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AUSSIE ARMS
Author: Alan Swanton
AUSTRALIA was among a number of countries invited by Modem Arnis Grand­master Ernesto Presas to take part in the second IPMAF (International Philippine Martial Arts Federation) World Congress and Tournament. Grandmaster Presas’ style of Modem Arnis is practised in Australia, USA, Canada, Germany, Scand­anavia, plus many other European coun­tries, and is also gaining a following in places such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Philippines has many styles of Arnis, all of whom indicated they would be sending a team to the tournament.

The opportunity to train and fight in the Philippines drew an enthusiastic response from Australian Modem Arnis clubs in Dubbo, Blue Mountains, Sydney, New­castle and Canberra. A ten-day training camp was offered as a preliminary to the tournament, although all the details were not exactly clear. By October 14th we finally saw a regimen~ of 22 green and gold tracksuited Arni~dors board the flight to Manila – not quite sure what they were getting themselves into, but all undeniably enthusiastic.

Full credit must go to Master Chris Traish (Australia’s Modem Arnis Presi­dent) for the months of planning and prepa­ration he put into getting the team to­gether. As the tour progressed Chris dis­covered he needed talents not only as a team manager, but also as interpreter, banker, travel agent, business negotiator, and general ‘minder’ for some of the more unruly members of the crew. Chris was often heard to comment how much easier his first IPMAF Congress was. Three years ago he only had to get himself there and back, seeing he was the only Australian delegate. Grandmaster Presas and some of his senior instructors met us at the airport with an airconditioned bus – a somewhat unusual species of vehicle in Manila. We were dazzled by the driver’s ability to throw a full-sized coach through traffic with the dexterity of a top motor­cycle rider. The traffic in the Philippines is an experience in itself…

Our training camp was located at Pic­nic Grove, Tagaytay City. Tagaytay is a semi-rural sprawl around the hills over­looking the magnificent Lake Taal and its vofcailOs, about 90 …

The Making of a Master
Author: sensei
I HAVE NOTICED that in the past few years the claims being made by various Martial Arts Instructors are becoming more and more grandiose with virtually no control being exercised over the Dan levels or the titles being used, many of these claims being self-awarded.

Many relatively young 7th and 8th Dans are popping up, and titles such as Shihan, Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi, Kaicho, Kancho, Saiko Shihan, Soke, O’Sensei, Dai Sensei, Dai Shihan, Dai Sempai etc., seem to be handed out to people who either make up their own styles, or break away from parent organisations whilst still relatively low grades, and become instant ‘Top Honcho’ overnight.

The much used cliche of “evolution” and “progress” is being used to condone the watering down of many fine trad­itional Styles and Organisations which have been around for many years. People break away from parent groups, then someone breaks away from that break­away, and so it goes on, until eventually somewhere down the line, the new Saiko Shihan O’Sensei Dai Sempai Kaicho Kancho 8th Dan Technicolour Belt in charge of the revolutionary new ‘State of the Art 1991 Style’ claims that his product is the best thing since sliced bread.

It was the early 1960’s when I began my Martial Arts career, firstly with Judo, and then Goju-Kai Karate-Do. In those days, even 1 st Dan was considered a high grade in Australia. The Martial Arts Schools were few and far between, and we all knew who the genuine people were, and who the phonies were.

Instructors just did not make preposterous claims for fear of being ridiculed or laughed at. And, besides that, it was obvious who were teaching the genuine product by their perfonnance on the mat.

We all used to go and watch each other’s classes, and sometimes we would have inter-club training sessions, from which we all built up a healthy respect for each other. In those days inter-style tourn­aments were rare, and few people swapped styles, or broke away and fonned their own.

Now that the sporting side of Karate is …