June
6-8, 2008 Buffalo NY.
On
June 6, 2008, the World Modern Arnis Headquarters (Horizon Martial
Arts) was host to the 7th Annual WMAA Training Camp. Participants
were treated to the brand new 5000 sq ft state of the art facility.
Some of the amenities include:
- 2
matted training areas totaling over 2400+ sq ft.
- G
4000 Focus Master.
- Professional
Boxing and Kickboxing equipment.
- Impressive
pro shop offering a variety of merchandise, including training
equipment, clothing and many other items.
- Spacious
lobby with a big screen TV providing a welcome rest area or
a place to check email complete with wireless internet.
This
year’s camp featured Grandmasters Tim Hartman and Rick
Manglinong with special guests Grand Tuhon Nene Tortal (Dekiti
Tirsia Siradas) and Sensei Gerri DiSanto (MMA/BJJ) and was a
high energy training opportunity to over 30 participants from
all over the continent.
Day
one opened with GM Manglinong teaching a Kombatan session to
get the weekend going. He reviewed material from previous camps,
then integrated new material into the training. Next up was the
founder of Dekiti Tirsia Siradas, GM Nene Tortal, who went through
the basics of his family system. Everyone was delighted to see
GM Tortal use Datu Hartman as his “crash test dummy”.
As much as the Datu enjoyed helping Grand Tuhon Tortal, he made
sure that others experienced the same “honor”.
By
this time everyone had worked up quite an appetite, and a dinner
break followed at the Chinese buffet.
After
dinner, Sensei Gerry Di Santo covered MMA & BJJ Concepts
which also served as an introduction to the new WMAA Grappling
program. Sensei Gerry went over concepts on transitioning from
stand up into takedowns, ground controls and submissions.
Datu
Hartman closed out the training portion of the day with some
old school drills for training the traditional striking patterns
that Professor Presas taught in the 80s.
After
the training sessions, there was a meeting for all of the camp
goers who were planning on participating in the WMAA’s
2009 Tour of the Philippines. Many aspects of this trip were
discussed and will be posted on the net as soon as all arrangements
have been finalized.
Day
2 opened early for Black Belt testing, with several candidates
testing for both Modern Arnis and Kombatan ranking. Training
began with GM Tortal continuing his in-depth instruction of the
Dekiti Tirsia system. Closing out the morning sessions was GM
Manglinong who moved the group into more advanced Kombatan techniques.
The group then broke up for lunch with most heading to a local
restaurant. The afternoon sessions were opened by GM Tortal who
completed his introduction to the Dekiti Tirsia system. GM Manglinong
was up next with more Kombatan, with Saturdays training closed
out by Datu Hartman with the WMAA EDT program and Mano-Mano techniques.
After a short break, it was time for the banquet, which was a
great success thanks to Janice’s excellent work as always.
At the banquet, GM Tortal was presented with a birthday cake
in honor of his 71st birthday.
The
results of the mornings belt testing was announced with 7 testers
earning rank promotions in Modern Arnis and/or Kombatan.

This
year's Camp Promotions were:
- Edward
Mengel - 4th Modern Arnis, 2nd Kombatan
- Michael
Milazzo - 2nd Kombatan
- Michael
McDonough - 1st Kombatan
- Fern
Monti - 1st Kombatan
- Dennis
Jenner - 1st Kombatan
- Craig
Balcer - 1st Modern Arnis, 1st Kombatan
- Thomas
Sam Wolf - 1st Modern Arnis, 1st Kombatan
- Scott
Caffrey - 3rd Modern Arnis, 1st Kombatan
- Marion
Kellogg received her Dayang diploma from last year’s
instructor camp.
In
addition to these rank promotions, the following people were
also named Chief Instructors for their respective states:
- PG
Sal Todaro – Pennsylvania
- Ed
Mengel – Maryland and Metro DC
- Sam
Wolf – Ohio
It
was also announced that while Datu Hartman was in the Philippines,
he was designated Chief Instructor for New York by GGM Ernesto
Presas.
Congratulations
to all of the promotees!
As
usual Datu Hartman used the dinner as an opportunity to discuss
future plans and goals for the WMAA. This year he announced the
addition of a sports division to the organization. This will
feature anyos (forms), open hand as well as stick fighting events.
Four tournaments were announced for the ’08 season as follows:
- June
14, 2008 The Pak Classic Mt Gilead, OH
- July
12, 2008 Queen City Laban Laro Buffalo, NY
- August
10, 2008 Can-Am Border Battle St. Catharines, ON Canada
- October
4, 2008 Queen City Karate Classic Buffalo, NY
After
more socializing, the majority of the group retired to watch
the new FMA Arnis-Kali-Eskrima movie produced by and starring
Great GM Ernesto Presas. Both Datu Hartman and GM Manglinong
had cameo appearances in the movie.
Day
3 was a short day, as both GM Manglinong and GM Tortal had to
be at the airport early for their flights. Datu Hartman opened
up the day with a school owner’s seminar - “The Value
of and Selling Memberships”. Training then was opened by
GM Manglinong who finished off the Kombatan segment of the camp,
followed by Datu Hartman with Advanced Tapi-Tapi. This year’s
camp then closed out with honors given to the late GM Presas.
Providing
photographic services this year again was photographer and WMAA
web designer Bob Hubbard.
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