would like to applaud all those who participated through
these tough economic times. 
Here’s the lowdown on this year’s Blade Fighting at the Disneyland
Martial Arts Festival. The tournament was held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. The
Disneyland Martial Arts Festival is an open martial arts tournament which held competitions in various Martial Arts Disciplines
ranging from BladeSport Blade Fighting to Taekwondo. This was our BladeSport
Blade Fighting’s first year at the tournament, and the divisions were successful!
The
competition started with the kids division. Ryan Moguel from House of Champions went up against Christopher Gregoire of Tribu
Talim. Christopher was the underdog in the match for Ryan is now a veteran at
this sport. At the end, Blade Fighting shows how unpredictable it can be as Christopher
takes it with a 5-3 win over Ryan.
The adult division began immediately at the conclusion of the kids division.
Again, this group of novices showed much skill that could give the advanced group a run for their money. The most impressive were the 2 females Jennifer Sprawl of Tribu Talim and Jan Bustamante of Inosanto Academy.
Both women fought each other as well as the men like tigresses. The advanced
division displayed much skill as well. At the onset of the division, the judges
explained that the judges were going to award points for “clean cuts”. In
order to progress the sport, the advanced division would need to show more skill and weapon awareness. As in a true blade
fight, they would have to prove that they can attack and defend against an attack.
The
technique of the day in the Novice division belonged to Harlan Hugh with a text book live hand pass underneath the opponent’s
blade hand and a thrust to the right lung. In the advanced division, the technique
of the day belonged to Jon Cuenca of Tribu Talim. Jon had received 2 cuts to
the leg and had his leg eliminated. Jon took a knee and performed a dive roll
to defend against the attack. He successfully avoided his opponent’s attack
and missed his cut during the roll, but came out of the roll and caught his opponent with a thrust into his abdomen.
Though
this sport is done with foam knives lined with chalk and minimal protection, it’s not to say it goes without minor injuries. Like the warriors, they continued to fight on!
We as a whole were impressed and give our compliments to Conrad and Jan.
We would like to thank those that competed at this year’s Disneyland Martial Arts Festival; Tribu Talim, Inosanto Academy, House of Champions, Universal Kali, and FCS.
All the competitors represented their schools well in the competition. We
are looking forward to seeing you all again at the San Diego Grand Internationals which will be held May 16, 2009. For
more tournament information or information on BladeSport Blade Fighting, please email Gigie and Rich at dbqp92@yahoo.com.
Click HERE for more pictures of the event!
Disneyland Martial Arts Festival
Tournament Results
Single
Long Blade
Kids
Novice Division
Gold
– Christopher Gregoire (Tribu Talim)
Silver
– Ryan Moguel (House of Champions)
Adult
Novice Division
Gold – Harlan Hugh (Inosanto Academy)
Silver – Jan Bustamante (Inosanto Academy)
Bronze – Peter Pak (Inosanto Academy)
Pewter
– Jennifer Sprawl (Tribu Talim)
Adult
Advanced Division
Gold – Clark Dizon (Inosanto Academy)
Silver – Jon Cuenca (Tribu Talim)
Bronze – Conrad Cayman (Inosanto Academy)
Pewter – Duilio Muller (Universal Kali)
Double
Long Blade
Adult
Novice Division
Gold – Jan Bustamante (Inosanto Academy)
Silver – Harlan Hugh (Inosanto Academy)
Bronze
– Jennifer Sprawl (Tribu Talim)
Pewter – Peter Pak (Inosanto Academy)
Adult
Advanced Division
Gold
– Jon Cuenca (Tribu Talim)
Silver – Clark Dizon (Inosanto Academy)
Bronze - Conrad Cayman (Inosanto Academy)
Pewter - Duilio Muller (Universal Kali)
Tactical
Short Blade
Adult
Novice Division
Gold – Peter Pak (Inosanto Academy)
Silver – Harlan Hugh (Inosanto Academy)
Bronze
– Jennifer Sprawl (Tribu Talim
Adult
Advanced Division
Gold
– Jon Cuenca (Tribu Talim)
Silver
– Jason Cruz (Universal Kali)
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