Inland Empire Filipino Martial Arts

Please go to http://sayocglobal.com/amember/ to sign up for Sayoc Memberships.

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Sayoc students be advised:

Class will be held Saturday NIGHT at 8pm at the Secondary Site Location.

Email jmarana@iefma.com or call 909.319.1991 for further information.

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I apologize for the lack of updates recently, computer related security has been compromised. 

Next Saturday, May 1 we WILL be holding SAYOC class at Mallows Park in Claremont.  If you have not yet been to this location, we are at the corner of Harrison and Indian Hill.  Class is at 9am as usual.  New students are always welcome, please visit www.sayoc.com for more information about our curriculum. 

The May training schedule will be posted soon. 

City of Claremont FMA students your schedule  will remain the same.  Summer session is tentatively at the same day/time/location.

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After a very meaningful eight weeks I am returning to work. Although my son was born nearly a year ago, the hospital where I work required that I be employed for at least a year before taking time off for baby bonding. So from about mid-February until now, I have been spending time at home, and (hopefully) developing you all into fledging FMA’ers. In that time we have been able to grow the Saturday SAYOC class in Claremont, and start the FMA class through the City of Claremont.

Due to my schedule as a Registered Nurse however, I will once again be posting the month’s classes for your reference. For the month of April 2010 classes are as follows:

Saturday, April 17th at 8pm – Secondary Training Site Location. Please contact me for directions if you need them.
Saturday, April 24th at 9am – Mallows Park in Claremont
Sunday, April 25th at 3pm – Hemet Class

For mid-week training sessions please contact me individually. In addition, please consider visiting other SAYOC instructors if you are within range. Guro Travis Downing holds classes in Fountain Valley on Thursday nights at 8pm. Guro Steve Feng holds classes in Monrovia on Friday nights at 8pm and Guro Jon Auzenne holds classes on Sunday mornings at 10am in Burbank. Guro Joey Pena holds closed session classes during the week. For anyone interested in any of these classes please visit http://www.sayocla.com for class schedules, instructors and contact information.

One of the main tenets Guro Dan Inosanto stresses is training with other instructors, schools and systems. Early on my training I had asked him for advice in this regard and was very firm about training with other individuals. He recently recalled how individuals who formerly trained under him went on to start their own systems without acknowledging their experience at his Academy. When asked about this, Guro simply stated that “the information isn’t mine anyway, as far as I’m concerned it all comes from The Creator.” I take this sentiment to heart, and highly encourage any and all of you to study with anyone you can. In SAYOC we train as a tribe; as a family. We get better as individuals when we get better as a group. Be respectful, and keep an open mind.

Lastly, during this past week’s Tuesday night class the question about blade types and sizes was brought up. Although we discussed blades briefly, I would like to offer this assignment as “homework”. If you had to design or make a blade, based on whatever training you have had so far, what would it look like? Why? Think about all the things we have talked about, grips, positions, carry, deployment, tactics/techniques and strategies. Bring your ideas (or blades) to next class.

Sorry about my lengthy “Dear Diary” post.

Guro Joe

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Thanks to everyone that was able to train this morning. After class, a few of us got lunch at Heroes in the Claremont Village. It was a great way to start the month off.

IEFMA Sayoc students be advised: NO CLASS NEXT SATURDAY, APRIL 10th. Please stay tuned for potential mid-week classes (this upcoming week or next). Saturday morning classes will resume at 0900 but we will now be training at Mallows Park in Claremont, just a little south of the normal site, on the corner of Harrison and Indian Hill.

IEFMA City of Claremont FMA: See you Tuesday.

Happy Easter to all those who observe/celebrate. Take the day and appreciate what means most to you.

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Sayoc students be advised:

Training on Saturday morning, April 3rd will be at 1000 Mallows Park in Claremont. This is at the corner of Harrison and Indian Hill, about a block down (three streets South actually) from Memorial Park. This is due to the Easter Egg Hunt that morning starting at 0900. As it turns out, my wife will not be joining us after class but I will have one or both of my boys and we will still go to eat afterwards.

Great job today to John, Brent and Rodnie during Tuhon Ray Dionaldo’s seminar in Northridge. Sayoc LA had a strong presence, and our IEFMA brothers represented us very well. See you guys next weekend.

City of Claremont students and to anyone else interested, you are invited to observe or participate next weekend as well and join us for lunch afterwards. Please just let me know via email at jmarana@iefma.com or phone at 909.319.1991 ahead of time. I will see the City of Claremont FMA students Tuesday night.

IEFMA with Tuhon Ray

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Sayoc students be advised:

Next Saturday is Claremont’s annual Easter Egg Hunt in Memorial Park. Stand by for new training site location. Time remains at 1000 am.

Families are still invited next weekend. Spouses and children are welcome to enjoy the park festivities during our training session and we will all meet up following training for lunch.

There will be NO CLASS on Saturday, April 10th.

Guro Joe

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Good work last night Claremont FMA! Tuesday evening classes resumed last night at the Alexander Hughes Center in Claremont. For anyone interested in registering, please contact me or the City of Claremont. Registration remains at $50 for the rest of the Spring session, and although online registration has closed you can still sign up over the phone or in person.

Claremont FMA I will try to have notes up soon. I have also posted clips of one of my Master Instructor’s in Sayoc, Tuhon Felix Cortes demonstrating forward triangle footwork.

SAYOC students be advised: NO CLASS THIS SATURDAY March 27th due to Tuhon Ray Dionaldo’s seminar in Northridge. Although this is not a mandatory event, I highly recommend attending. Registration for our group has been reserved for $60 per day at the door. Please let me know ASAP if you are planning on going so I have an accurate head count. Please see the flier posted on this site from a few weeks ago for more information.

Memorial Park classes will resume on Saturday, April 3rd at 10am instead of the usual 9am time. Families and friends are invited to bring food and eat/socialize following class.

It’s good to be back ladies and gentlemen. Hope to cross blades with you soon.

Guro Joe

Tuhon Felix demonstrating forward triangles

In our Tuesday night class there is a huge emphasis on footwork, punching and “flow”. The triangle footwork taught by Tuhon Felix in these videos comes from Tuhon’s training with Pamana Tuhon Sayoc. This is the same footwork that I had learned from the very beginning of my FMA training, with the Patalinghug family in Maryland. They learned it from Pamana Tuhon Sayoc when they were just kids. They also learned how to breakdance from Tuhon Felix!

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Tuhon Sayoc has always maintained that we are a family system, a tribe more than just an organization.  And on several Thursday mornings I have had the pleasure of listening to Guro Inosanto remind us that we train because of our love for life, our families and their preservation.  This morning I had the privilege of meeting some of Craig’s family, and was reminded once again why it is we train.  For many of us, our children, families and loved ones are the most precious gifts in our lives.  Family (blood and extended) are always invited, and in fact encouraged to come and watch us train.  I do believe that if we are to ever use the technology that has been given to us, that we will most likely have to do so in the presence of those that we love.  This is why at Sayoc Sama Sama families and children are all around, to remind us but also to train us.  They are there to help us be mindful, be careful and above all support us as a tribe.  Our children must understand what we do as well, or at the very least know that when Mommy or Daddy are training, that they should also be careful.  If then, one day we must engage an opponent hopefully our kids will be moving to safe positions rather than running to hold our hands or tug on our pants. 

I would not have been able to achieve the things I have done without the support of my own wife and children.  There are no words to express my gratitude and appreciation.  So we have decided to see if you all would be interested in having a little potluck/lunch gathering on Saturday, April 3rd.  We could start class at 10am and stay for food afterwords.  If that sounds like something you family could do, please let me know.  In the Filipino culture (as with many), family and food are central and I see no reason why our training, which for many of us has become part of our lives, should not reflect the same.

Remember there is no class next week (for Sayoc or City of Claremont FMA).  Take the time and do something meaningful with those that give our lives meaning.  Questions, comments or anything else please know my ear is always listening.

Guro Joe

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