The Grandfathers Speak - Vol.1 - The Arrival and Establishment of the Filipino Martial Arts in America -Escrima, Kali, Arnis, Eskrima
The bulk of the footage was shot in the fall of 1988 about 6 months before the founding of the Dog Brothers, at the first national tournament of what was to become known as WEKAF.As most of you already know, different men and different groups in the FMA have not always gotten along in the past and this day was special in that a strong call for unity for the common good had gone out and in great part was heeded. We were quite fortunate to find so many luminaries of the American FMA world in one room on a day when we had a professional camera. Where possible we have included footage of these men in action. There is also additional footage from their archives.In our conversion to DVD we have added a 30 minute piece on GM Leo Giron built around an in depth interview Guro Crafty did with him is his basement training hall in Stockton in 1991. Editor Ron "Night Owl" Gabriel has blended in exceedingly rare footage of the famed Bolo Battalions training, and rare WW2 footage to produce, in our opinion, a powerful piece that really communicates what this Art is about! Interviews: GM Diony CaneteManong Sam Tendencia- plus footageGM Ben Largusa-plus footage of GM Floro Villabrille and Largusa-Villabrille demo teamGuro Narrie BabaoGM Angel Cabales-plus footageGM Leo Giron-plus footage Grand Tuhon Leo Gaje-plus footageAdditional action footage: Punong Guro Edgar Sulite (very rare)Guro Dan InosantoManong Juanito LaCosteWe hope that this tape will help give a sense of the kind of men who brought this art to our shores. May we prove worthy. Our thanks to Guro Dan Inosanto, Felisa Sulite and Sonny Izon for their kind consent to use certain footage.