It’s been over a month since our 17th Annual Pittsburgh Filipino Martial Arts Camp and we wanted to recap our fantastic event! It kicked off mid-week with guests arriving from out of town. We welcomed Aaron from Arkansas and Arbab from Florida followed by Master Z’s arrival from North Carolina. As always we hit the ground training with hours of private lessons. Then on Thursday evening, July 14th; we held our first of two rank exams. The first exam was in Cacoy Canete Doce Pares. It was one of our largest Doce Pares exams in quite some time with twenty four members testing. We extend our congratulations to the new Green Belts; Brian, Germaine, John, Marty, Mathilda, Raisa, Sam, and Wyatt. Additional congratulations to the new Brown Belts; Aaron, Ashwin, Ava, Barry, Elaine, Michael, and Nathan. And special congratulations to the new Black Belts: Chad, Jennifer, Josh, Katie and Meg for 1st Degree; Arbab, Mark, and Preston for 2nd Degree; and Jesse for 3rd Degree.
The second exam was in the Counterpoint Tactical System held on Friday, July 15th. This was a significant exam as we had six members testing for Brown Belt. Congratulations to the new Blue Belts; Josh and Raisa. Congratulations to the new Green Belts; Germaine, Joan, Kathleen, and William. Additional congratulations to the new Red Belts; Barry and Michael. And special congratulations to the new 3rd Brown Belts; Aaron, Ashwin, Ava, Brian, Evelina, and Nathan.
With the exams complete, Master Z presented three seminars on Saturday and Sunday. We had additional guests support from Ohio including Kevin from Gem City Martial Arts and Clint from Columbus Tactical. The first seminar was on the second phase of Eskrido. Eskrido is the personal martial arts style of SGM Cacoy Canete. It is a version of Doce Pares that incorporates Aikido, Jiu-Jitsu, and Judo with Eskrima. After lunch, Master Z continued with his updated Segang Lego drills from the CTS Panantukan requirements. Segang Lebo, also known as Hubad Lubad, are flow drills. These drills are great to develop entries and sensitivity. Finally on Sunday, Master Z wrapped things up with a Push Hands seminar. Push Hands is a two-person training method in Taiji. This training helps you gauge your balance and the balance of your partner while trying to feel the force of the offensive and defensive movements. We extend our thanks to Master Z for his expert instruction and to everyone who attended the seminars.
Lastly, we had the honor to recognize nineteen members who have been training for ten or more years. The members are: Alex, Ava, Brendan, Chad, Claire, David, Denny, Ed, Elaine, Jamie, Jennifer B., Jennifer M., Jesse, Jessica, Mark, Marty, Nathan, Preston, and Tim. As mentioned in the presentation, there’s a special energy in our academy. It’s not one person’s energy, but all of ours together. It’s positive energy accumulating day after day, year after year, decade after decade. We’re grateful to each of you for being a part of Ryer Martial Arts.
Simply put it was a fantastic martial arts camp in Pittsburgh! We appreciate everyone who took part and look forward to the next event. You’re welcome to join us!