THE 3RD WORLD FMA FESTIVAL GALA NIGHT
July 21, 2006
On Friday evening, July 21, 2006, the 3rd World Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) Festival ended with a bang and a flourish with a Gala Night at the ballroom of the posh Heritage Hotel in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
To be more specific, it ended with a cacophony of sounds—the clicking of bamboo sticks, Filipino music, laughter, the pulsating drumming of Paul Zialcita, speeches and live choral songs.
While guests socialized and dined, the ambiance was set by a choral group of a cappella singers, a champion vocalist from Amadeo, Cavite, and several ethnic dances featuring dancers in colorful costumes, including the Muslim-inspired “singkil.”
DEMONSTRATIONS AND AWARDS
Honored guests from a spectrum of government and sports bodies officially kicked off the festivities with welcoming speeches. These honored guests and offices included the following :
Engr. Jose Dion D. Diaz, Chairman/President, Philippine Indigenous Games & Sports Savers Association, Inc.
Robert Dean Barbers, General Manager, Philippine Tourism Authority
Office of the Governor of the Province of Cavite
This was followed by exciting demonstrations of Filipino martial arts by an array of performers ranging from very young children to some of the most well known grandmasters and masters in the Philippines.
Some of the more scintillating performances came from the following masters and their groups:
- Mike Vasquez of Modified Tapado
- Jon Escudero of LESKAS
- Roberto Labaniego of LSAI (Lightning Scientific Arnis)
- Jerry Evangelisan of Dekiti-Tirsia.
- Rodel Dagooc and Jerry de la Cruz going mano y mano
- Modern Arnis Masters and guros of IMAFP led by Grandmaster Cristino Vasquez.
Certificates of Participation were then presented to the numerous international delegates as well as local participants. The certificates themselves were unique, since they were artistically framed in mats made from leaves, called “banig.”
Many awards and commendations were also handed out, too numerous to mention. Some of these included awards to the following :
- Master Roland Dantes – head of a new international council of arnis, eskrima and kali instructors.
- Grandmaster Rene Tongson – chairman of the organizing committee of the 3rd Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) Festival.
- The International Commissioners of IMAFP – Master Godofredo Fajardo for the Middle East, Edessa Ramos for Europe, Jay de Leon for North America, and Abner Anievas for Hong Kong.
GUESTS
It was indeed a star-studded event. Many of the guests, delegates and instructors wore semi-formal attire, the men in elegant “barong tagalogs” and the ladies in dinner dresses.&
In addition to the grandmasters, awardees and other performers already mentioned, some of the guests included :
- Grandmaster Reynaldo Galang of Bakbakan International, from Lodi, New Jersey, USA.
- Grandmaster Christopher Ricketts of Kalis Ilustrisimo, from San Diego, California, USA.
- Graciella Casillas, boxing, kickboxing and WEKAF champion, from Oxnard, California, USA who came with friend Linda Pulido, also a WEKAF champion.
- Guro Arnold Noche of Lameco, from Los Angeles, California, USA who came with his uncle.
- Nina Terol, publisher, writer and designer from Manila.
- Jaime L. Bautista, publisher and writer of Nautilus Comics and other publications from Manila.
TRIBUTE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
On the giant screen, in a slide presentation produced by his production company, guro Mike Gubat presented a moving tribute to arnis masters who had passed away. Among those featured were Grandmaster Saturnino Quinto Fabia of Sinkatan Estrella from Manaoag, Pangasinan, Master Vicente “Inting” Carin of Doce Pares, George Brewster of Boston, USA, Elmer Ybanez of LESKAS, Professor Florendo Visitacion (also known as Prof. Vee) and many others.
The last one presented was Professor Remy Amador Presas, Father of Modern Arnis.& As several images of the beloved founder were flashed on the screen, many of his students in the audience, many now masters in their own right, wept openly and hugged each other.
Grandmaster Rene R. Tongson then announced the formal launch of a world-wide Modern Arnis federation called “World Brotherhood of Modern Arnis” with IMAFP as the core founding member organization. Several organizations and grandmasters not originally with the IMAFP agreed to join as founding members, including GrandMasters Rodel Dagooc, Jeremias de la Cruz and others.
It was also announced that the 4th World FMA Festival next year 2007 will be held in Germany, to be hosted by Senior Master Dieter Knuettel’s DAV (Deutsche Arnis Verband).
THE AFTERMATH
Long after the Gala Night formally ended, many lingered in the ballroom to take pictures, exchange business cards or contact information, or just mingle with the masters, delegates or celebrities in attendance. Others broke into smaller groups to have drinks or coffee at the hotel lobby or restaurant, and any other available nook and cranny at the hotel.
Still others actually walked to nearby bars to continue their own celebration into the wee hours of the night. It was obvious that almost all were reluctant for the fun-filled night to come to an end.
PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To me, this has been a homecoming of sorts. The last time I was in the Philippines was more than a dozen years ago. It took the 3rd World FMA Festival to get me home.
I would like to acknowledge a few people who made this Festival a joyous occasion for me.
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To my guro of many years, Senior Master Godofredo Fajardo of Filipino Fighting Arts International, home at least for a while from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was great seeing you, and training with you again.
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To my mentors and peers from IMAFP who helped my son Mitch and myself with private training, including Grandmasters Rene Tongson and Cristino Vasquez, as well as guros Mike Gubat, Roy de Leon, Jimson Dearos and Cocoy Oyales. My son Mitch would also like to thank GM Tongson for the gift of a custom “tres puntas” training knife.
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To various delegates for their friendship, especially to my training partner from the German delegation, Silvia, who also taught me German.
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To my children who accompanied me on this leg of our Philippine odyssey, my son Mitch and my daughter Paulina. I love you, and it was a joy to share this experience with you.
CONCLUSION
My training partner from Germany, Silvia, taught me a new German word, “herausforderung” meaning “challenge.” Yes, there were a lot of challenges presented by the Festival—logistical challenges, language barriers, even cultural and geo-political frictions.
But I think that on the whole, both organizers and delegates rose to the occasion and followed the spirit of the legacy of Prof. Presas, that of hard training in authentic Modern Arnis, respect for one’s instructor, peer, and even adversary, and deep friendship and camaraderie with the family of Modern Arnis, in the Phil. or any part of the globe for that matter.& The 3rd World FMA Festival achieved this in no small measure, and the new global Modern Arnis organization hopes to fulfill this mission in the years to come.
See you next year in Germany for the 4th World FMA Festival!
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas at ang Arnis!
Copyright, Jay de Leon 2006
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