Welcome to Modern Farang Mu Sul

March, 2005

To say that we are witnessing a busy, whirlwind of activity in Modern Farang Mu Sul® on the worldwide scale would be an understatement. I have been receiving a flood of e-mails and calls with so many things going on, here are some updates:

FMS - WHQ: We recently heard some very sad news, and would like to express our deepest condolences and respect. A true warrior has passed on. Founder of Sanuces Ryu Jiujitsu, Grand Master Moses Powell died recently.

Even though he was not a Korean Martial Arts stylist, this did not stop him from sharing with all arts. It is with great sorrow and a heavy heart that I would like to extend condolences to GM Powell's family and students from myself and all the Modern Farang Mu Sul® family around the globe.

The Sanuces Ryu people here in the bay area are our brothers. Grand Master A. Mohamed brought GM Powell and several of his masters here to San Francisco many times, and it was my great honor to have spent such quality time with him on the mats. His "streetology philosophy" was much in line with mine, and we connected right away. He was a huge influence on the development of our art - Modern Farang Mu Sul®. The name of his dojo said it all:

1991 SF Seminar - Pictured: Seated from left: Soke Tim Delgman, Prof. Bill Dewart, Prof. Moses Powell, GM Rick Alemany and KSN. GM A. Mohamed is seated in front of Prof. Powell.

FMS - New York: Words can not express the joy and pride that I feel after taking part in the debut professional NHB fight of our East Coast instructors: Anthony Spataro, Michael Iannone and Joseph Spataro. What an impressive showing indeed! These brave warriors put it all on the line and left it all in the ring.

The 8th Ring Of Combat took place on March 19th, 2005 in Asbury Park, NJ. The event promoter is the legendary WKA middle weight champion, Lou Neglia, and everything was a top notch production. The competition was very tough, and our guys proved to be just as tough if not tougher. It was my great pleasure and honor to work the corner with Inst. Terry King, Inst. Ken Gibson, and Master Patrick Schleeter. What a night of awesome action!

You would not believe how many red FMS-TVT shirts were in the audience. We were very pleased to have instructors and students traveling from all over to be there and support our fighters. There were five of us from the West Coast: Master Schleeter and Chris Moore from Hollister, Inst. King and myself from WHQ-SF, and Master Dehnert from L.A. Also, Inst. Hudson from Michigan, Inst. Nickels from Pennsylvania, Inst. Gibson and Inst. Brennan from NYC, and a flood of East coast students. WOW! That was soo cool. Thank you everyone for being there and making this amazing event that much more special. We even saw Inst. Dave Nahon from Long Island there too. What a great surprise!

Our guys put on a clinic on what FMS-TVT NHB is all about. Tough warrior spirit, courage, punching, kicking, takedowns, joint locks, chokes, escapes, reversals, etc. What an awesome display. MAJOR PROPS!!! Way to represent.

Inst. Anthony Spataro was dominating his match with great striking, and takedowns, but kept getting his head caught in a choke. He escaped and made his opponent pay every time except once. And once was all it took for the choke to cinch in with seconds left in the round! That's the way it goes sometimes. The irony is that his opponent was on the verge of tapping himself from an ankle lock Anthony put on him just minutes before.

Inst. Joseph Spataro showed his metal by dominating his first round with strong punches and kicks forcing his opponent to go to the ground where Joey almost made him tap from an arm bar. Unfortunately, he spent soo much energy on the arm bar that once his opponent escaped, Joey was really low on gas. Even still he managed to reverse his guy and mounted him and was working his strikes into a Japanese arm bar, BUT, the bell rang! He showed great courage and weathered a tough second round and used his kicks very effectively. The decision went against him, but that's OK. He did an awesome job and is to be applauded for his diversity of technique and indomitable spirit.

Probably the best fight of the entire night was Inst. Michael Iannone's match against Judo expert Peter Storm. Inst. Iannone was dominating the first round with great punching and kicks forcing his opponent to try take downs that Inst. Iannone either neutralized or escaped from. The second round started with Inst. Ianonne landing an explosive chop kick right to his opponents head. Easily the best kick of the night. His stunned opponent worked very hard to take down Inst. Iannone, and finally did. This is where Inst. Inannone showed that FMS has world class grappling too. He controlled the action and ended up working a triangle choke to an arm bar that finally made his opponent tap. AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME. If I'm not mistaken, didn't we actually work on that very technique at our seminar last September?!?!...Too cool.

HUGE congratulations to all on their first fight. We wouldn't have missed it for the world. I know this was a true learning experience that will make them all better fighters. And guess who will ultimately benefit from all these experiences? All the FMS students! True warrior courage, spirit, sportsmanship, humility and pride. Thank you so much gentlemen for doing such a great job and leading by example.

We are setting our sights for the next big fights set for June in Atlantic City. We should have more fighters in that one, including Inst. Marlon Sims from WHQ-SF. I can hardly wait!

FMS Hollister: Let me take a minute to congratulate all the FMS black belts that made it to our latest black belt workshop. It was simply an awesome time! We reviewed Korean Sword history and it's relation to FMS, tons of basics, correct drawing and correct re-sheathing of the sword. The essential true strike technique. Footwork, striking a target, drills and forms, etc. We did not get to cover everything we wanted to, such as the sword vs. sword sets, so we are going to have to do a sword workshop Pt.2.

HUGE thank you once again to Master Schleeter for opening up his Dojang, his home and his heart to us all. We always feel so much at home, and want you to know that it is very appreciated. FARANG Sir!

Pictures: (Left) Kuk Sa Nim draws his sword, (Right) Inst. Leith training focused strikes

Thank you to the FMS black belts that gathered from Hollister, WHQ-SF and Huntington Beach. That was soo cool to see you all working together, laughing and enjoying each others company. True brotherhood indeed.

Thank you to Inst. Beth Dudzik for still doing whatever she could (including filming and taking pictures) despite having recent surgery on her right wrist.

Picture: Inst. Larry Saindon working on focused striking

HUGE Farang to Inst. Boyd for the cigars and a great BBQ dinner afterwards at Master Schleeter's house. LOTS of garlic!...Yum.

Picture: Inst. Stenson, Inst. Leith, Inst. McCalla, Inst. Gumina, KSN, Master Schleeter, Inst. Saindon, Inst. Boyd and Inst. Dudzik

What a great idea to gather all the FMS black belts for special workshops. What could be better?...Not much...Well, except maybe Warrior Quest, which is now right around the corner. We will let you all know when the next workshop will be. In the meantime, get ready for WQ6 and the Black Belt camp that follows. Yeah! I can barely wait.

FMS Portugal: Inst. Nelson Pinto and the FMS Portugal crew have kept their usual busy schedule. Inst. Pinto is currently working with a couple candidates in Brazil to represent our art. We are very excited about all of the possibilities!

He has also been scouted to star in a feature film: Projecto Alpha (aka: Alpha Project). It is an action adventure film, and Inst. Pinto will not only have a juicy role, but will also choreograph the action sequences. Congratulations Sir! We can't wait to see the final product.

FMS Huntington Beach: Inst. Larry Saindon and all the FMS Huntington Beach crew are in training for our upcoming tournament here in SF - the 6th Annual Warrior Quest Championships. We are looking forward to seeing them and having a great competition and Black Belt camp.

Inst. Saindon also made the trip to our recent Black Belt Sword Workshop in Hollister. Thank you soo much for making it Sir. Your presence made it that much more special!

FMS - Germany: Master Wachsmann has kept busy in Germany with the first couple of seminars on his schedule. Stops included the cities of Fredeburg, Köln and Winterberg - Germany. Various subjects were covered including a seminar focusing on Jang Gum Sul - (Farang Mu Sul® Sword Training). Master Wachsman also took advantage of these gatherings and conducted color belt tests. Congratulations to all the students that presented tests, and did such an awesome job. Farang!

Next on tap are visits to Cadaval - Portugal, Wroclaw - Poland, and then back to Essen - Germany. Sounds like tons of fun. I know all the FMS students will take advantage for some great training and have some fun too.

FMS - Puerto Rico : Master Vega and the Puerto Rico FMS competition team have kept busy training and winning several martial arts tournaments. They will be making their first trip to San Francisco for the 6th Annual Warrior Quest Championship and FMS Black Belt Camp on May 14th and 15th. Master Vega and company will not only be competing, but also performing a demonstration. Master Vega is also slated to present a training session at the FMS Black Belt Camp. This is VERY exciting! While in San Francisco we will take full advantage and get as much training at FMS-WHQ, as well as get in some great sight seeing in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. We can hardly wait!

Birthday News: We are happy to announce the birthdays of our FMS Black Belts from all over the world, so all of you students will know exactly when you can show your gratitude and celebrate with your teachers. FMS Black Belt Birthdays for this month:
Wow, we have no black belt birthdays in March !