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…
Master Gaby Roloff Seminar
This past weekend, I enjoyed participating in two separate seminars by Master Gaby Roloff in Ottawa at the Stronger You dojo. Renshi Janet Heffernan hosted the seminar. A little background on Master Gaby. She has been training and teaching Modern Arnis since the early 1980s….
The Modern Arnis Six Count Drill
The 6 Count drill is one of the staple Modern Arnis drills. From our perspective, the most fundamental skill this drill teaches is check hand usage. It is often taught at Modern Arnis seminars worldwide. Before you learn this drill, you must learn the basic…
A Stranger Approaches And..
Here’s some background on how the stranger approached us: From the spring of 2008 to July 2010, I worked on a contract basis in downtown Toronto for the Law Foundation of Ontario, while Terence was working at TD. Normally, we would get together for lunch…
Bamboo Shoots
The Bamboo Shoots program is designed for children ages 4 through 7. It is part of Bamboo Spirit Martial Arts. We focus on instilling respect, confidence, courtesy, and discipline in children. We teach stranger awareness, personal safety skills, escape techniques, conflict management, and goal setting…
