The Adventures of South Bay Filipino Martial Arts Club Punong Guro Marc Lawrence of Modified Pangamut System Contents About the South Bay Filipino Martial Arts Club 2 The Complete Story of Master Marc Lawrence 3 Methods of an American Arnisador 4 Tournaments & Awards Competition Workshops 16 Community 21 Recognition 23 Gallery 25 Notable Accomplishments 27 Filipino martial arts is not just martial art but a thought process in which a practitioner lives by. Over the years I have developed a list of notes or bullet points to operate by. Point #1 Arnis is about finding your own way. Enjoy the journey. Point #2 Break everything down to its smallest parts so you can learn it. Then put it back together. Point #3 To be great you must practice, practice, and practice. Point #4 Arnis is like fishing it is all about the little things. Remember that it is the little things that will kill you. Point #5 Remember to Breath. Point #6 The stick is just a poor man’s punching bag. Point #7 Move like water and flow around them. Point #8 The Key to FMA is three things: Timing, Rhythm and Fluidity Point #9 Remember to defang the snake! Point#10 Remember the stick is an impact weapon attack the joints. Point #11 Attack by Combination know your ABCS Point #12 Protect the Core-Control the Core Point #13 Strike where they are not Point #14 FMA is about the use of reversing, Reverse the Reverse. Point #15 Your Empty Hand is the most dangerous weapon Point #16 God gave you four sticks it is you job to know how to use them Point #17 Learn to get a shuffle Point #18 Injure them first then follow through Point #19 Learn to think Third World-It is about drawing blood not backing down. Point #20 Attack the joints, strike where they are weak Point #21 Uproot the tree- Wrestling-disrupting the body Point #22 Arnis is about rhythm learn to find the rhythm You the reader are on a journey of finding yourself in FMA. Think of every fight like two rooms and a door in the middle. You are standing in one and your opponent is in the other, someone will open the door, remember walk into the other room, walk around visit the room then close and lock the door. Do not give them a chance to do the same to you. About the South Bay Filipino Martial Arts Club We are the South Bay The Modified Pangamut System Filipino Martial Arts Club. We The Modified Pangamut are a Filipino American Barangay System is a modern adaption of the (Village). We organized to share Mountain Visayan System known the Filipino Fighting Arts and as Pangamut or Pakamut. Panga- Culture with residents of the South mut means to have skilled hands, Bay community. Our purpose is Pakamut means to slug or scratch to ensure that the Filipino Ameri- in Mountain Visayan. Panga- can Communities of South Bay of mut is a term from Cebu, Philip- Southern California does not forget pines, which means to describe its heritage of the traditional fight- A Person’s Way or Knowledge of Range. It is not a complex system, ing arts of the Philippines. If you Defending Oneself. Usually, you using simple motions combined are Filipino, Filipino-American, may hear the Cebuano’s say to a to make fighting combinations. Filipino-Hawaiian, Mesteso/Meste- person: “Maayo siya mangamut. It does not require one to be in sa, Filipino by Marriage, or if you (He has a good way of defending great physical shape or even have just love all things Filipino you himself.)” or “Naa siyay panga- special talents or skills like other will find our village/club quite wel- mut. (He has a way of defending arts. It uses three different medi- coming. We teach Men’s, Women’s himself.)” ums of fighting, these being single and Children’s classes. I feel that my style- Modi- stick fighting, blade fighting and Our core system is a fied Pangamut is just that (He has hand and foot fighting. When these Mountain Visayan fighting sys- a way of defending himself.) and mediums are combined together tem bought to the USA by Grand more! they create Combat flows. We Master Felix Roiles. His Grandfa- About the system teach the concept of Combat flows ther called it Pakamut also called The Modified Pangamut that transition through the different Pangamut. This referred to hav- System is a Filipino-American mediums of fighting. This concept ing skilled hands in Cebuano, a Martial Arts System. The South was developed due to real life situ- Visayan dialect. He shared this Bay FMA Club experience’s in ations that came from law enforce- with Marc Lawrence, his families tournaments across the USA and ment, military, security work and fighting system. in real life situations has brought street self defense situations by Marc Lawrence had his about adaptations to the new chal- members of the system. own FMA fighting system that he lenges. This is the same as it was had learned in his travels. GM back in the Islands as each new Felix Roiles certified our Punong raider brought about changes in Guro Marc Lawrence as a Master styles of fighting to defend the under Pakamut International Asso- Barangay (village). ciation. Master Marc Lawrence is a The Modified Pangamut National Champion in the Filipino System is a complete system. Martial Arts. Our club is active in It has three ranges these being competitions to apply our knowl- Largo- Long Range, Meda- Me- edge. dium Range and Korto- Close Our school plaque says this: This is our village meeting place where we practice with sticks, knifes, fight and wrestle Dinhing tungora nato pasidunggan and atong mga katigulangan nga nahiuna kanto. This is where we honor the older brothers who came before. Atong pasidunggan ang kanhing mga kamagulangan natong mga igso-on dinhing dapita. 2 The Complete Story of Master Marc Lawrence ing I beat them. I used my him and tie his wrist. We had to back pack as shield and my file a police report. After that the pencil as knife. I stabbed the Sheriffs want me to go to work for biggest one in the arm when them. They said that I knew how he tried to grab me. Another to handle myself well in unarmed time I was going to the store combat situations. my brother and I were jumped In my late twenties I met by six kids trying to rob us. older Filipino who taught FMA. My brother was knocked and He had shown me some basics and was wrestling with one over found that it blended well with his wallet and I was left with what I already knew. In my late five guys to fight. One thing twenties I met my wife, a Filipina. I had learned was kick & hit After we got married my father in then re-angle. Its kind funny if law a WW-2 vet and I were talk- you keep this up, nobody want ing and he told me about how he to jump in. was trained in Hawaii, it was the Here is my story. I started I was working at gas Cinco Terros. I met other family as kid in the late 1960s with my station in high school and I met members that would show some. mom teaching my brother and I Grand Master Hyuk Sul of Kuk We used the cane stick we had French stick fighting. It was a lot Sool Won. He was the first per- for the garden. It was my mother like fencing but done with bamboo son to give me formal training. I in laws relative (Manong Espi) sticks. We had a little stick fight- trained with him for several years. in law who was good. He was an ing club in our neighborhood in I hated Katas or form and would old school Arnisador. It was funny the hills; we would fight with cane ask him why –because I found how my father-in-law and other hollow stick for sword and a solid they did not work when sparring. family members never showed my staffs. We fought with them as I went for many years without fur- wife any of this. They consider it a quarter staffs. My dad had taught ther training but having used my man’s job to protect the home and us some of what he had learned skills to keep myself safe. family. in the army. My dad had friend I was working ambulance My first son got to age 6 that taught Karate who taught as EMT in the 1980s. We would and started having issues in school us to kick and punch. His name get called out on voluntary psy- so my wife enrolled him in Judo. was Dave Delgato. He was the cho calls and they would become I never was much of armchair dad first black belt I met and he had violent after the cops would leave so I started working out and club a LAPD registration card for his or before the cops showed up. I when my son would train. Being a hands. We never had any money would have to restrain (joint locks Fil-Am family, we were not treated for formal lessons with Katas, just and pressure points) them. Fight- the best, even though we kept backyard down and dirty style of ing with someone who was crazy winning in tournaments. I found it fighting.