THIGH PADS NECESSARY OR NOT?

I have heard many times that the GSBA board should outlaw THIGH PADS.  I have heard both sides of the argument and it actually extends further than just thigh pads but hockey gloves.  So let me first what are the arguments. 

For (Outlawing Thigh Pads & Hockey Gloves)

When fighting, the fear of pain or injury sets a mind set of self preservation. As a result a person would be more apt to be more cautious and if they do get hit at a certain spot they will be protective of that one spot. Their whole fight plan changes because of the injury and the need to protect the injured area. I quote Mike Tyson, "Everyone has a game plan until they get punched in the face."  Extra thick padding negates that mentality of self-preservation, they don't have the fear of injury thus creating a false sense of security thinking that the kamikaze style is the way to fight, but in reality it is not. In a real life situation you would not have extra padding. Thus tournaments should make it illegal to wear hockey or thick gloves and thigh pads. Just the standard body armor and helmet. 

Against:

The argument against the outlawing of Hockey Gloves and hockey thigh pads does not refute the above arguments. In fact I personally agree with it. As a practitioner I do not likes to wear a lot of armors. I think the more armor you wear the slower you become. So you become nothing but an oak tree, a stationary target.  Unfortunately that point of view cannot  be afforded here in the United States. 

Our society is a society that is ready to file a lawsuit on anyone irregardless of its merit. The whole suing McDonalds because the person didn't know the coffee was hot is just a long list of frivolous lawsuit clogging up our courts. As a former member of the Global Stick and Blade Alliance USA board of directors as well as WEKAF USA we had to think about the good of the entire organization not just the tournament. Hypothetically, if the directors were to create a rule banning thigh pads and hockey gloves to be worn during matches, that opens up the organization for possible lawsuit. Imagine if a fighter got hurt because we banned thigh pads, and that same person is unable to work due to injury, that fighter has the right to sue the organization for income loss and medical expenses as well any other expenses incured. Then the organization might have to fold due to the lawsuit and believe me the organization does NOT have a lot of money. What the organization can do to limit it's exposure is set a minimum guidelines and discourage competitors from adding on from the minimum. To say they cannot wear a particular protective gear is too dangerous for the organization. 

So at this point I'll let you decide what you think should be done, talk to your regional director and or national director and tell them as a member of GSBA USA in good standing I believe we should...

The Importance of being a Certified Judge or Referee

If you have been to as many tournaments as I have (which btw isn't as many as most) you know that the one thing that can grind the whole tournament to a screeching stop are no judges and or referee's.  But judges and referees are not those who decided to be one five minutes before there first tournament. Quality judges and Referees are hard to come by. 

Imagine the person judging your match have no idea what they are doing?  And then they declare you the looser? How would you feel knowing that the judge is someone who just got pulled out in the audience?  And what if you we're declared the winner.  You know your victory is hallow since its from an inexperienced and unqualified official. 

Any organization whose worth their salt must create programs to train and certify quality officials. And GSBA USA Director Master Steve Del Castillo from Doce Pares Mt. Sac is hosting these certification. And I STRONGLY encourage any school sending any fighter to go to these certification course. That's the only way we can keep the game honest. 

I wonder if the "other" group is doing that? 

The real opponent

We all have it, our very own pre fight ritual. What ever we all need to be able to get us to the place where the warrior meets the ring. But when you prepare yourself I encourage you to consider what or who are your preparing for.  I know there isn't anyway for your to know who you would be facing in the ring at least not till they call your name.  

Sometimes your biggest opponent isn't the guy in front of you. It's that person inside of you that ones that wants to quit in the middle of the third round and your hurting all over and you just don't have any more gas in the tank. That same voice that's get louder and louder as you get tireder and tireder. When you ask yourself is this last mile worth it. Is 99% good enough? 

That's when you find the warrior in you. It is when you say to that voice, I will not be mediocre, I will not settle for good enough and if I go down, then let me go down swinging. 

Last night I had a dream and I've been having dreams that later on comes true.  I've verified this through Tiffany Napial but now I am going to start documenting.

February 18, 2013 I had a dream that I recently asked someone to be my Girlfriend.  We were in an upstairs apartment with a newly installed panoramic painting abstract but beautiful.  Another painting was there previously leaning against the wall covered.  I was sitting on a couch with the girl making sure I would not let go of her hand.  I do not know who this person is.  I did see someone who gave me the artwork and there was someone I recognized.  Guro Henry Cabillion and somehow he wanted to painting leaning on the wall.  And it was important that he knew I was dating this person.

What that means I have no clue but let's see.

WEKAF USA to Raise Dues

It has come to my attention that WEKAF USA's board of directors are planning to raise the dues. As a former member of the board that thought has indeed crossed my mind, with all the things I wanted to do as the Marketing Director the number one issue has always been money.

But before they raise the dues I think a few fundamental questions need to be answered by the board before I agree to the raise.

1) Has the whole issue of who has the right to be called WEKAF USA been resolved?

2) If WEKAF USA is the largest WEKAF INTL member, than what has WEKAF INTL done to accommodate the USA team? For example,
a. Get special rates for USA team to be in one hotel
b. Shouldn't the USA group vote be worth more since we are a majority? I am not asking this to be a snob, but if 10 countries vote against the USA and each of those countries have only 1-2 members while the USA has 160+ then why is our vote only count as one?

3. What benefits do I get now as a WEKAF USA member?

4. What do you plan to add if we raise the dues?

5. Where are my ID cards or School Certificate?

6. How come there are no more ALL MEMBER meetings?

7. How can the board communicate with it's members?

8. What forum do we have to talk about how the last National was ran?

9. As a school member how are you helping me develop my business?

10. How are you making FMA more mainstream?

These are just some questions that need be answered irregardless wether they raise the dues or not.

I encourage all WEKAF USA board to ask their director these questions before they raise the dues.

Sincerely,
Francis Serrano
Former Marketing Director
WEKAF USA
2006-2008




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The bad hand not too bad.

Kawit, empty hand, checking hand, the good hand. Terms i have heard to describe the weaker of the two hands. I know there are many styles of FMA that focuses on different aspects of the style such as footwork or power or even the ranges. There are even styles that teaches doble sobliti (double stick) first. All I believe are important. And what I believe to be more important is the kawit hand or empty hand. As practitioner we know that we differ from the other Martial arts by the teaching of weapon first but another "hidden" aspect is the checking hand. The checking hand although more predominantly taught to media and corto fighters it is essential to us. The empty or kawit hand is there to manipulate our opponent by placing their weapon wherever we choose, by controlling the tempo and the be able to generate a large amount of force in confined spaces.

The checking hand allows us to not only the obvious which is check the opponent's hand but to control it as well. With our checking hand we can manipulate our opponents weapon hand and their body. And if your checking hand is sensitive enough you wouldn't even need to look at your opponent but because you have a tactile connection you already know what he or she is going to do just by the feel of their weapon hand.

Another aspect of the kawit hand is controlling your opponents speed. Because you manipulate your opponent you can set them up to move their body is a position where it would take them an extra 4-5 seconds to reset while only taking you 1. So to your opponent it looks like your faster but in reality you just made them slower.

One of the biggest critics against corto style fighting is the lack of power. Because they're not enough space to generate the proper velocity to ensure maximum damage. But excecuted correct you can us your checking hand to move your opponent towards your weapon while your weapon is moving toward your opponent. Thus generating twice the amount of power in less space.

As you can see the kawit is a strong weapon min any FMAers arsenal. And to sum it up here is what I tell my students.

"Your weapon hand kills your opponent, the other one saves your life."
-Francis T. B. Serrano
Guro Visayan Legacy Association
FMASCHOOL.com

Constantly Improving

Its been hard trying to market FMASCHOOL.com, difficult because I am my own worst client. As someone with marketing experience, I know that its crucial that I follow up with any and all contacts I
might have made in my events. It's important to have a booth ready to go with staff ready to answer any questions that might arise. But it is also important to get their contact info. Just giving them my flyer or business care won't do any good. It is up to the vendor to follow up. I know this, and any marketing person worth his salt knows this. But I can't seem to do it. Maybe this is what keeps me from success. My own lack of follow through?

So with that to any and all who wants to market anything. Showing up isn't good enough anymore, its showing up everyday is what counts. Push for it and never give up on your dream.

Francis




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