Many of us have a
style of martial arts that we love to do: Brazilian Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do,
Aikido, etc. As a first timer practitioner
of any martial arts, Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) is the art that intrigues me
the most and I wanted to learn more about it. FMA allows me to learn the basic movements with a stick made
out of rattan, also called as baston.
It helps me understand the fundamentals of movement as I started
training. During my progress, this
style allows me to use any weapon in my possession (sword, knife, clothing,
even empty hands) and possibly do some techniques I couldn't do when I first
began. Plus, it helps me to get
into better shape when I was training for a tournament or in a seminar with
other instructors. After the first
3 years of training, I was in better shape than I was in high school and
college, and my skills continued to develop by learning other styles of FMA,
from different other instructors and discipline. Such as Yaw Yan a Filipino version of kickboxing.
I choose FMA instead
of the more popular style many are familiar with. It was during my final year at UC Riverside, that I started
practicing FMA. I thought that
this was just going to be a martial arts training but it allowed me to learn
more about my Filipino Culture and its fighting history. After I graduated, I wanted to continue
training and learn other styles of FMA, as well as be able to compete in local
tournaments that has a very different format of sparring. I also wanted to gain more confidence
in myself and be able to pass it on to my future kids and grandkids and let
them hear why I decided to practice this martial art. Lastly, I wanted to take everything what I learned from
various styles of FMA and other martial arts styles and use it as my own. This may be a long task as I progress,
but with the knowledge I will gain from the seminars I am planning to attend,
it will definitely benefit me in the long run.
There are many
reasons why I love doing FMA, and some are even harder for me to describe
it. The one special thing you will
immediately notice is that FMA is a community. In any tournament or seminar I go to
with my school, Filipino Martial Arts School a subsidiary of Visayan Legacy
Association, I get a chance to meet some of the different schools and their
fighters who share the same passion as I do. I am very blessed to fight these battles, attain knowledge,
and develop friendships with them from all over the world, and I am looking
forward for more to come.
Do not be fooled,
as welcoming as the FMA community is, it is for fighting, and I love getting a
chance to compete. Whenever I
train for Global Stick and Blade Alliance through their Regional, National, and
World tournaments, I can feel the mandirigma (warrior in Filipino) spirit as
then the urge to compete as I wear my armor and headgear, I prepare for battle. I calm my heart and steady my mind, as
I walk into the ring amped and ready to fight. My theme song playing as if I was a wrestler fighting in
WWE’s WrestleMania.
Above all else,
the true reason why I love FMA so much is that I see it as a family. Let us be honest. We may battle against each other to see
who is a better fighter, or we may argue at certain things that is not related
to FMA. Yet we all support each
other in any circumstances, whether it's from school/work or personal
lives. It really doesn't matter if
I'm from San Diego, a teammate of mine is from Riverside, or a fellow
competitor is from Germany, we're there for each other and that type support is
pretty much the icing on the cake.
