FCS Gathering

[Leo Daher]

Hello All,


Guro Ray Dionaldo will be holding a Filipino Combat Systems (FCS) Gathering in Clearwater, FL on January 25 and 26. Material covered will include empty hand, stick and blade, with quite some time dedicated to the use of the kerambit, one of Ray's specialties.
Besides being the head of FCS, Guro Ray is one of the highest-ranking instructors in the Sayoc Kali organization, and holds teaching certifications in several Filipino Martial Arts systems. This FCS Gathering will be open to the general public, so everyone is welcome.
For more details, go to the FCS website (http://fcskali.com/).

[arnisandyz]

Hey Leo,

I am sure I ran into you before at some of the other Gatherings last year, but I'll make it a point to track you down and say hello. We're small enough to where everyone should know each other. Look for me, a little Filipino guy (smaller than Ray ), I'll probably be hanging out with Aldon and Cthulhu. I got a chance to meet Harold (Palisut) who is also a MT board member at the last gathering. Hey Cthulhu, I made a new Kerambit, its a bit larger than the other, you might like it better since you have large hands. I'll show it to you on Sunday, you might want one for this seminar, I'm sure Ray will also have some for sale the day of the seminar.

[Guro Harold]

Hi Andy,

The last gathering was awesome!!! I definitely saw both you and Leo at the last Gathering. Leo primarily was training toward the back of Rick's dojo, while you and Aldon were working closer toward the entrance.

Looking forward to coming down for this Gathering as well. I will be also selling the Kerambit video that we produced for Ray, it is off the chain!!!

Palusut

[Cthulhu]

I'll have to check out that new kerambit, but I'll probably need to just borrow it for the Gathering, since I won't have any money left after paying for two days :D

Cthulhu

[Leo Daher]

Hi Andy,

I think I know who you are... Did you have a training Gununting with you at the last Gathering? Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the gang in a few days.

Harold,

How is it going? :)
Please, save me a copy of that Kerambit video! I'll be geting one for sure.

This Gathering should be even better than the previous ones - and I know Ray is already working on a future event that is destined to rock! :D

[SonnyPuzikas]

Leo-don't give out secret too early... But the event in near future-maybe around october...- WILL rock for sure... See you all at the gathering.

Russian dude-Sonny
Progressive Combat Concepts

[Leo Daher]

Don't worry, Sonny - my lips are sealed! ;)

BTW, I'm looking forward to your Kuntao demo at the Gathering.

[Guro Harold]

Hi Leo, your tape will be there!!!

[Leo Daher]

Originally posted by Palusut
Hi Leo, your tape will be there!!!

Cool! :D

[Guro Harold]

Hi Sonny,

Looking forward to your Kuntao demo. Best of luck to you and KennyG at Progressive.

Palusut

[Cthulhu]

Does anyone have an idea of what will be covered on what day? It's probably a pointless question, since Ray usually starts out with, "So what do you guys want to do?", but I thought I'd ask anyway :)

Cthulhu

[arnisandyz]

Leo,

yeah that was me with the gununting.

Hey guys, checkout my new kerambits, i just finished them! The bigger one in the background doesn't really show it in the picture, but its huge compared to the other ones I've made. The handles are made out of oak slabs that I burned (for decorative reasons).

Look forward to seeing everybody - 9 days and counting!

Andy

[Cthulhu]

I definitely need to play with that big'n this Sunday!

Cthulhu

[Guro Harold]

Great job Andy, I am sure the kerambits are as good as the gununting sword that you made!!!!

[AldonAsher]

Andy,

The new kerambits look great! Can't wait to test them out this weekend. See you and Cthulu on Sunday.

[Leo Daher]

Nice Kerambits, Andy! That Gununting was pretty cool too BTW.

[arnisandyz]

Thanks everybody. Those kerambits are a pain to make!

[Cthulhu]

Hey, guys...should I bring my helmet and gloves, or are we not going to worry about that for this gathering?

Cthulhu

[Leo Daher]

Originally posted by Cthulhu
Hey, guys...should I bring my helmet and gloves, or are we not going to worry about that for this gathering?

Cthulhu

I don't think that will be necessary... At least I haven't heard anything from Ray that would indicate that.

[Cthulhu]

Whoops, I should have been more specific. That question was addressed to AldonAsher and arnisandyz.

Cthulhu

[Cthulhu]

Alright, I'll be off to Tampa tonight for the Gathering. Anyone know what's in store? I gather there will be kerambit work, obviously knife and stick work, and demos from Systema and Kenpo people?

Cthulhu
see some of you there!

[Cthulhu]

First day of the Gathering was a blast. As usual, everyone was incredibly nice, particularly the ones beating the crap out of me. Got to meet a few of our board members, which was very cool. LOTS of kerambit work. Demos by Maurice (try to get his last name later), Ron Boswell, Sonny Puzikas, and Rick DeAguila. Some single stick work and lots of playing. Palusut got to bang me up a bit :)

I'll do a better review when I get back home. I'm still a wee bit banged up, and I've got a whole other day of it today.

Cthulhu

[Cthulhu]

Second day was also a blast! Stick work, mainly working on transitions. Demo before the break by Eric Porshen (sp?), giving an impressive demonstration of Bo Sayoc's pain compliance techniques with a stick. After the break, Rick DeAguila gave a very interesting demostration with a short stick and Sonny Puzikas gave an eye-opening demo on bodyguard/protective services work, as well as showing us many deadly (and lovely) toys. Rest of the day was spent on knife, kerambit, and sikal work, followed by awarding of certificates, promotions (congrats Palusut, one of FCS's newest full instructor!), and photos.

Again, more complete review is planned when I get home. Got to get back to the Superbowl!

Cthulhu

[Cthulhu]

Before I get started, I'll apologize for any misspelled names right off the bat.

This past weekend, 1/25-1/26, Guro Ray Dionaldo held the first FCS Family Gathering of 2003, once again hosted at Rick DeAguila's Hapkido school in Clearwater, FL.

The turnout seemed to be much bigger than my last Gathering in March 2002, with 25-30 participants present when I arrived on Saturday afternoon. As usual, many travelled quite some ways to get there, Palusut coming from NC, Mr. Ron Boswell from UT, and a group up from Puerto Rico. And as usual, the atmosphere was more of a family reunion than a seminar as people met for the first time or got reacquainted with friends from the last gathering.

In a departure from Ray's traditional "what do you guys wanna do?" approach, he actually had a plan for the gathering. After the formal bow/salutation, we got started with kerambit work. Basics were covered very quickly before moving on to more complicated material. Though some of the concepts and techniques were somewhat complicated, the training progression was very smooth and clear, broken down so that each movement taught flowed into the next, both giving time for everybody to get up to speed and allowing others to move ahead and create on their own. Many thanks to arnisandyz for the kerambit he gave me. Even though many of the techniques could be accomplished with a small blade in pakal grip, the feel of the kerambit was much better.

After much kerambit work there was a series of demonstrations. Marrese Crump gave a very good demonstration that would have appealed to MMA-ists and any who crosstrain in the arts, providing a means of organizing all the skills and techniques learned in your various arts so that they flow naturally in a self-defense situation. Ron Boswell, a kenpo stylist who came down all the way from Utah, gave an impressive display of his interpretation of American Kenpo, breaking down some of the most basic motions to demonstrate how both power and speed can be generated. For a big guy, he moves freakishly fast! Sonny Puzikas gave a demonstration of Huc Chung Kuntao, explaining some of their footwork and body movement in relation to strikes, as well as effectively demonstrating how brutally effective the motions are in one of the more 'innocent' looking forms. Finally, Rick DeAguila gave us a demonstration of cane techniques, showing us how he's successfully merged the hapkido techniques with FMA concepts. Do not ask him to 'check your oil'. Trust me, you won't like it.

A short break followed the demos, and we started back up with single stick work. Transitions and switches are a big part of FCS stickwork, and we worked on them for quite a bit, utilizing them in break-in/break-out and tapi-tapi drills. During one of the technique explanations, Ray's Red Bull kicked in and he went into a blistering display of stickwork, explaining and showing his Sayoc Kail, Modern Arnis, and Pekiti-tirsia influences, while tossing his demonstration partner around like a rag doll. Once we figured out what he was originally trying to demonstrate, we went back to stick work for a while longer.

Eventually (two hours after the seminar was supposed to end :) ), we ended for the day, but not before boardmember Palusut got to bang me around for a bit. I got to meet quite a few MartialTalk members that day, which was icing on the cake. While others went out for dinner or partying, I went back to rest my sore body.

Day two started as a continuation of the stickwork covered the previous night, again working transitions and switches, moving between largo, medio, corto, and 'corto-corto' while incorporating switches. Before we broke for lunch, Eric Porschen gave an impressive demonstration of locks and pain compliance with a stick. As usual, everyone enjoyed watching Rico being tossed around and tapping out. After a big lunch, Rick DeAguila gave a demonstration of a short stick, similar to the yawara, but with a lanyard attached, showing similarities between the short stick work and FMA knife techniques. This was followed by another demo by Sonny Puzikas, this time going over bodyguard/protective services concepts and drills, as well as showing off some wicked 'toys'. The rest of the day covered knife work, more kerambit work, sikal, and combinations of the three, with the usual flowing training progression. At the end of the day, promotion announcements were made, and as I've posted earlier, Palusut was made a full instructor of Guro Dionaldo's system, representing FCS in North Carolina. Congratulations!

There was a lot of merchandise on sale at this Gathering. The usual shirts, as well as Ray's training blades. Palusut had the FCS kerambit video for sale. If just a little bit of what was covered at the Gathering is on the video, then I highly recommend it (I'm waiting for the DVD)! Sonny Puzikas also had a wide array of videos for sale, as well as some nice...er...letter openers.

There were lots of cameras at the Gathering, so hopefully some photos of videos will pop up. Again, the atmosphere at the Gathering was casual and friendly, which was remarked upon by Mr. Boswell, who was made welcome by all who attended. There are also other big events in the works, but I'll leave those for others to mention.

I'm sure I made many mistakes and omissions, but I'm sure someone can correct them as they're discovered :)

I had a blast and hope I can make it to the next Gathering!

Cthulhu
ps Al, you were missed by all and everyone hopes for continued improvement.
pss Al, I can never complain about being beat up by you again. I got beat up by Mike!

[Guro Harold]

Hi Cthulhu,

It was great finally meeting and training with you!

The un-official attendance was about 50 people. It was the largest FCS Gathering of record!!!

More news to follow, just got in from trip.

Palusut

[Cthulhu]

Good to hear you NC guys got back alright!

If you see any mistakes or anything I left out, feel free to pipe up!

Cthulhu