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Originally Published in WorldBlackBelt, 2005
It is hard to imagine that an Asian martial arts would take root and find acceptance in the Middle East, itself steeped in its own martial arts and currently embroiled in several regional warfare involving modern armament. But that is exactly what Master Godofredo Fajardo is trying to do--propagate arnis or Filipino martial arts (FMA) in the Middle East, hoping that the seeds of this ancient martial arts take root and spread just like the date trees that dot the landscape there since the time of Abraham and antiquity.
Godofredo Fajardo is a master of Modern Arnis, a direct student and friend of Professor Remy Presas, Founder of Modern Arnis. In 2001, he was appointed Commissioner for the Middle East by his mother organization, the International Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines (IMAFP), an appointment sanctioned by Arnis Philippines, the governing body for arnis in the Philippines, including the Olympics. Godo set up headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and proceeded to teach arnis under the aegis of his own school, Filipino Fighting Arts International (FFA).
Since arriving in Saudi Arabia, he has established several chapters and promoted several dozen lakans (black belts) as well as one dayang (female blackbelt), in arnis. He now has a a thriving independent organization in Saudi Arabia called Filipino Fighting Arts-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or FFA-KSA. Ghazi M. Al-Turaifi, a Saudi national, is currently president and a guro (instructor) of FFA-KSA. In addition to Guro Al-Turaifi, there are four other guros in the organization—Manuel Maer, Noel Dayawon, Nathan Walker and Wail Irshaid.
This year, through personal travels and utilizing local FFA-KSA lakans, he has made serious inroads in establishing Modern Arnis in other Middle East countries. In 2005, for example, arnis was officially accepted as a martial art sport in Jordan by the Jordan Arnis Committee composed of Messrs. Sulaiman Qablan Al Shawarbi, Dr. Basil Yusif Al Shair, Wael I. M. Yahya and Mohammad Issa Yousef Kawash. In September of 2005, IMAFP hosted a Modern Arnis basic and advanced seminar headed by Guro Wail Irshaid, an FFA-KSA instructor and a Jordanian national. This seminar was held at Sports City, a sports stadium in Amman, Jordan. A total of five (5) countries (Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Palestine) and more than a hundred practitioners participated.
If his Modern Arnis is as hardy and life-giving as the date trees in his surroundings, Master Godofredo Fajardo has no cause to worry. Just like the date trees, his art and their practitioners will indeed grow and multiply, and be part of the Middle East landscape for years to come.
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