When I was about 12 years old, I discovered the martial arts watching Kung Fu movies on TV. Saturday afternoons were more than entertainment for me; they were pure inspiration. Within little time, I was twirling an old broomstick in the backyard, and so began my lifelong love of the martial arts. That was over 30 years ago. Since that time, I have never stopped training. I have studied karate, kung fu, judo, wing chun, boxing, eskrima, and a plethora of W estern arts as well. I have always tried to maintain an open mind and continue learning new things, not just in the martial arts but in my everyday life as well. Today, my primary passion (besides raising my two wonderful kids, Cosmos and Kayla) is to train and teach the martial arts. It is not just a hobby; it is my path.
Aside from teaching traditional martial arts, I enjoy working with weapons. I like matching different weapons against each other, and prefer to include kicking, empty-hand striking, and grappling techniques (we call that "house rules"). I have spent my life cross training in different arts to fight effectively at all ranges, from projectile to grappling, on my feet or on the ground, armed or unarmed. I have also trained in different conditions, including in the rain and outside in the dark, so as to be familiar with fighting in different environments where actual self-defense is most likely to take place. Such an undertaking is a life-long venture, but one I found to be well worth the effort. I highly recommend doing what you can to make yourself a well-rounded fighter.
To that end, I am constantly trying to test myself. I did two Spartan Sprints with my wife (a five mile obstacle course up and down a ski mountain) and I enter a few tournaments every year. This year I drove to NYC and fought in the WEKAF (World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation) Northeast Nationals. I ended up winning gold in knife fighting and short stick (padded division), qualifying me to go to the World Championships in Hungary this Summer. Even more exciting, it turns out that they will also have staff fighting at World's this year (first time ever outside of the Philippines). The event is so new in WEKAF that they did not have it listed as a division at the qualifying tournament. I was very dissapointed, but since there was no qualifying event scheduled at Northeast Nationals, I requested and got approval to also be the U.S. representative for that event in Hungary this summer. This will be the biggest competition I have ever entered. I am very excited!
Aside from teaching traditional martial arts, I enjoy working with weapons. I like matching different weapons against each other, and prefer to include kicking, empty-hand striking, and grappling techniques (we call that "house rules"). I have spent my life cross training in different arts to fight effectively at all ranges, from projectile to grappling, on my feet or on the ground, armed or unarmed. I have also trained in different conditions, including in the rain and outside in the dark, so as to be familiar with fighting in different environments where actual self-defense is most likely to take place. Such an undertaking is a life-long venture, but one I found to be well worth the effort. I highly recommend doing what you can to make yourself a well-rounded fighter.
To that end, I am constantly trying to test myself. I did two Spartan Sprints with my wife (a five mile obstacle course up and down a ski mountain) and I enter a few tournaments every year. This year I drove to NYC and fought in the WEKAF (World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation) Northeast Nationals. I ended up winning gold in knife fighting and short stick (padded division), qualifying me to go to the World Championships in Hungary this Summer. Even more exciting, it turns out that they will also have staff fighting at World's this year (first time ever outside of the Philippines). The event is so new in WEKAF that they did not have it listed as a division at the qualifying tournament. I was very dissapointed, but since there was no qualifying event scheduled at Northeast Nationals, I requested and got approval to also be the U.S. representative for that event in Hungary this summer. This will be the biggest competition I have ever entered. I am very excited!
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