On June 2-4 the 2006 The 5th Annual World Modern Arnis Alliance Training Camp was held in West Seneca, New York.

One of the first instructors was Master Hiroki Kimura, a Shorinji-Kempo and Kendo instructor from the Buffalo area. Kimura taught some extremely effective pressure point techniques. I’d seen a number of these before, but Master Kimura showed slightly different angles of application that made a number of the techniques much more effective. He had me screaming in pain, which is one of the finest compliments I can give the man.

Guro Paul Janulis taught his bolo program for intemediate to advanced martial artists. Janulis, an articulate and energetic instructor, had camp members practice single and multiple threat line exercises. Using “Smak-Stiks,” students formed up and fed pre-arranged attacks to a each other in an assembly line fashion. Students on the receiving end had to evade and counter-attack, attempting to “crash and orbit” in an effort to get behind their attackers. Paul had multiple hand-outs for the students with information on the history of the bolo as well as an outline for his period of instruction. Outlines like this are a rare thing at seminars. Students--who are data hogs--are quick to scarf them up.

Punong-guro Rick Manglinong reviewed his double stick methods, which was helpful for veterans of previous camps. Later in the camp he tuaght empty hand striking and trapping methods that were based on the double stick techniques. I talked to Rick off the mat and he said he teaches his younger students the empty hand methods first, and then later puts a stick in their hands. Either way, his linking of the stick and hand techniques is extremely practical and a useful tool for any instructor.

Datu Tim Hartman taught Balintawak stick fighting techniques required for 2nd and 3rd dan rank in the WMAA curriculum. The instructors present were able to polish their skills while picking Tim’s brain and clarifying small points. The section was well structured for beginners, however, and the information wasn’t over anyone’s heads.

NAPMA president Rob Colasanti gave the school and club owners two highly professional presentations on marketing and developing their programs. Colasanti is a glib and confident lecturer with outstanding presentation skills. His thesis, essentially, is that we can teach martial arts professionally and without compromising our standards...and make a living at it.

The “headliner” for the camp was Lameco Escrima’s Guro Roger Agbulos. Agbulos was one of the personal students of the late, great Edgar Silute, founder of Lameco. Roger is a bright, charismatic, and funny man. He started out the seminar by sparring Smak-Stiks with one of my black belts, Eric Charles. Eric--no slouch with a stick--quickly came to appreciate Roger’s method. Roger taught a long range method of stick fighting that emphasized efficiency. Students were cautioned to keep their elbows in and to not telegraph strikes by large movements or “loading” of strikes. When sparring with Eric he’d take advantage of this. Eric would raise his elbow, and Roger would nail Eric on his “load.” On the second day Roger taught the camp members long range, medium, and short range knife fighting techniques. Students learned to close the gap on an opponent and finish them with a movement that literally had them hip to hip with their attacker.

Saturday evening’s traditional banquet was catered by Dave Monolopolus’s Market in the Square grocery. The meal was excellent, consisting of two entrees, various salads, potatos and rolls. The killer for our waistlines was the dessert: little mini-cheesecakes and creampuffs that set people’s eyes rolling when they popped them into their mouths. Being a member of the board of directors and a black belt, I showed great self-control and discipline. I only ate twenty of them.

The 5th Annual WMAA camp was a good opportunity for instructors and students from around the country to network, socialize, and share their knowledge of the martial arts. Like all the camps before it and those to follow, it was a time to grow the art; and to let the art grow within us.

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