Modern Arnis Minute #9 - Baston Anyo Lima

Modern Arnis Minute #8 - Baston Anyo Apat

Modern Arnis Minute #7 - Baston Anyo Tatlo

Modern Arnis Minute #6 - Baston Anyo Dalawa

Green Lantern Movie Trailer

Modern Arnis Minute #5 - Baston Anyo Isa

Modern Arnis Minute4

Labor Day Weekend with GM Toboada!

This Labor Day weekend I went to Toronto to spend the weekend with Janice and attend a seminar featuring Balintawak Grand Master Bobby Toboada. As always, spending time in Toronto is a good time. I've been visiting there regularly since the early 90's. With it being only two hours away, it's easy to visit for the afternoon or spend the entire weekend.

The Balintawak seminar was held at Sean Tyler's Raging Tiger school. The seminar was well attended by many different FMA groups present. GM Bobby did an excellent job as always. It's nice seeing the similarities, as well as the differences in the different styles of Balintawak. I come from the ungrouped method with is more scenario based as opposed to the grouping method of GM Toaboada. I think both methods have much to offer and I'm looking forward to seeing GM Bobby soon.

I got to spend time with my lady and train with GM Bobby and friends. I live a charmed life!

Grand Master Bobby Taboada with Datu Tim Hartman

Modern Arnis Minute #3 - Two Handed Weapons

Modern Arnis Minute #2 - Double Stick Disarming

Modern Arnis Minute 1

Modern Arnis Minute Promo.avi

Action Magazine Hall of Honors Jan 21 & 22 2011, Tropicana Casino Atlant...

2005 MT M&G - Balintawak

KenpoTalk Georgia Meet & Greet 2009

2010 IMAF Detroit Camp Visit.

On June 25th I visited the IMAF’s Detroit training camp. It has been nine years since my last visit to the Michigan camp. It was good seeing the old crew from back in the day. I was joined by WMAA member Paul Janulis, who has been less visible the last couple years to oversea commitments.

It was good seeing how everyone took Professor’s art and tailored it to themselves. My purpose for the visit was to discuss with the participants the details of the Family Reunion camp scheduled for July 14 - 17, 2011. I was there for most of the day. During the diner break I participated in a meeting with several of the IMAF Masters and Guros to clear the air on some of the issues that have popped up over the years. No miracles happened from this discussion. We aren’t sitting around the campfire singing songs and roasting marshmallows. However we have a much better understanding how and why things happened the way they did.

I think that this meeting between the two organizations helped moving us forward and not dwelling over the past. There are still things that need to be addressed and we may never agree on everything, but there is now less tension between the two groups.

June Olean, NY Presas Arnis seminar review.

June '10 Olean, NY Presas Arnis seminar review.

On Sunday June 13, 2010 I taught a Presas Arnis Seminar at the International Hosinsul Federation School of Self Defense in Olean New York. This school is run by Masters Jeff & Susan Everetts. I started the seminar with elements of the Doble Baston program. We began with the angles of attack and then went into the four double stick defenses. Everyone picked up this material relatively quickly.

From there, I showed the relation of the fourth blocking method ( a variation of hubod) to the EDT (Edged weapons Defensive Tactics) template. The EDT program has been taught to several different Law Enforcement Agencies over the past seven years. The civilian version of the program is not much different from the LE program. Everyone liked the approach of using one defense against multiple attacks. This is a perfect example of why less is more. Another plus of the EDT program is that it can also be utilized against impact weapons as well. This is a huge bonus for those who have limited training time.

I finished the seminar with a variety of solo baston locks, controls and disarms. I used both block-check-counter and Palis-Palis as entries for the techniques. Things were going well, so I decided to change things up. There were a few left handed participants at the seminar, so I decided to work on cross hand (left vs. right and right vs. left) techniques. Prof Presas developed a variety of unmatched handed techniques because he himself was left handed.

The seminar was a great success due to the effort of the participants as well as the staff. I would like to thank the Modern Arnis Black Belts in attendance. From my school, I had Guros Ryan Monolopolus and Fern Monti. We also had Guro Marion Kellog from the Alfred State Modern Arnis Group, as well as Guro Sam Wolf who traveled five hours from Mt Gilead, Ohio to help teach.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the Everetts on joining the WMAA. We are happy to welcome them to our family!

Filipino Martial Arts in Cinema (part 1)

Filipino Martial Arts in Cinema (part 2)

The Story Of The Martial Artist:Part one

May 22nd Ohio Seminar

On May 22nd, 2010 I taught a Presas Arnis seminar at Wolfpak Martial Arts in Mt. Gilead, OH. The drive down was pretty easy. Only a 15 minute delay in the metro Cleveland area. There was one minor headache during the trip. I got word from home that my dogs (Bear & Freyja) decided to go on walkabout. They have a knack for finding ways of getting out of our backyard. No fear though, they always get back in about an hour.

Mr. Wolf and I sent Friday evening going over WMAA business, event schedules and the Edged Weapons cutting templates. At the same time we watched Diana Inosanto’s movie, “The Sensei”. It was an interesting movie. I would have loved to see what they could have done if she had the backing of a big studio.

The seminar went well. I started with teaching the Sumbrada drill. We did the basic six count drill with the group and taught the sungkiti version to Mr. Wolf and one of his instructors. We spent a good portion on Sumbrada. We worked on the medium range of the drill although Mr. Wolf assisted me in a Largo Mano version of the drill. It was the first time I used my Kampilan trainer in an interactive drill. I was pleased with both Mr. Wolf’s and my sword’s performance.

I decided to finish the seminar with elements of my PSC (Progressive Sword Concepts) program. I taught the Edged Weapon Cutting and Thrusting template. In addition, I taught how the templates can be used on one and two handed swords. With the help of Mr. Wolf, I demonstrated how it could also be applied to shorter weapon such as axes, daggers and karambits.

Overall the seminar went very well. The only thing that would have made it better was to take a group photo before some of the participants had to leave. We have scheduled two return events. November 19 – 21, 2010 will be the Ohio State Presas Arnis Camp. We will only be accepting 10 participants for this event. March 12, 2011 will be a one day seminar open to all. For more information on either of these events contact Mr. Wolf of Wolfpak Martial Arts at info@wolfpakmartialarts.com or 419-947-9900.

Queen City Laban Laro and 45th Birthday!

The other weekend I hosted the Queen City Laban Laro VIII and celebrated my birthday at the same time. Both events were a very enjoyable experience. I have seen many martial artists have their body destroyed by the time they reach my age from improper training, over aggressive sparring, or just plain old age. I feel that I am very fortunate that I only have little dings, but overall I am in good health.

Running a tournament on the same weekend as your birthday could be a formula for disaster, but everything this year ran like clockwork. This is the second time we have split off all of the Filipino divisions from the main tournament into its own tournament. We hosted the tournament at our school, Horizon martial Arts, which was more that sufficient room to host this event. We decided to run just two rings for the afternoon which worked out quite well. In addition to our normal local support, we had schools from West Virginia, Minnesota and Toronto, Canada.

The divisions were running fast and furious starting with our youth competitors. The ages of our competitors ran from four to fifty four years old. All of the divisions were jam packed with excitement and none of the age groups failed to entertain the spectators. This year’s point stick fighting champion was Ryan Monolopolus, who is now a two time Laban Laro champion. And this year new women’s champion is Valerine Bachowski. This year we added some new features which included a rebate program for the instructors bringing their students, paid judging and electronic score keeping to our event.

After the event I followed up with many of the participants who had nothing but rave reviews. We are looking forward to next year’s event which will be May 14, 2011. We will be adding double stick sparring as well as knife fighting to our divisions. To keep updated on next year’s event, go to the Queen City Laban Laro website or Facebook group. And finally I would just like to thank everybody for making this year’s event a fun and exciting one

North American Kombatan Conference & Training Camp September 24th & 25th, 2010 Lake Tahoe, California

I’m proud to announce that the North American Chapter of GGM Ernesto Presas’ Kombatan organization will hold its 1st North American Conference. This event will take place on the sunny shores of Lake Tahoe, California. It’s been quite some time since GGM Ernesto Presas has been able to visit us in North America and with today’s economy it is difficult for our members to make the bi-yearly trip to the Philippines. So the senior members of the Kombatan community have decided to take matters into their own hands by hosting this event. This is a great opportunity to be heard and have some input in the future of Kombatan in North America.

Here is the information for the camp so far:

Event:
North American Kombatan Conference & Training Camp

Date:
September 24th & 25th, 2010

Where:
Lake Tahoe, California

Instructors (in alphabetical order):

• Grand Master Robert Castro
• Grand Master Alex France
• GM – Datu Tim Hartman
• Grand Master Rick Manglinong
• More instructors to be added.


Price:
By September 1st
$149 for Kombatan members
$199 for Kombatan members

After September 1st
$175 for Kombatan members
$225 for non-Kombatan members

Group rates are available.

Camp Director:
Grand Master Rick Manglinong http://RickManglinong.com

More information will follow.

Respectfully yours,
Datu Tim Hartman
Grand Master Presas Arnis

Modern Arnis Family Reunion Camp July 14 - 17, 2011

Greetings-

We are rapidly approaching the 10 year anniversary of Grand Master Remy Amador Presas’ death. Since the Professors’ passing, there has been quite a bit of political nonsense. Many of us in the Modern Arnis community contributed to the problem, including myself. I can’t rewrite the past. What I can do is try to help our community move forward, but not alone. I have invited 11 instructors for their assistance with this task. We will put aside our differences and share the art that we were taught by Professor.

I humbly request the members of the Modern Arnis community come together to help us honor our teacher. The road to redemption can be a long, lonely one. I propose that we keep each other company and travel down that road together.

Respectfully Yours,
Datu Tim Hartman
Remy Presas Modern Arnis

Here is the information for the camp so far:

Event:
Modern Arnis Family Reunion Camp “A Time for Healing”

Date:
July 14 - 17, 2011

Where:
Horizon Martial Arts
West Seneca (Buffalo), New York

Instructors (in alphabetical order):

* Dan Anderson
* Bram Frank
* Chuck Gauss
* Tim Hartman
* Dieter Knüttel
* Rick Manglinong
* Rich Parsons
* Edessa Ramos
* Kelly Worden
* Brian Zawilinski

More information will follow.

FMA & Malay Arts Chronicles Interview

FMA & Malay Arts Chronicles Interview

I've been featured in the FMA & Malay Arts Chronicles. Here is the link to a two part interview: http://www.defensivecombat.com/media/FMAChronicles.html

Ebay Scams

Ebay Scams!

Greetings-

I hope everyone tolerates my rant here. For those who don't know Janice (my significant other) or me well, we are ebayers. I recently ran into and issue. I saw a vhs of Remy's Crossada volumes 1 & 2. When I saw it on ebay I was excited! I thought that this could be some lost footage of the Prof. I myself have been in several different video shoots that weren't released before his death and I was hoping that this maybe one of those types of videos.

I won the auction and received my tape. Wouldn't you know it, it was miss advertised. When I put the tape in my vcr I saw that it was volumes 4 & 5 of Prof. original series. I was PISSED!

1. I had contacted the seller to find out what was on the tape. He told me crossada.
2. It was a bootleg of the Prof. video.
3. When I brought it to his attention that it was a bootleg he said "it was listed as a copy" and ignored the point that it was illegal to sell it.

The seller did inform me that I could send the tape back and get a refund, but I wasn't about to let him sell this copy or any other bootleg. In the end Ebay did help me get my money back. So what is the moral of the story? Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware. There is a lot of black market stuff being passed of as licensed original and WE in the know need to police it.

I hope I haven't bore anyone. It's time for me to get off my soapbox.