March, 2007

Once again, it would appear that this month we have somewhat a theme in our worldwide Modern Farang Mu Sul® news. It is MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) training and competition. Aka" NHB (No Holds Barred). We've got MMA news from East to West coast, and including Canada and an FMS Inst. making it to the UFC. This is very exciting. Hang on. We have lots of Modern Farang Mu Sul® news from around the globe. Here are some updates:

FMS - WHQ: We recently had some incredible hand to hand and special weapons training this month at WHQ. As much as we enjoy working out in our dojang, we enjoy working outdoors even more. We worked on lots of CQC, Knife Fighting, Knife Fighting and more Knife Fighting, Middle Stick Fighting, some special Short Stick techniques as well. As a very special treat, we also got in some Fire Arms Combat Shooting, Hand Gun Disarms, Hand Gun Retention as well as Knife and Hand Gun training. Too much fun. Inst. Beth Matulich came up from Hollister, Asst. Inst. Jeff Winters came down to San Francisco from all the way up North in Mt. Shasta, to join Asst. Inst. Inst. Alessandro Padovani and others here from WHQ for some very special workouts. Trust me, this was some awesome training. We've just got to do more. We are also planning on filming most of this material for our FMS students soon. So that should be very cool. We are very blessed indeed. Farang!

And to add a special touch to this month, we were invited to witness the wedding of our good friend Kaiso Bendigkeight and the very lovely Debbie Bendigkeight. It was a beautiful ceremony in the picturesque Pacifica hills. In attendance was not only lots of family and friends, but also a veritable who's who of martial arts masters and grand masters. After the ceremony, Kaiso was coaxed into jamming with the band at the celebration party. He did an amazing session. For those that did not know, he is a master musician as well, and simply fantastic with the horn. Check out some of his musical work on his website HERE:

What a completely lovely evening. Congratulations and many blessings to you both!

FMS New York : In keeping with the MMA theme this month, I got word that Inst. Anthony Spataro, Inst. Joseph Spataro and Inst. Mike Iannone have been in hardcore MMA training for some upcoming fights. They have been mixing up their normal routine with some old fashion boxing as well as lots of freestyle cross training. The results are looking good. Keep up the good work. We all look forward to their next FMS-TVT action. Farang!

FMS Puerto Rico : Master Dennis Vega informs me that he has begun a children's FMS program through the school system. As many of you know, Master Vega is a high school teacher by trade, and it made lots of sense to try and get a kids program started in the school system. It's not as easy as it sounds. There are lots of red tape and hoops one must jump through in order to get such a program approved and implemented. Good work Sir.

After much hard work, the first group of kids were ready to test for their next level. That first test from white to yellow sash is usually one of the hardest for most people. Well, these young warriors did a fantastic job. They had lots of great support and the best example with Master Vega and several black belts from the FMS Puerto Rico dojang. Congratulations everyone. Keep up the good work.

(Picture: Inst. Justo Ortiz, Inst. Nelson Cardona, Master Dennis Vega, and Inst. Innocencio Molina with the new 1st new FMS kids class, proudly receiving their new yellow sashes)

FMS Portugal: Inst. Pinto and select members from the FMS Portugal dojang recently completed a special body guard course given by Mr. Helder Martins the Instructor who is one of the directors of the BGSA-Body Guard Security agency in Geneva and President of the HM Security & Body Guards in Geneva-Switzerland.

This was a very demanding course but the FMS group was willing and ready. The FMS Students who graduated were: Bruno Franco, Tiago Silva, Tiago Soares, Alexandre Soares, Inst. Nelson Pinto and Mr. José Pedro (Lieutenant Colonel-Commissary of the PSP-Police of the Public Security). This certification will be very helpful as their FMS-Sulsa program begins to take off. Congratulations all on a job well done.

(Pictures: 1- Proud body guard school graduates, FMS Students: Bruno Franco, Tiago Silva, Tiago Soares, Alexandre Soares and Inst. Nelson Pinto, with Helder Martins and Mr. José Pedro 2- Celebration dinner).

And finally, I got word that the FMS Portugal group has recently completed a couple new video clips dedicated to Instructor Sergio Anes of the FMS Braganca School (which is in the Northern part of Portugal). From what I saw, they are very nice indeed. Check them out here: Clip # One, and Clip # Two . Enjoy.

FMS - Hollister : Our good friend Prof. Hans Ingebretsten recently had his annual martial arts tournament in Campbell, Ca. Those that have been to Master Pat Schleeter's Faultline Warrior Classic tournament will recognize Hans as a fixture in the Sport Jujitsu Division which he and his group coordinate every year. Well, Master Schleeter and a group from the FMS Hollister dojang made it out to support Prof. Ingebretsten's event, and it was a huge success. They came back with quite a few trophies and medals. Congratulations everyone. Way to go! Farang!

Also, Master Schleeter hosted another one of our FMS Black Belt Workshops again in Hollister. We were very pleased to see Inst. Nicole Miller from Huntington Beach make the trip up North to join us for this special black belt training. Inst. Joe Gumina and Inst. Terry King from San Francisco joined Inst. Beth Matulich, Inst. Earl Boyd and Master Scheeter of Hollister for a great training session. .Actually, this is the first of five monthly special FMS black belt camps. We will be doing some intensive training for all FMS black belts in general, with a focus on the various rank requirements (such as forms, self defense sets, weapons and more) for all those that are preparing to test later on this year. Let's do it.

For this special camp, we had a focus on weapons such as staff, sword, knife and particularly with Dan Bong Sul (Fighting Short Stick Tech). We unveiled the new fully functional training dan bong, for more realistic (and safe) techniques practice. This great training weapon was developed by none other than Asst. Inst. Alessandro Padovani. Good job, and really, what a blast we all had. Looking forward for next months training, which is set to focus on the rare Dan Jang Sul (Fighting Cane Tech). Stay tuned.

(Pictures:1- Inst. Joe Gumina works dan bong techniques on Inst. Terry King using the new training dan bong, 2- Inst. Nicole Miller and Inst. Beth Matulich work on seated self defense techniques, 3- Group shot after the black belt camp)

FMS Huntington Beach : After an awesome showing at the recent Annual Red Scorpion Martial Arts Championships, the FMS Huntington Beach crew are keeping their training in high gear. They are working hard to compete in the upcoming FMS 8th Annual Warrior Quest Martial Arts Championship in San Francisco. They are also planning on doing a demo at the event again this year as well. This is very exciting. I can hardly wait. The tournament will be on May 19th, so everyone mark your calendars. Also, don't forget our annual FMS black belt camp on the day after the tournament. This will also be here in San Francisco. It's going to be awesome.

FMS Canada: As mentioned earlier, we have MMA news from Canada. Inst. Ken Roy is very happy to see that FMS in not only a very comprehensive and modern combat art, but he is especially happy to see that we have an MMA - NHB (Mixed Martial Arts - No Holds Barred) component as well. Well it turns our he is no stranger to this competition, as he was part of the first MMA events in Halifax, Canada several years ago. A team was put together, and he was one of the key players. At this time his training in shootfighting really came into play with his other skills. He still includes this training in his program, and wants to expand with FMS-TVT (Farang Mu Sul-Team Vale Tudo) program as well. This is perfect. I can't wait to see these plans blossom. Count us in. Farang!

(Pictures: 1- Inst. Ken Roy puts on a leg lock, 2- Key lock/fig.4 back lever from corner top position, 3- Group shot of the 1st MMA fights in Halifax - Inst. Roy is second from left in the front row)

Other News: Once again, it is our distinct pleasure to welcome a new member into our long distance training program. We would like to extend a very warm welcome to Inst. Thomas Pomilla from Arizona into the Modern Farang Mu Sul® family. He comes to us with an impressive Korean martial arts background such as black belts in Tang Soo Do and Hapkido. He has all the right tools, the best being the right attitude and sincere dedication. We look forward to lots of great training and fun times in the near future. Welcome Sir. Farang!!!

And finally, in keeping with our MMA theme this month, as many of you know by now, we have been trying to get our own Inst. Marlon Sims on the TV Show: The Ultimate Fighter. He is such a natural for the show. He is not only an awesome world class champion fighter, and amazing athlete, but he is such a card too. He is tailor made for TV. We just know that the camera is going to love him. After moving to Florida recently, he has been on a roll since his win of the Lt. Heavy Wt. Title at the Ring of Combat last year, including awesome KO wins at "Malice in the Palace" and "Chaos in the Cage". Well, the cat is out of the bag. He finally made it to the 5th season of the Ultimate Fighter (TUF5). The coaches this year are none other than UFC lightweight champions: BJ Penn and Jens Pulver. The season will focus solely on the lightweight division. This is a 155lbs. division, which means that Marlon will need to shed over 20 lbs. off his normal fighting weight. Well, he did it. They are also planning on having a number of special guest coaches such as UFC Champions Chuck Liddel, Matt Huges and others. Sounds like fun! Enjoy the show every Thursday night on Spike TV. For those that have not had the chance to see Marlon in action, well now is your chance. Go MARS!!! Farang.

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:

This month of March will be: Wow, we have no black belt birthdays in March !

Next month of April will be: Inst. Michael Iannone Apr - 04th.

Farang!!!

That's all for now. With brotherhood,

Kuk Sa – De Alba

Modern Farang Mu Sul® World HQ – SF

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