Women Warriors of FMAs: Karen Callahan (Part 1)
When looking at YouTube videos of Filipino Martial Arts or a cursory look at Filipino Martial Arts events, it is evident, like many martial arts, that males far outnumber females. This is unfortunate, as I have seen a number of incredible female FMA players, both known and…
Filipino Martial Arts on a Mook Jong
I have previously written about some of the drills in the below video that I practice on the Mook Jong in the basement. If you are not able to view this video, click here. Those drills are designed to develop the check hand for stick…
GM Bobby Taboada/Master Chuck Gauss Seminar
On Saturday, April 26th, Bamboo Spirit and Pugad Lawin Martial Arts hosted a successful joint seminar between Balintawak GM Bobby Taboada and Master of Tapi Tapi Chuck Gauss. This seminar was months in the making and involved much outreach. I’ve had Master Chuck in the…
Meeting GM Bobby Taboada
On Sunday, April 26, 2009, after I arrived at Ike Sepulveda’s house, along with Terence, I was introduced by Ike to GM Bobby Taboada, who received my handshake warmly and with a friendly smile. I said, “it’s an honor to meet you.” We all sat…
Martial Arts Training and Learning
Recently, I came across a quote from Rickson Gracie that nicely sums up my training and learning philosophy: “When you train you should put more emphasis on learning than competing with your partner.” In other words, Rickson is emphasizing the technical side of the art…
Modern Arnis on Rogers Cable!
On Thursday, March 22nd, we had a somewhat unusual class. Two journalism students from nearby Durham College came by to shoot footage of a Bamboo Spirit class. In addition, they interviewed me and one of my students, Terence. The footage will air on Rogers Cable!…
The Study of Modern Arnis
As has been alluded to before, Modern Arnis has a very broad knowledge base and can be broken down into parts to be studied as follows: In addition to all this, one must not forget “the flow” and the concept of “counter for counter.” Modern…
Workshop at Canada Bakbakan Headquarters
Recently, Guro Ramon Villardo invited me to conduct a two-hour Modern Arnis workshop at the Canada Bakbakan HQ. The workshop took place last Saturday, February 5th. 10 eager students attended the workshop. At the workshop, I focused on single sinawali techniques, a common root between…
Balintawak Seminar
This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of participating in a Balintawak seminar taught by GM Bobby Taboada. Sean Tyler hosted the seminar at his Raging Tiger Martial Arts school in Scarborough. GM Bobby was a long-time friend of Professor Presas, and the Professor was…
1st Annual Toronto Modern Arnis Camp
On the weekend of August 28th-29th, Bamboo Spirit Martial Arts hosted the 1st Annual Toronto Modern Arnis Camp. The camp took place at the Kombat Arts Academy in Mississauga, Ontario. Not surprisingly, it was a great success due to the fantastic teaching of Master Chuck…
