PMAA Seminars

[cutlerjoel]

Howdy all:

I have an opportunity to attend a seminar run by Master Melegrito and the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance (PMAA). As I understand it, the seminar is supposed to be an introduction to stick fighting for the taekwondo crowd. Before I spend some hard earned money I thought I'd ask the experts here if they had any thoughts on the PMAA. Their website is www.pmaa.info/index.asp

I'd be especially interested to learn:

A) Is the PMAA/Master Melegrito well regarded? Does he (they?) know his stuff and teach it effectively?

B) Is it possible to really learn much in the seminar format? I wonder if cramming a bunch of stuff into a tiny amount of time is going to result lots of confusion and not much transfer of knowledge.

C) Are the seminars fun? This might sound dumb or irrelevent, but bear with me. I'm not expecting to become much of a stick fighter by going to a weekend seminar. I would, however, at least like to have a fun weekend.

Thank you for your thoughts.

[poidog]

Howdy all:

I have an opportunity to attend a seminar run by Master Melegrito and the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance (PMAA). As I understand it, the seminar is supposed to be an introduction to stick fighting for the taekwondo crowd. Before I spend some hard earned money I thought I'd ask the experts here if they had any thoughts on the PMAA. Their website is www.pmaa.info/index.asp

I'd be especially interested to learn:

A) Is the PMAA/Master Melegrito well regarded? Does he (they?) know his stuff and teach it effectively?

B) Is it possible to really learn much in the seminar format? I wonder if cramming a bunch of stuff into a tiny amount of time is going to result lots of confusion and not much transfer of knowledge.

C) Are the seminars fun? This might sound dumb or irrelevent, but bear with me. I'm not expecting to become much of a stick fighter by going to a weekend seminar. I would, however, at least like to have a fun weekend.

Thank you for your thoughts.

A) I've never heard of them before. That doesn't mean anything though, as I doubt anyone ever heard of my initial FMA instructor and he knows his ****.

B) Not really. You'll probably just focus on the BASICS (hell, the super basics) but that's all right, basics are the foundation.

C) Again, never heard of him, so maybe or maybe not.

However, I would suggest a few caveats:

That PMAA organization issues ranking certificates to FMA (Filipino Martial Arts) practitioners anywhere in the world honoring their own respected styles?

-From the homepage. I'd be kind of leery of any organization that issues ranking certificates in anything other than their own style. My opinion, red flag.

Master Julius Melegrito
# Founder of Philippine Martial Arts Alliance and Philippine Combatives™ System
# President/Master Instructor - Martial Arts International, LLC. (www.martialartsinternational.com)
# Hall of Fame International Martial Arts Instructor of the year 2000- International
# Martial Arts Hall of Fame World Head of Family Sokeship Council
# Martial Arts Hall of Fame Inductee for Best School National 2001- International
# Martial Arts Hall of Fame World Head of Family Sokeship Council
# Hall of Fame MASTER Instructor of the year 2002- World Head of Family Sokeship Council (www.bushido.org )
# Hall of Fame Inductee 2005 - Master of the Year - Budo Martial Arts Magazine
# Hall of Fame Inductee 2005 - Outstanding Contribution to the Martial Arts – Action Martial Arts Magazine
# Hall of Fame inductee 2006 – Lifetime Dedication Award to Philippine Martial Arts – Budo International Martial Arts Magazine
* Founder and Program Developer of Nationally Acclaimed Program endorsed by Martial Arts Industry Association called STIX 4 KIDS© www.Stix4Kids.com
* Founder of M.U.S.T System- Melegrito’s Universal Self-Defense Training Course
* Director “Defensive Stick and Knife Program” – International Combat Hapkido Federation (www.ichf.com )
* Director of “Advanced Self-Defense” – International Disabled Self-Defense Association
* Travels locally in the United States of America promoting Philippine Combatives, Stix 4 Kids™ and Self-Defense Training
* Traveled internationally as far as Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland and Australia promoting Philippine Martial Arts and Certification Programs
* Certified Master Instructor- International Philippine Martial Arts Federation
* 7th Degree Black Belt – International Philippine Martial Arts Federation
* Master’s Council Member – Independent TaeKwonDo Association
* Certified Master Instructor - Independent TaeKwonDo Association
* 4th Degree Black Belt - Independent TaeKwonDo Association
* 3rd Degree Black Belt –Combat Hapkido
* Certified Instructor - International Combat Hapkido Federation
* 2nd Degree Black Belt - Asia Tang Soo Do Federation
* Certified Tang Soo Do Instructor- Asia Tang Soo Do Federation
* International Police Defensive Tactics Certified Instructor
* Instructed Philippine Military Police, Marines, Navy and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

-From the "About Us" page. Most glaring bit of info from this section is the complete absence of any instructors names. Federations are listed, but no individual instructors. Sounds like all his certification come from orgs, most of which can probably be obtained via mail order or via seminar. Another BIG RED FLAG.

However, the biggest red flag about me for this organization is that they will certify you as an instructor after one seminar. Not simply certify you to teach, but certify you AS AN INSTRUCTOR. My opinion, save your money. If this seminar is simply an intro and NOT an instructor's certification course, and you do want to attend, keep a sharp eye out for BS.

BS may include but is certainly not limited to:
-flash/complex techniques presented as basics
-statue fighting - attacker throws single attack, defender responds with 7000 counterattacks while attacker conveniently freezes in place
-any talk of how deadly this material is and that's why you'll never see any sport applications
-presenting 400 techniques over the course of 8 hours
-no underlying cohesion of principles crossing from long range to close range

Of course, there's so much more to be wary of, but this should at least give you a starting point for criteria you can use to assess the worth of the material.

Aloha, Poi

[StickHead]

A) Never heard of him. I saw his advertising video at the stix4kids website and though he can twirl a stick that doesn't mean he can fight with one, much less teach how to fight with one.

B) Sure, but depends on the person teaching and the person learning. Unless you have a decent foundation in FMA I would avoid trying to learn to much to soon.

C) Never taken a seminar with him so I couldn't tell you.

[RickCDavis]

Howdy all:

I have an opportunity to attend a seminar run by Master Melegrito and the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance (PMAA). As I understand it, the seminar is supposed to be an introduction to stick fighting for the taekwondo crowd. Before I spend some hard earned money I thought I'd ask the experts here if they had any thoughts on the PMAA. Their website is www.pmaa.info/index.asp

I'd be especially interested to learn:

A) Is the PMAA/Master Melegrito well regarded? Does he (they?) know his stuff and teach it effectively?

B) Is it possible to really learn much in the seminar format? I wonder if cramming a bunch of stuff into a tiny amount of time is going to result lots of confusion and not much transfer of knowledge.

C) Are the seminars fun? This might sound dumb or irrelevent, but bear with me. I'm not expecting to become much of a stick fighter by going to a weekend seminar. I would, however, at least like to have a fun weekend.

Thank you for your thoughts.

I took many Philippine seminars in the past with top instructors and Master Melegrito provides one of the best. Master Melegrito is fun. He starts with the basics and works up with a progression so that you do learn at his seminars. He does not fill it with a bunch of complex traps etc that would never occur in reality. His style is fast paced and dynamic. I had an master rating in another style and started over with Master Melegrito because of his attention to the basics and the fullness of the style. I strongly suggest you give his seminar a try. He has a 7th Dan under Ernesto Pressa.

[RickCDavis]

The comment on getting a certificate to teach after one seminar is incorrect. In Master Melegrito's system he has Instructor Certification Seminars, which are 8 hrs long, in which he tests you on a particular level of knowledge like a belt test in other systems. If you past that test you are then authorized to teach that level of the curriculum such as single stick Level A.

He was trained under Ernesto Presa, the brother of Remy Presa of Modern Arnis fame. The brothers basicly divided the world with Ernesto more known in Asia and Europe.

[escrimador6]

I took many Philippine seminars in the past with top instructors and Master Melegrito provides one of the best.

Can you tell us who these other top instructors were?

[RickCDavis]

Dan Inosanto, Bobby Taboada, Vincent Caballas (Angel Caballas' son), Remy Presa, Lee Foster (5 master under Angel Caballas) and others. I am 60 so I have been around a while.

[Ryno]

A. I've never heard of him.

B. Seminars are like movie trailers. You might get a slight idea of what the thing is about, but won't really get it. At best, it gets you amped up to learn more and validates whether a system is worth pursuing further. At worst, you leave confused and dismayed that the art does not seem combat applicable.

C. It depends. Usually you meet some nice people and end up doing lunch or beers with them. Other times you know no one, and it is clique-ish and you end up on your own. Just chat with people and be friendly, and it is more likely that you have a good time.