Mark Lynn
Master Black Belt
Just wanted to pass on the good news that two of my students were promoted to Lakan Isa and Dayang Isa this weekend at a seminar with Bruce Chui and Jack Hogan.
Kevin and Jackie Bradbury (who does post on MT) came to me almost three years ago after studying with their instructor David Jones who is under Bruce. They had relocated to my area and had looked for a Modern Arnis instructor to train under. Long story short they saw I was on MT but couldn't reach me (my PM box was full), we finally met when I visited a TKD school they were attending. They were my students from then on, a few months later their daughter joined them in leaving that school.
Jackie and Kevin have become great friends over the past couple of years and they have really helped my martial arts program. They have been training with me in class for almost 5 hrs a week since then, as well as training on their own at home on their own time. They take a yearly trek to attend a seminar with Jack and Bruce and to play with their former training partners in arnis. Watching them get ready for this years seminar (as I taught the beginners in class) I could see there was no reason not to test them for their Lakan and Dayan ranks and I decided to have a test for them secretly at the seminar. I called and arranged it with their former instructor and he arranged it with Bruce. I then had to get certs. created, belts ordered, cancel classes and make travel plans to attend the seminar myself.
It was awesome, a complete surprise for them. We (David, Bruce, and I) all watched them work with various students over three hours of play time Friday night and then though out the day on Saturday. As Bruce said the change he saw in them (improvement since the last time he saw them) was huge. Since they didn't know my plans they just played for the sake of learning and testing themselves, therefore we (instructors) all got to see them in their more natural environment.
They were tested under my school's authority Hidden Sword Martial Arts in Presas Arnis which is a combination of Modern Arnis and Kombatan of which I am the chief instructor. All three of us (David, Bruce, and I) signed off on their certs for my school.
Kevin and Jackie Bradbury (who does post on MT) came to me almost three years ago after studying with their instructor David Jones who is under Bruce. They had relocated to my area and had looked for a Modern Arnis instructor to train under. Long story short they saw I was on MT but couldn't reach me (my PM box was full), we finally met when I visited a TKD school they were attending. They were my students from then on, a few months later their daughter joined them in leaving that school.
Jackie and Kevin have become great friends over the past couple of years and they have really helped my martial arts program. They have been training with me in class for almost 5 hrs a week since then, as well as training on their own at home on their own time. They take a yearly trek to attend a seminar with Jack and Bruce and to play with their former training partners in arnis. Watching them get ready for this years seminar (as I taught the beginners in class) I could see there was no reason not to test them for their Lakan and Dayan ranks and I decided to have a test for them secretly at the seminar. I called and arranged it with their former instructor and he arranged it with Bruce. I then had to get certs. created, belts ordered, cancel classes and make travel plans to attend the seminar myself.
It was awesome, a complete surprise for them. We (David, Bruce, and I) all watched them work with various students over three hours of play time Friday night and then though out the day on Saturday. As Bruce said the change he saw in them (improvement since the last time he saw them) was huge. Since they didn't know my plans they just played for the sake of learning and testing themselves, therefore we (instructors) all got to see them in their more natural environment.
They were tested under my school's authority Hidden Sword Martial Arts in Presas Arnis which is a combination of Modern Arnis and Kombatan of which I am the chief instructor. All three of us (David, Bruce, and I) signed off on their certs for my school.
