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From The Curator… January 7, 2007 I am writing a book about the history of Filipino Martial Arts in the US. The time frame will be from the 50’s to the 90’s. If you have reference material, photos, clippings or archival documents pertaining to the people in the list below in the period of time mentioned, or are willing to be interviewed yourself, please contact me. I will publish the appropriate acknowledgements in the book, or any article I might publish. Thank you. Jay de Leon List of FMA Personalities December 21, 2006 The holiday season is upon us, or have been upon us for a while now. I have just been ignoring it. I just want to wish you and yours a merry but blessed Christmas. If you are one of those offended by the word Christmas, have a happy holidays. For those who regularly “patronize” the museum, I thank you. We have some tenuous connection-martial arts, Filipino Martial Arts, Modern Arnis, the Philippines, internet networking, etc. Some of you are probably surfers. But our common bond is really belonging to the human race. Deep down, we have the same aspirations, same fears, same needs. So enjoy Christmas and good will to your family, loved ones and friends. But try to celebrate it with the whole human race as well. We need some tradition of peace and inclusion, even for such a short period of time. God knows there is enough strife and ill will the whole year round. Maligayang Pasko. August 22, 2006 My book about my experiences in Mindanao is now available at the online store. It is in e-book form titled “Mindanao Jottings.” As an added bonus for a limited time, you get another e-book titled “Philippine Odyssey 2006” which documents the 3rd World FMA Festival 2006 and other events of my trip to the Philippines, with about 200 original pictures. For those not familiar with “Mindanao Jottings,” here is a blurb about the book. “A few years out of college, Jay de Leon traded a corporate job as a junior executive in an American pharmaceutical firm in Makati, the Philippine commercial district, for the rough-and–tumble life of road construction work in rebel-infested Mindanao in the southern Philippines. In “Mindanao Jottings,” Jay gives us a historical as well as a personal glimpse of those turbulent times in the 70’s. Interspersed are well-known events in Philippine history such as the declaration of Martial Law and the Christian versus Moslem armed conflicts of the times, with institutional problems such as graft and corruption and political violence, along with religious and social mores of the times involving love, sex and relationships.” Thank you and happy reading. June 7, 2006 I would just like to alert you to two new features in the Museum site. The first is the Forum. This will give us a chance to exchange ideas, share experiences and possibly even make friends. Initially, the Forum’s main topics will be martial arts, history and economics, and culture and current events. If the participation gets really heavy, we can always expand the topics. The Forum will open on Aug. 1, 2006. I will be leaving soon for the Philippines to attend the FMA Festival in Tagaytay and Manila, among other events. If you are going there, please make sure to say hi to me. Then we can start chatting at the Forum when I get back. The second feature is the pixel board. Please take a look and patronize the advertisers there or even select a few pixels and advertise yourself. It is a fun, easy, inexpensive and effective way to advertise. Thanks to you, the Museum is receiving a lot of visitors (hits) and your ad should get a lot of exposure from the pixel board. Thanks again for the support and the participation.April 16, 2006 I was pleasantly surprised at the huge number of emails I received the past couple of weeks after the Filipino Martial Arts Museum was launched. To those that wrote simply to complement the site, or the effort, thank you for the kind words. To those that offered constructive criticism, my sincere thanks also. But my appreciation really goes out to those who wrote with invaluable information for inclusion in the lists or articles. Special mention goes out to Sonny Padilla from Canada, Peter Gow from Australia and Perry Gil Mallari, Rohnee Tiong Gumpal, Roland Isla and Rommel San Pedro from the Philippines. Thank you, gentlemen. Most of their new information I have immediately included in the site. But there are also considerable suggestions or leads that I would have to research or investigate. Unfortunately, there are no cyber assistants or docents in the museum. It might therefore take some time to research or validate some information as the Curator utilizes his investigative and didactic powers of analysis to ferret out the historical truth. But do not let this deter you from submitting more material or offering suggestions and advice. Our historical journey has just begun. Hopefully it will be an illuminating and fun journey. Stay tuned for upcoming updates to the lists and exciting additions to the Filipino Martial Arts Museum. April 1, 2006 The Filipino Martial Arts Museum is now open for business, and I will be accepting submissions. Since this is a virtual or cybermuseum, I will be accepting only digital submissions. If you insist on mailing me actual or physical objects, like a manuscript, there is no guarantee they will be digitalized and displayed or published in the museum, or will be returned to you. Submissions should pertain to Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) or pertinent aspect of Filipino culture or history. They may be of any length, but I reserve editorial powers. Just a reminder. Submissions are not limited to articles and pictures of people and events. You may submit pictures of weapons, diplomas, uniforms, training equipment, etc. The more unique and historical they are, the more valuable they are to the Museum. It will be helpful to submit an accompanying caption, and I will publish the appropriate acknowledgement. Thank you for the anticipated participation. |
