June 6-8, 2008 Buffalo NY.
On June 6, 2008, the World Modern Arnis Headquarters (Horizon
Martial Arts) was host to the 7th Annual WMAA Training Camp.
Participants were treated to the brand new 5000 sq ft state
of the art facility. Some of the amenities include:
- 2 matted training areas totaling over 2400+ sq ft.
- G
4000 Focus Master.
- Professional Boxing and Kickboxing equipment.
- Impressive pro shop offering a variety of merchandise,
including training equipment, clothing and many other
items.
- Spacious lobby with a big screen TV providing a welcome
rest area or a place to check email complete with
wireless internet.
This
year’s camp featured Grandmasters
Tim Hartman and Rick Manglinong with special guests Grand
Tuhon Nene
Tortal
(Dekiti Tirsia Siradas) and Sensei Gerri DiSanto (MMA/BJJ)
and was a high energy training opportunity to over 30 participants
from all over the continent.
Day
one opened with GM Manglinong teaching a Kombatan session
to get the weekend going. He reviewed
material from previous
camps, then integrated new material into the training. Next
up was the founder of Dekiti Tirsia Siradas, GM Nene Tortal,
who went through the basics of his family system. Everyone
was delighted to see GM Tortal use Datu Hartman as his “crash
test dummy”. As much as the Datu enjoyed helping Grand
Tuhon Tortal, he made sure that others experienced the same “honor”.
By this time everyone had worked up quite an appetite, and
a dinner break followed at the Chinese buffet.
After
dinner, Sensei Gerry Di Santo covered MMA & BJJ
Concepts which also served as an introduction to the new
WMAA Grappling program. Sensei Gerry went over concepts on
transitioning
from stand up into takedowns, ground controls and submissions.
Datu Hartman closed out the training portion of the day with
some old school drills for training the traditional striking
patterns that Professor Presas taught in the 80s.
After
the training sessions, there was a meeting for all of the
camp goers who were planning on
participating in the
WMAA’s
2009 Tour of the Philippines. Many aspects of this trip
were discussed and will be posted on the net as soon as all
arrangements
have been finalized.
Day
2 opened early for Black Belt testing, with several candidates
testing for both Modern Arnis and
Kombatan ranking.
Training
began with GM Tortal continuing his in-depth instruction
of the Dekiti Tirsia system. Closing out the morning sessions
was GM Manglinong who moved the group into more advanced
Kombatan
techniques. The group then broke up for lunch with most
heading to a local restaurant. The afternoon sessions were
opened by
GM Tortal who completed his introduction to the Dekiti
Tirsia system. GM Manglinong was up next with more Kombatan,
with
Saturdays training closed out by Datu Hartman with the
WMAA EDT program and Mano-Mano techniques. After a short
break,
it was time for the banquet, which was a great success
thanks to Janice’s excellent work as always. At the
banquet, GM Tortal was presented with a birthday cake in
honor of his
71st birthday.
The results of the mornings belt testing was announced with
7 testers earning rank promotions in Modern Arnis and/or Kombatan.
This year's Camp Promotions were:
- Edward Mengel - 4th Modern Arnis, 2nd Kombatan
- Michael Milazzo - 2nd Kombatan
- Michael McDonough - 1st Kombatan
- Fern Monti - 1st Kombatan
- Dennis Jenner - 1st Kombatan
- Craig Balcer - 1st Modern Arnis, 1st Kombatan
- Thomas Sam Wolf - 1st Modern Arnis, 1st Kombatan
- Scott Caffrey - 3rd Modern Arnis, 1st Kombatan
- Marion
Kellogg received her Dayang diploma from last year’s
instructor camp.
In addition to these rank promotions, the following people
were also named Chief Instructors for their respective states:
- PG
Sal Todaro – Pennsylvania
- Ed
Mengel – Maryland and Metro DC
- Sam
Wolf – Ohio
It was also announced that while Datu Hartman was in the Philippines,
he was designated Chief Instructor for New York by GGM Ernesto
Presas.
Congratulations to all of the promotees!
As
usual Datu Hartman used the dinner as an opportunity to
discuss future plans and goals for the
WMAA. This year
he announced
the addition of a sports division to the organization.
This will feature anyos (forms), open hand as well as stick
fighting
events. Four tournaments were announced for the ’08
season as follows:
- June 14, 2008 The Pak Classic Mt Gilead, OH
- July 12, 2008 Queen City Laban Laro Buffalo, NY
- August 10, 2008 Can-Am Border Battle St. Catharines,
ON Canada
- October 4, 2008 Queen City Karate Classic Buffalo, NY
After more socializing, the majority of the group retired
to watch the new FMA Arnis-Kali-Eskrima movie produced by and
starring Great GM Ernesto Presas. Both Datu Hartman and GM
Manglinong had cameo appearances in the movie.
Day
3 was a short day, as both GM Manglinong and GM Tortal
had to be at the airport early for their
flights. Datu Hartman
opened up the day with a school owner’s seminar - “The
Value of and Selling Memberships”. Training then was
opened by GM Manglinong who finished off the Kombatan segment
of the camp, followed by Datu Hartman with Advanced Tapi-Tapi.
This year’s camp then closed out with honors given
to the late GM Presas.
Providing photographic services this year again was photographer
and WMAA web designer Bob Hubbard.
