Sinag Filipino Martial Arts Institute: Punong Guro Hufana Visit

March 5, 2010, Friday - 8:00 pm

Cabalen, West Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila

We apologize for the late posting of this article. Our files got stolen at it took us a lot of time just to recover some of the files that we are able to gather. Moving forward, we want to thank the following for their support in our group for making us meet PG Hufana in person: Punong Lakan Garitony C. Nicolas was the one who informed us of the gathering and gladly escorted us to the venue. He was our main man why we had the opportunity to be there. Shihan Dannie H. San Joaquin who allowed us to use his tools for documentation and was willing enough to give us a copy of the records of the event. Mr. Perry G. Mallari who was willing to respond to our invite inspite of his busy schedule--thank you, sir!

We came early. There were only a few people before us. Greetings and conversations with familiar faces was immediate. Since the host hasn't arrived yet, stories with each other filled the time. The host came and was first to invite us to proceed with the meal. Punong Guro Myrlino P. Hufana, founder of Hufana Traditional Arnis International, has an approachable and community oriented personality. Having to talk with him personally was already beneficial. It was a meeting of many talents and grandmasters of the FMA community. GM's like Bambit Dulay, Rodel Dagooc, Vic Sanchez, Pet Nicolas, and other masters of known popularity, however, I'm not familiar with their names, only their faces. There were also educators from different places who are very much experienced in the distinct Filipino art. PG Hufana called for this gathering to create a part of his video documentation series about FMA. It was a very productive time. The discussion started from the present situation and culture of the FMA community here in the Philippines. Now that the bill by Sen. Miguel Zubiri had been approved, Arnis is now the official national sport of the Philippines, and everybody is very much delighted. As the meeting progressed, there was a realization that FMA training and education had not been much of a focus of the government. PG Hufana shared a program utilizing FMA as a subject in the US. He stated that he was hired not as a direct school instructor, but a subject matter expert credited by the institution. Everybody agreed with this kind of set-up. One person commented that this was a prevalent program before, but it isn't much practised or honored now. Comments from the educators state that there are only memorandums coming from the higher office, but not many teachers are well-trained with FMA--only basic knowledge. There are also problems arising from the disunity among FMA groups. This was also talked about since it was prevalent among Arnis groups for a very long time. As a result of this, those who attended the meeting agreed that it is really significant that FMA practitioners unite and help each other together to promote and teach FMA regardless of styles or techniques practiced. Only then can the FMA community be truly productive and make this distinctive art of the Filipinos truly number one in the world. At the end, it was promised by everyone to further develop and propagate FMA through unity and camaraderie by all FMA groups without discrimination or reservations of acceptance to the group. That promise would start from this meeting. The meeting ended with a few chats, goodbyes, and some picture taking with each other. All are leaving with high hopes for a similar gathering in the future, but with more groups involved united for the better exposition of the most revered Filipino martial arts.