FCS Kali Cali San Diego Group Practice with Manong Rich Verdejo April Fool's Day 2012

FCS Kali Cali San Diego Group welcomed another visit from our Manong Rich Verdejo, was it coincidence that the weekend  Mng. Rich visits us that it was April Fool's Weekend? Somewhere in Rich's mind and heart I am sure he had it planned, at the very least what he had in store for us.   Usually Mng. Rich's visit is just a Sunday affair, however over the weekend he came down early Saturday afternoon to begin a quick 2 hour session with those who could be there. This session was more or less review and showing of some new material, however the best part of the evening was post practice relaxing with Manong Rich, a hearty meal prepared by Bernard's wife and hosted by Ed and Armi. Then of course spirits and stogies into the late evening.  

                                             L to R:  Wendel, Jim, Manong Rich, Erwin

Albeit this may have been no spirit binging session, it was enough to satisfy, good company and post meal luxuries certainly made for less snappy early awakening for Sunday's actual Group Practice, we even ended early just after midnight.  For me at 2:00am before going to bed that evening/morning, I hadn't thought that Sunday was APRIL FOOL's Day.....  (insert Manong Rich's evil laugh here)  muhaha...muhaha.....!

So here's a run down of the Sunday Group Practice....


April 1, 2012

06:00 - First April Fool's joke of the day, on myself.... Woke up because of wrongly set alarm, tried to sleep an extra hour before 8:00am Group Practice.

07:00 - Crawl out of bed - slightly hung over and dehydrated. Limp downstairs and begin re-hydration therapy:  ibuprofen, water, and coffee w/ small breakfast.

07:50 - Josh and I head to "Luneta' Heritage Park to meet the Group for Practice, but not before visiting gas and pump convenience store - get Gatorade for needed re-hydration and 5 hour energy boost shot.

08:00 - Bernard, Patrick, Jeremy, Wendel, my son Josh and me are at the Park, some begin warm-ups, I continue re-hyrdatio and coffee therapy.  BTW.... It's chilly this morning because of the overnight rain.

08:45 - Ed, Jim, and Manong Rich arrive.

08:50 - Running a warm up lap around the duck pond.

09:05 - Up and down the hill suicide runs.

09:10 - Bear crawl suicide up our 3 tiered grassy knoll hill. (We need to come up with a nickname for this now becoming infamous hill that has become part of our routine/torture.. "cough" I mean training.) 

09:15 - APRIL FOOL's!  Guess what Group...? Suicide Fireman Carries up the hill.

09:20 - The fun continues, in group's of three - Rescue Carries, you guessed it, up the hill, everyone take a turn getting carried up the hill.  (by this time I'm wide awake, the brief burst of energy I was feeling from coffee and 5 Hour energy boost, is gone, instead my legs are on fire from the suicides!  lol!)

09:30 - With a partner, Stick Drill suicides on each tier of our hill.  The idea was to work on speed of our "redondos".

09:40 - More Stick Drills, this time, break the stick, working on power and speed, and yes this was done suicide style.

09:55 - Pause for Group Picture with broken sticks.

                         L to R Back Row:   Josh, Bernard, Jeremy, Patrick, Jim

                         L to R Front Row:   Wendel, Ed, Manong Rich, Glenda      

                        

10:00 - Back to work. Review of break-in/entries with stick. 

10:20  - APRIL Fool's!  thought we were done with suicides or with the stick...?  Back to the hill. With your partner, practice entry immediately followed by abaniko and witik strikes. Do not hit your partner!  Somewhere here I got grazed in the mouth by Jeremy for the 2nd time in as many days, the Saturday night before he grazed by his stick on the temple.  No worries, no marks left.  I like to think that I was skilled enough to have avoided catching the full blows because of my prowess, however it was more luck and my failure not to block these strikes!   lol!

10:45 - Knife tapping drills and take downs with "Intent".  As Manong Rich moves us forward he reminds us what we are really doing and learning, so during our knife tapping practice he wanted to see more intensity, and the partner with the knife show some intent so the defender has to contend with the threat more realistically. I think Mng. Rich just enjoyed watching us throw each other around.   lol!

11:10 - Introduction of another knife drill template.

11:25 - Battle Royale! Based on the "honor" system and the warfare played out in the movie "Role Models", we had our own little Group warfare with padded sticks, Team A versus Team B -  3 Rounds.   You know I can't even remember who won this round, but all I remember is the group I was in, we tried a circular/cover each other's back defense, as we were supposed to let the other team attack us.  I guess this somewhat worked, but a key lesson taken from this, sometimes the best laid plans go out the window once the hit is on, or during battle fog and adrenaline rushes.

11:35 - Last battle - Manong Rich, Ed, and Bernard Vs. the rest of Us - me, Glenda, Jeremy, Wendel, and Patrick.  Now this I remember.   With every pass "The 3" made they took one of us down but in the end Manong Rich was the sole survivor of the 3 and had to deal with 2 remaining on our side.   I do remember getting my blow into Manong Rich, however without me getting grazed in the face (again) from his padded stick just after I nicked him in the torso, by honor he wins, eventually the rest of my team finished off Manong Rich, but not without a valiant, and glorious padded death...   It was a good death. 

11:45 - April Fool's Day FCS Kali Cali San Diego Group Practice Done.

After thoughts:  Another great Group Practice with my FCS Kali brothers and sister, and Manong Rich.  I am thankful for the group I am with, it's a good group and because of the diversity of personalities and backgrounds it is a well made group.  I know it's been a couple weeks since my last blog on our happenings here in San Diego, and while my fervor has not diminished,sometimes daily life and personal events get in the way of the Flow of things.  This weekend I feel I am getting back on track and in this practice I believe there was a renewed energy as well in the Group, must be Spring arriving!  What is ahead of us...? I see Level 2.   Let's keep the Flow going San Diego... carry on,

Maraming Salamat Po,

Erwin G. 

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FCS Kali Manong Rich Verdejo Bio

FCS Kali West Coast is the unification of two California organizations - FCS Cali (Baldwin Hills) and FCS Kali Club of San Diego (San Diego/Chula Vista) under the direction of official West Coast FCS Representative and Manong, Rich Verdejo.   Manong Rich has just opened his FCS Cali website please visit FCS Cali.   Below is an excerpt highlighting Manong Rich from his Bio.

FCS Kali San Diego is led by Manong Rich Verdejo

Born August 31, 1973 in Quezon City, Philippines, Rich Verdejo actually didn't grow up around Martial Arts especially Filipino Martial Arts (FMA). Filipinos were too busy trying to make a living instead of keeping certain cultures alive. Oddly enough, it wasn't until the family moved to the United States in 1978 where his mother exposed him to "Kung-Fu Theatre". For years, he never knew there were schools for such things in America. Always wanted to learn martial arts he was only limited to mimicing what's on TV being just as daring as in playing with knives and jumping off furniture.

Fast forward to his teen-age years and his passion to learn martial arts never left. In fact, not wanting to join in just any school, a journey to find the right Art and the right Teacher grew. Growing up in Baldwin Park California, selection of martial Arts was very limited, but learning how to fight was a necessity. Seeing the movie "Perfect Weapon" sparked an interest in the Art of Kenpo, Ed Parker's American Kenpo. Towards the end of 1992, he met Johnny Garcia that taught Kenpo in his back-yard. Remebering all those Kung-Fu movies, a back-yard school was the perfect setting.

His Kenpo training began with his knuckles on concrete floors and sparring without gear. Not incorporating the belt system, he was taught a raw form of Kenpo.  It was simply to learn how to fight.

In 1994 Garcia sent him to train at the Ed Parker's Kenpo studio in Pasadena, Ca. There his understanding of theories, concepts and physics of motion began. 5th degree Paul Gerard was the Head Instructor there at the time, but there were many Black Belts to train under. Not knowing who to learn from, Larry Kongaika (3rd brown) took him under his wing. A student-teacher bond quickly developed like an older brother passing down his knowledge to the younger one. It was Sheri Parker who told Larry Kongaika to keep an eye on that kid, He has raw skills. Rich would often be one of the last people leaving the Studio showing his dedication into learning.  He was often invited to jump in class with the advanced members. To have a beginner train with the advance students and black belts was rare. He was given opportunity to start teaching class at Purple belt. He finally earned his black belt in 1998. In 2003, He was awarded his 3rd degree and became Manager/Head Instructor of the Ed Parker Studio till it closed in 2005. He will always say his foundation is Ed Paker's Kenpo.

Like most Filipinos in his generation, It wasn't till mid-90's he learn that the Philippines had their own martial art called Kali/Arnis de Mano/Eskrima. It was his Hawaiian-Filipino friend Jaime Pajo that spark the interest in seeking out his FMA roots.  During down time at the Studio, He would teach Jaime, Ed Parker's Kenpo and in return Jaime taught him Kali. This led to meeting Tuhon Ray Dionaldo while a kenpo seminar in Florida in 2001.  Not knowing who he was, Rich noticed a gentleman in a Kali uniform, lined up with the beginners. It wasn't till the end when He was introduced and performed a demo. Shocked to see the  Founder of Filipino Combat Systems aka FCS Kali  in line with the beginners, Rich gave Tuhon Ray his out most respect. Rich having some knowledge of Kali, he and Tuhon Ray shared information. So impressed he began to study under Tuhon Ray. 2003 Rich became the California Co-representative for Filipino Combat Systems. In 2008, he was awarded full Instructorship by Tuhon Ray and became West Coast Regional Rep in 2010.

On his martial arts journey Rich has befriended and touched hands with many Guros, Professional Fighters, Grandmasters, Military and Law Enforcement personnel. Always searching for new tactics and ways of learning the art of war, he hopes his journey never ends.

"Ed Parker's Kenpo will always be my foundation and FCS Kali will always be in my blood!"  

                                                                  -Rich Verdejo

FCS Cali - Manong Rich Verdejo's Website

Congratulations to Manong Rich Verdejo and the opening of his FCS Cali web page!

http://fcscali.com/

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The Usage of Manong/Manang in General and in FCS Kali, by Manong Rich Verdejo

Just a note:
The usage of Manong/Manang in general and in FCS Kali

Coming from the Spanish word hermano and hermana, it is somewhat a term of endearment for elder brother and elder sister. Depending on the dialect/region simular words like Kuya/Ate and Manoy/Many are also used. Kuya/Ate is commonly directed to those related or closer to the speaker. It is common to call someone Manong and Manang instead of calling them by name, especially if the name is unknown as a gesture of respect. Some believe that Manong/Manang are titles for those old enough to be considered Uncle/Auntie. Some use them simply for older brother/sister. People younger than the speaker may be called Manong and Manang by virtue of status and not by age difference. This seems to be getting more popular as these words are being loosely used and accepted. For instance, you can often hear people say to the bus-driver, cashier or market owner say "Salamat Manong" or "Salamat Manang." even though they seem to be same in age or even slighty younger than the speaker. Ofcourse, it will not be said to someone of a large age gap younger to the speaker. In some cases it can even be seen as an insult, meaning someone who's old-fashioned or a prude -- like saying: "napakamanang mo naman."

In FCS Kali the term Manong and Manang is a term referring to a Senior Student. Not yet of Guro status, but knowledgeable enough to teach the fundimentals (like a Level 1 Instructor). Even within in our system, we are not exempt to keeping the basics of our culture. As an Instructor myself, I too will call a fellow student of the art Manong/Manang/Kuya/Ate regardless of rank and will NOT introduce myself as "Manong Rich" to that person. I will simply call myself Rich and if he/she wishes to call me Manong, then it's by their repect to back me. These terms are not limited to, but reletively based on the repsept level whether it be of age or rank. Understanding this can give you a better way of usage with these terms in the Filipino community. 

As for me, It started as a nickname given by other Guro's from other systems. A younger friend of mine always referred to me as just "manong" They constantly asked "Manong who?", she would reply "Rich, ofcourse!". So as an inside joke, I was nicknamed Manong shortly after. 

FCS Cali Crew
"Manong" Rich

Top Ten Traits of Great Martial Artist

This is from Bob Dorris, Smart Athletics (Grappling Dummy); just something to think about.

1. Take notes every time you train, & write down whatever you learn OR ideas you come up with.
2. Always show up for training ...even when you physically can't train.
3. When you have a question about fighting, find a good answer for it before you train again.
4. Always be the most focused person in the training session.
5. Study (not just “practice”) fighting in between training sessions.
6. Practice outside of class far more than you practice in class (otherwise, you CAN'T possibly expect to be any better than anyone else in class).
7. Recognize that training partners will come and go, but insist that you stay constant.
8. Develop (or learn) a philosophy relating martial arts to life.
9. Call yourself a martial artist (don't just “do” martial arts).
10.Insist that you become the most skilled (martial arts-wise)person you know.

If you don't see those traits in yourself, tape that list up on your mirror and start becoming that person. Practice, Practice, Practice

FCS Kali Group Practice Commentary for 3-4-2012

It's always a special day when we have either new people join us for training, or a Guro come join us for Group Practice, last Sunday we had both.   We love it when both happens and yesterday it was a dual pleasure to have this occurrence.  Is it me, but when either event happens the energy seems to flow better and the motivation and concentration and intensity is better during Group Practice, no matter it's all good! 

Guro Nar Babao joined us for Sunday morning and it was a treat to have a fellow local Filipino Martial Guro train with us, as always our system respects and is open minded to any discipline.  Anyone who knows Guro Nar, he is passionate about training so it was a win-win situation for him and our group to have him join us as he gave us some insight to some drills and technique.  As I mentioned we also had a couple new faces train with the group.   One of my son's friends joined us yesterday after seeing and learning that my son was learning Filipino Martial Arts, so it was great o have another younger generation get his feet wet with us and my son has a friend and hopefully a full time training partner now to motivate him.   :)    The second newcomer is one of our dedicated FCS Kali San Diego member Dan's friend, Ron, another fellow Pinoy and we welcome both Odin and Ron to Group Practice, we hope to see them become regulars in the coming months.   If this is a sign of how things will be in 2012, FCS Kali San Diego May have a very nice group size by the time of our 1st year celebration, let's see how far we have come then.  Keep the flow going San Diego, keep the Flow.

  L to R: Bernard, Dan, Angelo, Patrick, Ed, Josh, Aleah, Glenda, Guro Nar, Odin, Jeremy, Wendell, Ron

Maraming Salamat Po,


Erwin G.


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FCS Kali West Coast San Diego Group Practice Commentary 2-27-2012

It was another good Sunday Group Practice, as all who are familiar with our San Diego group now know, you probably know I'm gonna mention how beautiful the weather was again, and then see the usual end of Group Practice picture of us in perfect San Diego sunshine and weather,, I bet you can almost imagine what it looks like without a picture....?   Well good, because I goofed this evening and managed to accidentally delete all of last Sunday's Group Practice photos, so, we'll have to just leave it to the well ingrained images of previous weeks from your memories, or if you can't recall, view the previous week's pictures for the shots of our group and the perfect weather we bask in!   LOL!

So last Sunday was more of the same training, re-affirming what we know and covering Level 2 curriculum, our leaders have set an ambitious goal for us, to keep progressing every 3-4 months.  Sometimes getting past the 1st milestone in anything is a big leap, while it is the first mile marker,  part of passing that milestone is not just going through the formalities of the basics, but equally a mental challenge is the acceptance and belief in one's self that you are where you are at and are ready to progress.  I know for myself, I am in awe of how much there is to know and learn, and wanting to live up to standards and expectations am more critical or self conscience of my skills than anyone else, almost a paralysis of analysis if you will. I think our group has come to that point where we are acknowledging we have gotten passed the 1st level and to know and believe we are Level 1s and now it's time to charge on, and what we know now is important to keep the foundation strong via practice as we will build upon it.  Good practice San Diego, let's keep sharp! Keep the flow!

(once again apologies for no group pic, my bad... lol!)

Maraming Salamat Po,

Erwin G.


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FCS Kali West Coast San Diego Crew Group Practice Commentary - 2/19/2012

Discipline: activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training.

And so above is the definition one must endure to become proficient in anything. Last week Manong Rich visited the San Diego Crew and as always we enjoy and appreciate his tutelage, even though he brought the rain with him, and yes we trained through it. I believe he was generally pleased with our Group's progress, but like any good teacher, will always encourage and set goals and point out what to work on. While our group has made strides, with progress also comes challenges within and outside the training.  Sometimes in the eagerness to absorb knowledge or reach milestones, like a sponge there comes a point even a sponge cannot hold all it takes and a pause is taken to free up those spaces again for clarity.  Following the lead of what Manong Rich would like to see and expects, last Sunday's Group Practice concentrated in slowing down the pace and reviewing the Level 2 curriculum we have thus covered, we also fine tuned other areas each of us may have little smudges within our ever growing skills.  By the end of the morning training, it was good for all I think we all felt better about reviewing and clarifying.   

One thing I'd like to bring out, each week is a testament of who our founding members really are, since the start of our still inaugural first year of becoming a group, we have grown from 4 participants on the first day to as high as 16 participating, but through it all we know the consistent "8" and it is documented, just go back each week and see who they are.  One day when we look back from where we want to be and recall this first year, I hope to see the consistent members of our first year still around and with us, because the founding members of this group will be the foundation of what FCS San Diego will one day be, stick with it and stick with us (no pun intended) my brothers and sisters.

Marmang Salamat Po,

Erwin G.

"Kuya" Ed

Bernard

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FCS Kali, West Coast San Diego Crew - Rep: Manong Rich Verdejo

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Super Bowl Sunday FCS Workout - Group Practice Commentary 2-5-2012

Super Bowl Sunday means gatherings, food, and hopefully a good game with your team in the big Show forget working out, gotta prepare right?   WRONG.  For FCS Kali Club of San Diego, all the more reason to practice and workout, at least in the mind of our "Kuya" Ed.  Group Practice has begun to feel like more a preparation for Manong Rich's next intense Test Out, then again why not, we're not only training for curriculum, but again for the whole forging of minds and bodies, so be it. 

Group Practice began with usual warm up, some light calisthenics up and down our hill in the practice grounds, followed by some drills weaving between cones and knee highs, and then ending with human wheel barrels again like last week.   Kuya Ed's Super Bowl special day of training was with the idea of keeping us active and our heart rates going up and down.   Straight after the calisthenics, we went into practicing power and speed kicks - again keeping our heart rates up.  For the "rest" periods he gave us a break by reverting back to FCS drills with hubad or 1-36 mano template, and back to stickwork and knife tapping.  We continued the rest of Group Practice with introduction to "tabak-toyok", or more popularly known as "nunchuks".  I like this! Group Practice ended with introduction to some tumbling for future drills that will eventually involve throws and flips. Reading back on this, that's a lot covered in 4 hours! So we got Manong Rich coming down next Sunday, wonder if it's gonna be stepped up again.

L to R:  Bernard, Marlon, Patrick, Angelo, Glenda, Ed, Jeremy, Daniel, Peter, Erwin, Paolo

  

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FCS Kali Club of San Diego - Group Practice Commentary 1/29/2012

Seems we're getting more physical with our group practices these days, not only beginning our Level 2 curriculum, but we've been supplementing our workouts with boxing and hapkido/taekwondo kicks. For most of us not used to these exercises and techniques, it's a workout.  I like it though, martial arts is not only about form and technique, but forging bodies and minds.  To properly follow form, one's body should be honed to perform it, so it's good for us.  Blood, sweat and tears just makes you stronger. For now the sweat comes easy, the blood and tears to follow when Manong Rich puts us through Level 2 Curriculum testing 3-4 months from now. I can hear the evil laugh now...  mu ha ha ha, mu ha ha ha!

L to R:  Paolo, Angelo, Patrick, Bernard, Jeremy, Daniel, Ed

Front Row:   Eliah, Glenda 

I'd like to highlight one of our members, and I admire the hell out of this brother of ours.  If you haven't taken notice, Patrick has the use of one arm.  Patrick serves not only as an inspiration to our Group, but should be for everyone.  Part of our last Sunday Group practice we did human wheel barrels up our practice grounds grassy hill, and guess what.... he was up the hill first!  I also recall during our Level 1 Curriculum test out with Manong Rich, during the basketball game phase Manong had us undergo, guess who was in the thick of it all scoring for his team, Patrick.   We can all learn something from Patrick, nothing should be an obstacle in our lives, you  may have to adapt and overcome, but there is a way.   Our group has been developing the FCS  fighting system for him and it's pretty cool that for almost every drill we perform, an adjusted or abbreviated version of the same technique has been devised for him, allowing him to still "flow" with us, his moves may need to be quicker and sharper, but it works.  So I'll end with this note, when you think something is too hard for you and you're facing difficulties, just shut up already... work harder.

Maraming salamat po,

Erwin G.

FCS Kali San Diego - Group Practice Commentary 1-22-2012

Back to work!   It's been 2 weeks since we had our Level 1 Curriculum Test outs from Manong Rich, all have recovered and all of us are more or less back to normal.   I am sure I am not the only who actually took more than a week to feel the aches and pains from our test out fade away, however the memory of pepper spray is still vivid, got spice anyone?  It's great to see more of us wearing "black" and having that Level 1 under our belt, "Viva El FCS Kali!"

Apologies for not posting about last week's Group Practice but it's been a busy week, I was working on another club project designing FCS Kali West Coast/San Diego's first logo for a shirt, we are close to finalizing the graphic and hope to have our first official shirt soon. 

Back to our training... Last week we began delving into Level 2 Curriculum, and today we covered more of the same introduction. We have begun learning steps #13-36 in the Mano Mano template Form. We are also mixing it up with some training in basic boxing technique of footwork and punching, I really like this supplement to our training for cardio and contact drills.  We are still short of our normal group size as some of our members were away on personal time away but as the new year rolls along we will be back to our usual numbers.   To the eight of us who worked out this chilly Sunday morning, good to be with you!

L to R:   Erwin, Wendell, Bernard, Angelo, Eliah, Daniel, Jeremy, Patrick

Maraming Salamat Po,

Erwin G.

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Firearms Instruction Seminar - Just a Note from Manong Rich Verdejo

Looking to see if any FCS members are interested to attend this seminar with me. My friend is one of the Instuctors here. (Only with firearm experience). 


Special Classifier Match / FREE Intro to IPSC Class – 22 Jan, 2012
Interested in a FREE Introduction to IPSC class? Looking to get your first USPSA classification? Are there other divisions you’d like to get classified in? PRG can help you with all three!

Prado Running Gun
19069 Van Buren Blvd
Suite 114-319
Riverside, CA 92508
Phone: 951-251-IPSC 
http://www.prg-ipsc.com/

PRG will have a 6 stage “special classifier match” with FREE Intro to IPSC class on 22 Jan 2012. Match fee for this special match is $35 for the first gun/division. $10 for any subsequent division. The class and match start will be at 9am. You do not need to shoot the match to attend the class. 


We have a limited amount of loaner holsters and mag pouches courtesy of Safariland. If you need to borrow either, please let us know ahead of time with your gun model so that we can confirm inventory and hold them for you.


Contact Manong Rich Verdejo for those interested in this seminar, this is not an FCS requirement and is only for those interested supplementing or adding a new skill.

Maraming Salamat Po,

Manong Rich Verdejo

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