Please Add your Modern Arnis Bio!!!

[Guro Harold]

The MT Modern Arnis Forum would like for you to submit your bio so that people can learn about you. Rank is unimportant. Its time for a MA meet and greet!!!

 

[arnisador]

I'm a nobody, but I think this thread was a nice idea so I'll try to help things along! I started Modern Arnis seriously in 1987, though I had been introduced to some of its ideas before by my high school buddy Tim Hartman and had even attended a class at John Bryant's school some years earlier (at Mr. Hartman's invitation). I have been studying the martial arts since 1978. During the summer of 1987, Mr. Hartman and I practiced daily for 3-6 hours each day. It was an intensive introduction to the system! I was promoted to lakan in 1989 at the Buffalo camp. Three guys had tried to mug me two weeks earlier--one with a knife--and the Professor was so impressed that I defended myself, even though I was somewhat embarrassed that I hadn't seriously hurt any of my opponents, that he awarded me my black belt without testing! I was Mr. Hartman's first student to be promoted to lakan. I attended many Michigan camps from 1987 through the mid-90s and sat on many promotion boards, but then mostly attended seminars for the Professor's last few years due to job-induced location changes. I'm now a lakan apat in the WMAA, and chair of its Board of Advisors. I'm also an admin at FMATalk.com. Previously I was admin of another martial arts web board.

I only teach my son right now as a I have a full-time job as a college professor that keeps me quite busy. (Prof. Presas always told me how impressed he was that I had a doctorate--he was so very supportive of education!) I have taught at a WMAA camp and have frequently assisted Mr. Hartman at seminars and camps.

I also study JKD, BJJ, and am currently studying in a blended FMA class (Doce Pares/Kali Ilustrimo/Inosanto-Lacoste blend) in order to broaden myself, and I have studied many other arts in my time, but Modern Arnis is my main art and the only one in which I am ranked as an instructor.

My wife of 16 years and I have two children, 15 and 11, and live in Indiana, though we're spending the year in Albuquerque for my work.

 

[kruzada]

I am an American born Filipino. I have been a student of various martial arts under my brother since the age of 7. Master Rico introduced me to the Filipino martial arts while I was in college. Most of what I learned then was Modern Arnis and Jujutsu, and in the years to come he included other styles of FMA into the curriculum. Modern Arnis is an integral part of our system, from the basics to advanced techniques.

I have been the Chief Instructor of Kuntaw Kali Kruzada for the past 10 years under Master Rico Acosta, the founder of the system. I returned to the Philippines to study with Senior Master Samuel "Bambit" Dulay (IMAFP) in 1998 and the late Grandmaster Jose G. Mena who awarded me an instructorship in Doblete Rapelon. I met GM Remy the following year at a seminar hosted by Guro Doug Pierre in NYC, and have been effected by his kind words of advice to me, till this day.

Kuntaw Kali Kruzada became an affiliate of the International Modern Arnis Federation Philippines (IMAFP) in 2004, and I received my Modern Arnis instructorship under Senior Master Samuel Dulay, after his visit to NY this past June. I also received seperate promotions this year, from Master Rico (Kuntaw Kali Kruzada) and Grandmaster Vicente Sanchez (Kali Arnis International) to the level of Master.

I am currently teaching monthly seminars in NYC and I will be starting a FMA class in the Red Bank, NJ area early next year. I am currently working on producing a video, articles and a book on the Kuntaw Kali Kruzada system. I live in New Jersey with my beautiful wife, and 5 year old son, who I started training at the age of 1 1/2 years old.

-Rich Acosta

 

[Guro Harold]

Thanks for the bios.

Supporting members can add a picture of themselves.

You can make this a professional bio if you wish too.

If you do Modern Arnis, we want your bio!!!

 

[SethG]

Well at age 15 I started arnis training... that was OMG 12 yrs ago... anyway, since then I have also explored Hopkido and acheived a 3rd brown in that respect, and am always learning new things from other forms... just recently after moving to Bay city I started teaching again right now some 20-30 young kids for basic karate and one adult student for arnis.

We are always looking for new people who want to learn.

 

[Dalum]

Well geez... the new guy gets to beat me to the post. Like Kruzada, I am also an American born Filipino. Born in the Detroit area and grew up in the Lansing area. (Same town as SethG.) I started at about age 7 or 8 in Okinawan Sanchin Ryu and went all the way up to a brown belt till realizing that it was not the style for me. I continued to search for a number of years and came across one of the people in my neighborhood that was teaching Modern Arnis. (Who would have thunk that it was almost right uner my nose!??!) I studied under him for almost my whole High School career till he moved away on some work assignment. After graduating High School I moved to Midland to continue to college. Next thing I know is that he's working for Dow and living about 2 miles away from my house.

The amount of cross training that both SethG and I did under our instructor was pretty amazing. Keeping a core curriculum of Modern Arnis and blending with BJJ, Silat, Muay Thai, Wing Chun and others really kept us on our toes. (Especially the joint locks!)

Having the ability to train under Professor from time to time as he would come around for seminars was a definite treat. Professor saw us grow over time. It was nice to see that he remembered so much and so many people.

After getting back together with my original instructor I went on to more Wing Chun, Kung Fu San Soo and a littlt TKD. I still kept MA as my main style regardless of what I was studying though.

Since the reuniting of SethG and myself, we have been trying to get a small group of students to help keep the art(s) alive.

 

[Rich Parsons]

My Bio:

I began training in 1985 in Modern Arnis and have continued to train and teach to the present.

I have enjoyed the priviledge of working with lots of people inthe last four years, just to check everyone out.

I also have the extreme priviledge and pleasure that people enjoy my teaching and bring me in for events.

 

[K Williams]

I met GM Remy the following year at a seminar hosted by Guro Doug Pierre in NYC, and have been effected by his kind words of advice to me, till this day.

-Rich Acosta

That seminar was the first time I met the Professor too! I remember Sifu(Guro Doug Pierre) standing close by with a grin on his face while the Professor put me into one very painful stick lock.

I began training in Modern Arnis in 1998 under Guro Doug Pierre. I'm still training and learning.

:asian:

 

[kruzada]

It is a very small world, especially in Modern Arnis. That was a great seminar. I had GM Remy sign my MAP certificate, and we talked about some of the Modern Arnis Masters in the P.I. and my brother Rico who he met previously.

-Rich

 

[stickarts]

I was introduced to Modern Arnis by Eric Alexander. After Shihan Alexander moved out west, I had the honor to promote many seminars for The Prof., travel extensively and assist him with seminars, and train with him.
Prof. Presas helped me to open my own school in 1993 with his advice and encouragement and we have always continued to instruct Modern Arnis as it's own curriculum as well as incorporating it into our other programs.
Although I also practice and instruct Kenpo and Kobujutsu, Modern Arnis is close to my heart since I have had the opportunity to learn it directly from the founder. Meeting so many cool and interesting people in my journey has been fantastic. Dan Anderson and Doug Pierre have helped shape my training, just to name two out of so many that have had an impact on me.
It was also a pleasure to meet Remy Presas Jr.
My wife and I still own and operate our school here in Connecticut, have a fantastic family of instructors, and are raising our two beautiful daughters.
Everyone has something of value to offer, and although I am unable to travel like I used to I fondly remember many people that i had the opportunity to meet and train with.
Feel free to drop me a line for more info.
If you are in the CT area and would like to play some sticks, look us up!

 

[The Game]

wow. Some of you guys really get around. Nice.

 

[James Miller]

Here is Datu Hartman's

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

After the passing of the founder of Modern Arnis, Grand Master Remy Amador Presas, Datu Tim Hartman became the most sought after instructor of this dynamic martial art. Datu Hartman currently conducts seminars throughout the United States and Canada, as well as England, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Tim Hartman has had a long and exciting martial arts career. His journey started as a teenager when he started training at a Modern Arnis school and fell in love with the art from the very first class. It wasn’t long before he caught the eye of Professor Presas. After Tim earned his brown belt Grand Master Presas took him as his personal student and protégé. Not long after this Grand Master Presas had Hartman assist him at seminars and camps throughout the United States and Germany. In time Professor Presas took to calling Tim “anak,” the word for “son” in the Tagalog dialect of the Philippines.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Impressed with Hartman’s technical skills, Professor Presas started trusting Tim with administrative duties. He directed Tim to form the Can-Am (Canadian – American) chapter of the International Modern Arnis Federation in order to help develop schools along the Canadian American border. As Can-Am’s director Hartman was able to positively impact the development of instructors throughout the region.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After establishing a successful instructors development program Hartman spearheaded a movement to bring Modern Arnis to the competitive arena by taking members of his youth program to the local tournaments. On their first outing his team dominated the sparring divisions. Soon they hosted and competed in full contact tournaments and weapons matches. Hartman himself became an international tournament champion, a tournament promoter, and a popular referee throughout the US, Canada, Scandinavia, and England.

Following his venture into the sport world, Hartman put his focus back on the art of Modern Arnis and continued his development as an instructor. Working with Professor Presas around North America and Europe also allowed Tim to study other systems with some of the best instructors in the martial arts world. Among these are Grand Master Wally Jay, Grand Master Ron Van Browning, and Dr. Maung Gyi. Eventually Hartman met one of Professor Presas’ classmates from the Philippines, Balintawak Escrima Grand Master Ted Buot. With Professor Presas’ blessings Grand Master Buot took Tim on as a personal student. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Tim’s proudest moment was during his 6th degree black belt test at the 2000 Michigan Modern Arnis Camp. Following the test Professor Presas announced that Hartman’s promotion was the highest tested belt in over 17 year’s. Professor Presas added that this made Tim his top ranked student in the United States. He also awarded Hartman the title of Datu (chieftain or leader). There have only been six people in the world awarded this title by Remy Presas. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After Professor Presas’ retirement due to illness Hartman formed the WMAA (World Modern Arnis Alliance) in order to preserve and continue the progression of the art of Modern Arnis. He is currently the WMAA’s President and Technical Director.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The World Modern Arnis Alliance's Board of Directors promoted Tim Hartman to 9th degree black belt on June 4th, 2005.

The title of "Grandmaster" has been reserved for Remy Presas alone.[/FONT]

 

[Tarot]

:idunno: I don't really have much of a bio. I just started MA at the end of March of this year. I do enjoy this art a great deal. Even though I'm having knee issues right now, I still go to every class so that I can observe and learn.

 

[Guro Harold]

:idunno: I don't really have much of a bio. I just started MA at the end of March of this year. I do enjoy this art a great deal. Even though I'm having knee issues right now, I still go to every class so that I can observe and learn.

No Problem, Tarot!

This is not an instructor thread, anyone who trains MA is free to contribute to this discussion.

Thanks again,

Palusut

 

[Rocky]

Their was this guy hanging around out side the 7-11 in my neighborhood, and one day he said for $100.00 and a Big Gulp he would make me a Master Stick fighter so bada bing bada boom here I am!!!



Rocky

 

[Tegnerfan]

Travelled from Nova Scotia to Philadelphia in the summer of 1985 to attend a 2 week Modern Arnis course taught by Mr.Presas at Eastern College.Absolutely loved it!Great techniques taught.Mr.Presas and myself had some great conversations,and I had him sign my book!

 

[arnisador]

I came in too late to get the 2 week camps...unfortunately! I had summers off back then and could have done it.

 

[Guro Harold]

Brian, thanks for getting things back on track.

Mod Warning:

Please keep posts on topic.

All other posts must be about your personal or school bio.

If you post anything after this warning that does not pertain to this topic, I would suggest you use your edit/delete option.

Thanks,

Palusut
MT Senior Moderator

 

[monkey]

I started with Professor in 1979--He was the Professor.We didnt know
or refer to Grandmaster.
He told me of his anting aniting---how he didnt trust banks---

was kind & always egor to offer the art to any willing soul.

He would always state how beautiful the art is & yet something

so complex--so inovating--he moved like smooth & fast water,

I wont even go into how smooth the left hand was.

I can tell you this he--loved it went someone missjudged him as

right handed.Thats when that south paw would be there & gone .

 

[Tegnerfan]

He was such a nice man in general.When i attended his camp he as jogging around the track one morning,and i joined him.We talked,and I told him how i was a Phys Ed major in University,and he told me how he studied Phys ed,and we had a great talk!I'll always cherish those memories,even outside of his amazing skills!