Some rumbles elsewhere & huberous

Hey Doc,

I have been following a thread on mtc that was created from one sentence in your recent blog post under the "My Comments" regarding the Atillo list of disciples and successors.  The posters on mtc are making big deal out of the fact that you stated that several organizations were not recognizing the rank and rank certificates of people who had earned their statuses from the late GM/Professor Remy Presas.  You did send a private e-mail to one guy and he mentioned that fact in his post on the thread.
You were talking about some exchanges that you had with the new leadership of the IMAF/MoTTs back in 2001/2002.  Several of your critics are saying that the current leadership never mentioned that they would not honor or recognize rank certificates given by the late GM Presas.  I think that they have missed the point of your comments to the one gentleman, who I am assuming posted the correct information about exactly who had been mentioned to him.

Here's my take on the entire matter.  Back in 2001/2002, when Jeff Delaney and Randy Schea were the co-leaders of the IMAF?MoTTs group of Modern Arnis, they were requiring everyone with rank given by the then recently deceased GM/Founder of Modern Arnis, to re-test with the new leadership.
That was (and still is) a bogus requirement in my opinion.  Neither of the two people mentioned above have or ever had the stature and reputation of Professor Remy Presas.  They were way out of bounds in making that sort of requirement of anyone who already had a rank certificate from the system founder.  They should have acknowledged and accepted the rank already earned and then they
could have required new tests for continuing advancements in the IMAF.

However if they followed that line of logic and showed deference to and respect for their deceased GM, it would have cost them some money (testing fees).  Since the departure of the 2 people mentioned above, their successors may not be following the examples cited by you as reported to the mtc by one of the posters.  That makes since to me.  New leadership brings out some new approaches to the way an organization is run.

My impression is that some of the posters were not reacting to the information presented as much as they were reacting to the fact that you were the person who made the initial comment and subsequent clarifying private e-mail to one person.  Once some of those folks found out that Dr. Jerome Barber was the source of the information, it was time to honker down and get defensive.  That's really too bad but I understand why you didn't want to post on the thread itself.

BTW, I agree with your idea that the GM Atillo list is news and should be given wide distribution.
By making his list of successors public, prior to his passing away, GM Atillo has taken all of the steam out of a possible succession fight of the type that we have witnessed so often in the past and in so many systems when the GM passed on.  I believe that he done has a great thing for the students and followers of his Atillo-Saavedra Balintawak Eskrima System and I hope that other GMs will look at this as a precedent setting way to do business in the future.

Of course these are all my own opinions and hopefully people will read it as simply one man's thoughts about some public discussions.  There is no need for folks to their knickers all knotted up over my opinions, they are free to have their own opinions and disagree with me ;-)

Adam Toussaint

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.