Hello to All Forum Members,
I have completed my review of the entire 2003 International Modern Arnis Symposisum DVD set and I was very impressed with the production, lighting editing and content. If there is a problem with any of the first three mentioned items then the last one - content, is meaningless. George, you did good!!
Because I was the host/sponsor, I waited to see what others had to say about the both the Symposium and the DVD's; that has now happened and it is appropriate for me to speak up without feeling like I "selling" my own accomplishments.
The instructional presentations were well done for the most part. All of the people were recorded and then presented sans editing and splicing. That's a good thing because each presentation is completely in context. It is true that some people were picked up at the begining of their particular presentation and others were picked up in mid-presentation, however with only one camera on the floor that was unavoidable. On the other hand, no one who was recorded has been misrepresented. It was very clear to me as I reviewed the DVDs that those people who were really talented, knowledgable and creative stood out.
There are some very intersting tidbits of information on the Symposium DVD Series, Bram Frank, Dan Anderson and Tom Bolden, stood out as the better known "names" entering the Symposium weekend. Tim Kashino, Peter Vargas, John Ralston, Dawud Muhammad and Paul Martin, earned kudos for their work at the Symposium and as "unknowns", they showed a great deal of presence, skill and knowledge. Collectively, everyone of the above mentioned people made the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium a success. I urge everyone to buy a set of DVDs.
There was a lot of crapping and bad-mouthing about the Symposium BEFORE the event even happened. Some others, bad mouthed the event afterwards, in spite of the fact they did not attend event and therefore they did not have ANY first hand knowledge about what went on there!
It's a damn shame that so many Modern Arnis people stayed home rather than attend the Symposium. Their non-attendance speaks volumes about just how far apart the various factions within the art really are and in all likelihood will remain for some time to come. When the different factions of the IMAF, Marppio and bulk of the WMAA leadership are absent from the event and the WMAA's lead instructor can not get even a single student from his own hometown to attend the Symposium which was being held in his hometown - there can be no doubt that Modern Arnis is an organizationally fractionalized art.
The good news is that the people on the DVD Series are showing us just how beautiful, adaptive and functional Modern Arnis really is. They give us a glimpse into the possiblities that the late Professor Remy Presas forged into the foundations of his art. As an art the only limitations on Modern Arnis are defined by the limitations that each individual player places on him/herself or allows other to place on them. The presenters named above easily and blithfully rose about an self imposed limitations and that is what makes the Symposium DVD Series so valuble. It gives all of us who wish to see some new perspectives on the art, a window into the past that became the future. These people are not looking back, they are looking forward. With all proper recognition, respect and reverence due to Professor Presas, the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium I, was meant to serve as an acknowledgement of the debt that we owed to the founder, yet it was also held to serve notice that the Modern Arnis is still a vibrant expression of creative self development.
Call George Denson at 1-800-340-9664, order a set of these DVDs and recapture the feeling of what you were part of or if you did not attend, what you missed! Don't be afraid to see what others are doing and how they are building on the foundations first laid down by the late Founder/GM. He was constantly admonishing us all to "make it for yourself!' These people have done just that and they are not finished with their work.
The 2003 International Modern Arnis Symposium I, DVD Series is a must have because We MADE History that weekend in July, at Erie Community College, in Buffalo, NY. The Symposium event has very little likelihood of ever being replicated again in our lifetimes! The fissure lines are that great and the mistrust is that strong! Unless there is a phenomenal change of attitudes among some significant people in leadership positions, the 2003 International Modern Arnis Symposium I, was the first and last of it's kind within the art. I hope that I am wrong, but that is why I stated right from the begining, I stated that I was only doing this system-wide symposium thing ONCE! Now the task, if it is ever undertaken again, will belong to some else!
Therefore and with all that I have stated above, I implore every person who was at the Symposium and everyone who wishes that they had attended, as well as those who are simply interested in Modern Arnis, to contact George Denson and buy your own set of DVDs, because this event is a vital piece of martial arts - Modern Arnis history.
BTW, I would hope that people will copy this post and send it to every Modern Arnis person, bulletin board, discussion list and forum that they know. Get the word out, people, history was made and recorded on July 12 and 13, 2003, at Erie Community College in Buffalo, NY and now everyone can own a piece of it; call George Denson at 1-800-340-9664.
Respectfully,
Jerome Barber, Ed.D.
Paradigm Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis
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DoctorB
