Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Atillo Balintawak Successors - My comments

I am writing this separate post regarding the official listing of the Atillo Balintawak Eskrima successors, disciples and masters that was first published on July 10, 2013 on the FB site of GM Atillo.  That is in my opinion a stand-alone announcement and it deserves to be seen in its entirety without any accompanying statements.  I want to congratulate everyone named on the list.  In addition I also want to especially recognize three (3) people on the list whom I know personally,  GM Tom Bolden, Master Peter Vargas and Master Douglas Pierre.

All three of these men are personal friends and associates of mine who I have known and trained with for the past 24 years.  Given the fact that these men are being acknowledged by GM Atillo with the highest honor of being both Disciples and Successors, speaks volumes regarding their martial arts skills, personal dedication and integrity.  This award recognition is doubly impressive because of the fact that GM Bolden and Master Vargas is a teacher-student pairing.  This is as far as I can recall in my 35 year career in martial arts the first time that I have seen/heard of a teacher-student pair being promoted at the same time and within the same organization.

It should also be pointed out that Bolden, Pierre and Vargas are the only Modern Arnis trained people on the Atillo successor listing.  This is quite significant because most of the so-called Modern Arnis leaders in the Post-Remy Presas Era that began in 2001 after the passing of the system founder and GM have studiously avoided acknowledging or working with these three men.  They have been characterized as minor or marginal players in the Modern Arnis world, in spite of the fact that GM Bolden and Master Pierre were instrumental in building a following for the late Professor Presas in the Mid-Hudson and NYC regions respectively.  In fact it was GM Bolden who first brought the art and Professor to the eastern side of NYS and along the Hudson River Valley between Albany and NYC in the mid 1980's.  The MoTTs (Masters of Tapi-Tapi) and the WMAA (World Modern Arnis Alliance) leaderships were adamant that anyone not associated with their respective groups were not even considered as being Modern Arnis Players, unless those people joined their groups and retested for the rank grades that were earned under Professor Presas.  They were also quite critical of Master Vargas because he had not trained directly with the late Professor.

Equally important is the fact that these group leaders were equally, if not more disdainful of GM Atillo.  They refused to understand that GM Atillo was an original member of the “Balintawak Self  Defense Club”  that was founded in 1952 in Cebu.  That was the very first Balintawak Club, with all others being spin offs that were formed years later after some disputes among the original founding members as well as their students.  GM Atillo is among the last of the people who knew the Saavedra's, Lorenzo and Doring, personally.  His art is the closest thing that we have to the original Saavedra Eskrima System, which is also known more popularly as "Balintawak Eskrima".  Couple that fact with the reality that GM Atillo assisted his father Vincente, who taught future Balintawak GM Arnulfo Mongcol, the art of Balintawak.  It was Mongcol, who served as Professor Remy Presas' first Balintawak instructor.  Afterwards, the young Remy Presas was passed along to GM Timeteo

Marranga for further training.  GM Marranga was a classmate of Master Vincente Atillo, under the Saavedra's.  In fact Vincente Atillo was a classmate of Venancio "Ancong" Saavedra Bacon under GMs Lorenzo and Doring Saavedra.  The network couldn't be any tighter and we must keep in mind that Balintawak forms one (1) leg of the three arts that are at the root of Modern Arnis.

GM Tom Bolden, Master Douglas Pierre and Master Peter Vargas have been training with the man who indirectly helped to establish part of the foundation for Modern Arnis.  They have been accepted and later acknowledged as highly skilled practitioners of the Atillo-Saavedra connection to Modern Arnis.  I am extremely happy for them and wish each of them even greater success in the future.
Sincerely,

Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Grand Master, Datu & Principal Teacher,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates

Official Masters, Successors and Disciples List of GM Crispulo Atillo Balintawak


Official Master, Successor & Disciple, and Disciple of ABWAE

July 10, 2013 at 1:17am

 July 9, 2013
THANK YOU to everyone who attended the Atillo Balintawak seminar award/ceremony at Inosanto Academy this past weekend especially to Guro Dan Inosanto, Adviser & Consultant of the ABWAE (Atillo Balintawak World Arnis-Eskrima), and a very good friend, who hosted the event.  On the day of the event, the “official” Master, Successor & Disciple, and Disciple of the ABWAE, Original Saavedra Style, were announced by GGM Atillo along with Guro Dan Inosanto.
Please note, any names not listed below who have received Masters prior to this date are null and void – due to NOT having the complete system, inactivity, and/or questionable character.

MASTER:  “... is awarded the honor and rank of Master having satisfactorily trained, completed, and fulfilled the requirements for the rank of Master through the personalized guidance and keen instructions of GGM Atillo as governed by the standards of the Atillo Balintawak World Arnis-Eskrima, Original Saavedra Style”.

Derrick Dalan
Dennis Dalan

SUCCESSOR AND DISCIPLE:  “... is chosen and awarded the honor of Successor and Disciple having acquired exceptional knowledge, skills and ability of an Eskrima practitioner through the personalized guidance and keen instructions of GGM Atillo as governed by the standards of the Atillo Balintawak World Arnis-Eskrima.  Your responsibility is to continue learning, to represent, and to propagate the art of Atillo Balintawak Original Saaverda Style of Eskrima”.  

Alex Mancao, Alfredo Parayno, Andrew Do,
Andyz Koh, Butch Sepulveda, Che Navidad,
Dan Anderson, Daniel Lonero, Dennis Dalan
Derrick Dalan, Dieter Roser, Doug Pierre,
Eric Sutz, Geyo Esmas, Glen Boodry,
Greg Sepulveda, Harley Elmore, Helena Cauliffe,
Ike Sepulveda, JD Lopez, Jesse Devera,
Joe Medrano, Joe Navidad, Joel Clark,
Jordan Devera, LaVonne Martin, March Halleck,
Marco Librera, Neil Cauliffe, Nino Pilla,
Peter Shu, Peter Vargas, Quinton Egson,
Ramon Rubia, Ron Goldstein, Salem Assli,
Sam Halim, Tom Bolden, William Torrefeil.
 
DISCIPLE:  “…is chosen and awarded the honor of Disciple having acquired exceptional knowledge, skills and ability of an Eskrima practitioner through the personalized guidance and keen instructions of GGM Atillo as governed by the standards of the Atillo Balintawak World Arnis-Eskrima.  Your responsibility is to continue learning, to represent, and to propagate the art of Atillo Balintawak Original Saaverda Style of Eskrima”.

Alfredo Dagatan, Amir Deleon, Brando Haworth,Chris Callahan, Christopher Bruce,                    David Murphy, Edwin Williams, Felix Hermocilla, George Dalan, Gil Gozo, Glen Brooks,             Jeff Morris, Ken Lehrer, Michael Martinez, Ric Lin, Thomas Heinig, Timothy Becherer.

Friday, July 12, 2013

My resignation letter to the Mataw Guro Association

Earlier today I sent the following letter to the Mataw Guro Association, tendering my resignation from that organization.  As the long time followers of this blog know I was a charter member of the 10 Mataw Guro inductees in 2010.  I was quite proud and pleased to be recognized as a teacher of the FMA.  I believed that the subsequent organization would be a viable umbrella group that stressed the basics of FMA and prepared new students to the FMA with a strong foundation that they could take into any specific system/style as they continued their studies.  That was the promise made at the first MGA Gathering and organizational meeting.  That promise has not been kept and I have decided to sever my relationship with the organization. My letter follows:

An Open Letter to ALL MGA Members

Please be advised that I WILL NOT be attending the 2013 MGA Gathering.
Several things have led me to this decision:

1. My understanding of what the MGA was supposed to be and what it has morphed
into between 2010 and 2013 are very far apart philosophically.

2.  My critique of MGA policies have gone unanswered.  My expectation was that as
equals within the organization that ideas would be exchanged and debated.  When that
does not happen, there is little to no opportunity for growth and development either as
individuals or as a collective group.

3.  There is a persistent and pervasive undercurrent of ethnocentric xenophobic behavior
within the leadership ranks of the MGA which I simply can not understand and will not be
a party to for any reason.

4.  The MGA Board of Directors is totally non-functional.  The BoD members have refused
to meet and discuss policies and other matters related to the business of the MGA.  I hereby
formally resign my position as a member of that board, effective today, July 12, 2013 at 5pm,
EDST.

5.  I am also tendering my resignation from the MG Association, effective today, July 12, 2013,
effective at 5pm EDST, so that PMG Lou Lledo will have time to name a person to serve out the
remainder of my 2 year appointment as a member of the BoD.

I shall not be using the MG designation after 5 pm EDST today and any communications that any
member of the MGA might wish to have with me should use the title "Dr."  or "Professor" since
both are earned titles and not associated with the MGA in any manner.  I will retain the "MG"
as part of my professional resume since it was awarded prior to the formal organizational structure
of the MGA.

Good bye to all.

Respectfully,

Dr. Jerome Barber,
Grand Master, Datu, Principal Teacher,
INDEPENDENT Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Professor Park and the Gathering of Eagles

AuthorMichael D. Park
E-mailmichael.d.park@verizon.net
URLhttp://www.KempoKarateofPlano.com
CommentI met and trained with Dr. Barber at the Gathering of Eagles / Kenpo Hall of Fame. I found him to be an honest representative of authentic technique and one of the few that impressed me with a solid tactical understanding and complimentary philosophy. He is a humble, effective and accomplished teacher of martial-arts.
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I just met Professor Park at the 2013 Gathering of Eagles in Chicago, last weekend, through a mutual friend Master John Bain.  We were able to attend one another's seminars, which ran 90 minutes each and it gave us an opportunity to compare notes
and ideas about personal self-defense tactics and techniques.  All three of us share a Kenpo/Kempo background, but have introduced elements from several other styles
within our presentations.

Professor Park and Master Bain are "old school" trained and their ideas and philosophies are quite similar to my own.  For instance, in training our students, the student is shown the technique, run through several repetitions and then given an opportunity to practice
against new partners, critiqued and only then allowed to ask questions.  Then we explain  the details and give a possible variation if necessary.  We expect our students to execute the techniques correctly in practice and "short-cutting" is not an option available to our students because we know that under the stress of an actual street confrontation our students will not be able to perform the technique at 100% efficiency, therefore getting it right in practice means the student has an 85 to 90%  chance of making the techniques work in the street, where it will count the most and there are no 'do-overs'.

I want to thank Professor Park for his kind words and I am looking forward to working with him again in the near future.

Sincerely,

Jerome Barber, Ed. D.