I got to go along to the Filipino Martial arts festival this Sunday. Apparently I was booked to teach but they’d neglected to tell me!. So my class was taken by old academy hand Master Pat O’Malley. This Festival is really unique. It’s rare for a group of Filipino Instructors to all come together in a spirit of harmony. Originally set up by Pat and Lucy O’Malley all the proceeds go to charity whilst everyone has a great day.

Though everyone thinks their style is the best we all get along and are old friends having fought plenty of battles along the way. It’s a great day for students as you get to see Masters of differing arts show their stuff. You get to see the similarities and also the unique differences that make Filipino Martial arts so interesting.

Many of the instructors (Pat O’Malley, Simon Wells, Shamin Meenal) to name a few were old Academy black belts or seniors and now masters of their arts showing what an impact on Filipino Martial arts we’ve had over the years. I got to meet Jay Dobrin, the person who introduced me to Eskrima and Brian Jones who was a senior in that initial group. I spent most of the day talking to Simon Wells and Pat O’Malley old academy black belts who’d fought with me in the early days of stick competition. I’d forced them to learn stick initially but they are both now masters of their art. For me it’s great to go back and learn from them and others what they’ve picked up on the journey. I had a great day where I got to see lots of old friends. We’ll be there as a club next year and I’m booked to teach. This time they’ll notify me.