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