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Permalink Reply by terry joven on March 8, 2010 at 2:56pm

Great post Ramyer. All Bahala Na Multi-Style instructors feel the same way about the late Leo Giron. We are a fairly big club here in Northern California. We wish only to give back the gift that was given to us. We all teach for the sake of teaching Leo Giron's escrima. None of us receive any money for the many hours that we put in weekly, that goes from the head of club Maestro Dexter Labonog, cheif instructor June Gotico and the rest of us. We just do it for the love of escrima and to stay together as a brotherhood. Bahala Na!

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Permalink Reply by Ramyer Asonalleba on March 8, 2010 at 6:34pm

Very fitting to the Bahala Na! principles, regardless of what would be the outcome as long as you guys stick together.

I am pretty much sure that Grand Master Leo Giron's dream was also accomplished by his devoted followers like you. It is a good feeling in the end that we were able to realized someone's dream by putting up and sharing our devotion and passion towards the Art that we dearly loved.

We salute all our mentors and teachers for molding us to what we are right now and for sharing that important cultural values and moral discipline unto us and we pledge with our own honor to follow the same path where we can be as one brothers and sisters. Bahala Na ang Dios!

Kudos! and more power to your group and Mabuhay ang FMA!

Mapasalamaton!
LSK-MA

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Permalink Reply by Brian "Buzz" Smith on March 13, 2010 at 10:27am

It is too bad that many Grand Masters , Masters, and followers of the martial arts of the Philippines do not hold true to these values. I have seen many students cut loose when they question the validity of using Japanese terms or using obvious Japanese techniques and calling them Filipino. I believe there is a place for incorporating ideas or formulas into an art to keep it current, but the obvious plagerizim of forms and fabrication of history to suit the needs is not honest or beneficial to the arts in general.

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Permalink Reply by Black Swan Tactical on March 16, 2010 at 3:18am

Brian "Buzz" Smith, very interesting point. This point brings up many interesting things that I would like to expound upon.

To address your question:
When a new technique is created, given the complexity of the Japanese name for every technique, assuming I use the Internet to create my new art should I force my students to learn all of the old nomenclature now containing a new prefix or suffix?

Ok so if we look at my site on YouTube for the study of combat arts and expand upon an existing Judo technique lets see what happens. Lets say I use a Japanese technique, a Sutemi Waza - sacrifice technique called either Yoko Tomoe Nage or Tomoe Nage, and I add to the technique the means for using one of the following weapons before or after the technique a #1) a karambit, #2) a kukri, #3) a bolo, #4) a straight blade knife, #5) a Japanese sword...it looks like we are up to about a dozen possible names if we are rigid. I think the best plan for something like this would be to name the technique for the target audience so that we can discuss the technique in class and so that the students have a reference in their mind for the technique so they can remember it. In this case I might call it "Backward roll with weapon strike."

Now on to the broader issue:
To cut to the chase, I will summarize my dissertation for you, "As to those that come to you to learn your art, give it to them immediately and put your name on them because the mcdojo down the street had your technique yesterday and if they get the student then you have nothing."

Good books to read regarding this issue would be Thomas L. Friedman's, "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century," and "Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0." In essence nobody cares what you know, you have no influence on them, they have it already or can develop it for pennies on the dollar. What you know means nothing to anyone but yourself and you are deluded to think you matter to anyone.

Right or wrong you bring up an interesting point. It would be interesting to see, but a true phylogenetic database composed of all techniques and tactics that have been used in "conventional battlefield warfare" from the beginning of recorded history to today, from all military campaigns and martial arts that take in to account all attacks and defenses, hand to hand with and without weapons that fit into small arms would take tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, at least a decade of work from thousands of cultural, social and sports scientists, historians and martial artists.

I have a video on my YouTube portal that was given to me today under the playlist, "MA - JP - Karate" that states that all Karate forms in Japan descended from Okinawan Karate, which was brought to Japan from Chinese martial artists! My portal is going to be a clearning house for data related to the combat arts. Do you happen to know what the Chinese names for all of the techniques or since most of the Japanese language is from China, maybe the techniques were not renamed. Does anyone know? And can you imagine the amount of research this would require to locate the original names in China if they have not been recorded? It is possible they are recorded but this is just one instance.

Now in 2010 consider that with the broadcast technologies available any technique ever known to man and those created and used in the next UFC match are available on the Internet and in use around the globe within minutes. Seminars are being given by all manner of martial artists all over the globe. Anyone blocking access to the information is ignorant, it cannot be done at all and I have had people tell me that certain instructors do not place their moves on the Internet and that is the way it is so there is no way to promote them. I have one question, exactly how different are your art's moves? We only have two arms, two legs, only exist in and move in so many dimensions and it is 2010. What is the chance that what you know is important to anyone who cannot find it in literally hundreds of other arts? Zero. The only reason to have a name for an art in 2010 is so that you promote who YOU are, so that those that want to hang with you or train with you see some name, you sell some DVDs, T-Shirts, drinking mugs, nothing else and the only reason why they buy your DVD over anyone else's is convenience and/or marketing. Within five to ten years all arts and all techniques will be out on the table for all to see if they are not already. Anyone not publishing everything now, is completely denying themselves the ability to be the historical foundation or footnote for the techniques in their art. They will be completely forgotten.

Every time anyone produces a martial arts magazine, a video for YouTube, a martial arts movie for entertainment produced for distribution on film, a still photo sequence is unearthed at your grandfather's home showing a technique that you then publish, will cause an amalgam of techniques to take place and they will be used by hundreds if not thousands of others as soon as they are seen by others and there is no way to stop it. Everyone everywhere is sharing ideas. Everyone is posting information.

The ability to know where most techniques come form in ten years is going to require massive amounts of historical research and deep technical frame by frame image analysis because all of the arts are going to merge unless they are very fundamental and practiced for historical reasons. Everyone is now and will forever be using everyone else's techniques and there is NO WAY to stop it. This idea that you protect techniques is passe, over, cannot be done.

I would very much love to create my own martial art and have some really great ideas but I would like to be able to study martial arts, something difficult to do if you do not have a lot of time or money available or access to the martial arts themselves. I am sure that I am not unique. Ok, so what level of access to ANY art does anyone need in 2010 to come up with their own art considering that it is 2010 and we have all the techniques available in FREE broadcast media?


Soon to be the finest, "Combat & Martial Arts Channel" on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/EditorialResponse

Talk to you later!
Thomas

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Permalink Reply by terry joven on March 25, 2010 at 6:02pm

Tommy
Your killing me with all these big words! No offense bro but my eyes get cross-eyed and i think i'm going to get a headache.
Bahala Na escrima is very simple. You train hard you develop skills to save your life. From your training with us u know that simplicity is the key to success in combat! There are millions of techniques out there but when it really come down to it. Whatever you have practiced and sweated over and over again will come to you when you need it! Sweat the move Brother!
Can't wait to see ya on the West Coast!
Bahala na!
terry

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Permalink Reply by Black Swan Tactical on March 26, 2010 at 12:15am

Hahahaha... this is what happens when I don't have a regular gf! I need to get back to the books so I can make sure I make it back to Silicon Valley / Nor Cal where I belong.

I really appreciate the invite from the Bahala Na, which is the best combat weapons training I've ever had the pleasure to train in and whose players are second to none in Stockton, which is the epicenter of hand to hand combat in the USA.

Lets see what I can do...

Sincerely,
Thomas

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Permalink Reply by Ramyer Asonalleba on March 15, 2010 at 5:47pm

Mr. Brian,

I am sorry if you feel that way and honestly, I can only speak for most of what FMA is all about and believed in. If ever you have noticed that from other practitioner and if you think that is is what you think is Plagiarism then that is your opinion and everybody is entitled to his views. I am open to other people's views and opinion.

We should look into cultural, historical and events in the past and let us try to identify if those occupation if have some kind of influence or effect in the Filipino culture. In everything we do, we always wanna make more effective and somehow we evolved and perhaps from our outside influence, then it doesn't mean we have to remain stagnant and static.

We adopt on what is useful and effective and learned from our adversaries and make it effective, just like in battle we mimic from animalistic behavior as part of our defense mechanism. We are adoptive and free, creative. The origin of Martial arts is not known, the fact that human learned to survived for so many years against the most destructive species on the planet. It is human nature to evolved and don't remained static and anything is possible at all.

Humans are not perfect to these kind of nature and values only reflect to what you practiced and not what they tend to say it is. Values cannot be measured by what people tend to say but by every did and practices that we ought to do in our daily lives.

Hopefully, I was able to open up your mind and widen your views that sometimes it is not what we say it is,but it is what we meant to do. We do constantly learned and reflect from our mistakes and we can only go forward and find our common grounds to achieve our goals and aspirations in life, half a step forward is sometimes better than a full step backwards when you want to go a certain path of that journey.

We can only be true to ourselves and hiding will never get us to our directions and that is part of my belief, my journey, my passion and the Art I Loved.

Mapasalamaton!
LSK-FMA

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