Howdy all. I'm just having a bit of a yell out to any NZ FMA folks. I'm based in Auckland, but I'm keen to hear from anyone else in the country. There are quite a few of us here. From myself and other folks in Auckland, to Rick in the lower North Island, and his teacher, Gordon in Invercargill. I know there is a Cacoy Canete Doce Pares group in my old home-town, Christchurch, but I'm keen to hear from anyone else about the place. There is a strong FMA presence here. with Balintawak, Doce Pares, Inosanto Kali, Bakbakan, DiamondBack and Modern Arnis all dotted about the place. I know there was a Warriors Eskrima group in Christchurch for a while, does anyone know if they still train? I'm asking because a few teachers visit here from time to time. Bobby Taboada and Rey Galang will be in Auckland this year, and folks may want train with these guys. So Kiwi FMA folks, let us know you're out there
Howdy Mike ,cool my name got mentioned first . Come on guys ,there has got to be more than Just me & mike training in FMA in New Zealand on this forum. I hear there is a pekiti international in Christchurch as well? Cheers Riki
Hey Ricki The pekiti tersia guys are Geoff Aitkin's group. He's ex-zendokai. By the looks of things they got their training through Tuhon Bill McGrath's group, rather than from GT Leo Gaje. I came across the Cacoy DP group by accident. They are a wing chun school mainly. I think they have some relationship with Vince Palumbo in Oz.
Come on guys ,there has to be more than just me & Mike training in the FMA in New Zealand,that is registered on MAP.
Vince has to be one of the toughest guys on the planet, I fought him in 1992 in Cebu and it is still the toughest fight I have ever had, one hard dude as they say, a good mate too. Will be hooking up with him in Manila in December hopefully for the ARPI event and many a beer and story will be told. Is Greg Henderson still teaching in NZ (Diamond Back), if you see him tell him I say hello, he is a great guy too. Best regards Pat
I've not met Vince, or this Chistchurch group (unfortunately), but I did train in Diamondback for a while (my first FMA training, in fact). As far as I know, Greg has left these shores and is in Oz somewhere. Unfortunately the Diamondback group here in Auckland disintegrated some time ago. I believe some of the teachers in Dunedin are still active. In addition, Gordon Carnie (the NZ Doce Pares multi-style, and WEKAF rep) was a student of Greg's in the beginning.
Ah! Tell Gordon he owes me a Beer next time we bump into each other, and I have some great pictures of us when we went out on the mad shirt night in Cebu. Best regards Pat
Gordon's a bit poorly at the mo, but He's supposed to be heading up my way for training later in the year. Riki (Rick_NZ) is a direct student of his, he may be able to fill you in, and pass on your message.
that's kinda creepy. a hairy little fruit with wings and a beak? oh wait! you guys are taking about the kiwi bird! not the kiwi fruit! -nico-
They don't call them kiwi fruit here anymore. Apparently they're being marketed as Zespri now... They reckoned folks overseas were calling them kiwi rather than kiwi-fruit, and confusing them with the birds. No-one I know of calls them zespri though!
kiwi fruits are tasty! i wonder how the kiwi bird tastes like? hey! i'm filipino! i'll eat anything! -nico-
Howdy Pat I passed on your message to gordon & here is his reply "Yes tell Pat I would like to have a few beers with him next time we meet and any chance of emailing me some photos. The mad shirt night was a great time." Gordon has just recovered from his chemo theropy ,But has caught the flue at the moment ,with his immune system still down ,The flu has hit him quite hard .. Howdy Mike at this stage october 1st & 2nd is when i have penciled in Gordon to be up here.main focus will be on the curriculm & wekaf.I will confirm within the next week with ya . Where are all the kiwi FMA???there has got to be more people than myself & mike from NZ on this forum training in the FMA Take care guys Riki
Not good to hear about Gordon being unwell, but I get the feeling he'll battle on through. (I've seen him fight, on tape!) Speaking of tapes I am *VERY* slack, and haven't got to your, or Gordons tapes yet. I'm having a problem with the dvd player. It's not recognising various discs, so it makes them hard to tape. I have my work conference on Oct 1st (Dammnit!) so will miss your sessions. Bobby Taboada will be here for only one day's training in November sometime, and it's going to be Balintawak folks only (unfortunately) as He's going to cover some advanced stuff. (Like we'll have much chance of keeping up anyway!) Rey Galang is up here in November (date unconfirmed) and that should be very good. My Bakbakan kali instructor is off to the states and will train with the Dog Brothers group and at the Inosanto academy if he can swing it. And my JKD/kali instructor is off to train with Bob Breen for a month. So we'll have lots to think about after all that!
Howdy Mike, Yes Gordons a fighter ,He will get through this. Yes i have a confession to make, i too have been slack with getting some stuff on video for ya,I will get there tho. That's a shame you have other commitments on the 1st oct,would of been good to finaly meet & have a play ..The date may change yet(depending on Gordons health),But you will be the first to know if the date changes. Bugger about Bobby's visit just for the balintawak guys..maybe next time.. Yes ,let us know when you get the date of Rey's visit,sounds like you will be in for some good training when both your instructers get back.
I didn't make Bobby's seminar last year, as I was in Oz for family stuff, but I have the footage of the training, and it looked plenty advanced to me. I'm still frame-by-framing some of the stuff to catch it all. I can recognise it, but probably couldn't pull it off. But then I've got less than 3.5 years of training in Balintawak.
Howdy Mike, We have put Gordon's visit off till late November ,As Gordon is still having health problems (with his low immune system at the moment),He say's he is getting better .We have pencilled in the week-end of 25th november.Let me know if this interfers withall the other seminars /workshops on that month & i will try & change as i'd like it if you could make it down & play.It also depends on Gordons health at the time .fingers are crossed all will be good.
Hi Rick I always knew I was gonna have problems in November... (sigh!) I have a trip away with the Girlie's family on (you guessed it...) the weekend of the 25th. We don't as yet have a date for Bobby's seminar yet so I was expecting to clash with that! We also don't know when Master Rey (Galang) is over, Damian is back from the states for training tonight, so He may know. (He should have some neat stuff from Marc Denny and the Inosanto academy to train as well).
Funny story: Jarrod my (JKD/kali instructor) leaves for the UK in two weeks, for a month's training with Terry Barnett and at Bob Breen's academy. He called me up yesterday... "No training today, Mike" How come? "I broke my toe on Saturday" Drinking injury? "Nope, broke it at BJJ" Yikes! Hard training? "Nope, broke it afterward" How? "Was talking to one of the guys, by the kickboxing ring. A girl was doing shadow-boxing with some dumbells.She lost one, it bounced out of the ring, and onto my little toe!" Ouch! Apparently, Bob Breen likes to foot-trap a lot. Jarrod is hoping not to train with Bob too much...
