FMA Informative Issue No #226

Informative Issue No. 226
2016
Guro Antonio “ Dodong “ dela Cruz Jr.
Getting to Know Guro Antonio “ Dodong “ dela Cruz, Jr.
Training Commences
Teaching Effectively and Safely
Power in Striking
The FMA informative would like to thank Master Jose Isidro for his introduction to Guro Antonio ‘Dodong’
dela Cruz Jr., known as Guro Dodong, living in Lupon, Davao Oriental, Mindanao, Philippines.
The FMA Informative representative while visiting the Philippines in 2016 was in Davao Mindanao, and
Guro Dodong traveled 2 hours from Lupon to Davao to meet and talk with the representative. This was very
special indeed, for the FMA Informative representative found that Guro Dodong is a special kind of Filipino
martial arts practitioner, very friendly, honest, humble, energetic and fully dedicated to the Filipino martial arts.
Guro Dodong in his commitment of excellence continues to promulgate, support, and develop programs
for Lupon, Elementary and High School students, Barangay Tanods and Peacekeepers.
Guro Antonio ‘Dodong’ dela Cruz Jr. Personal Commitment and Thankfulness
Guro Antonio “ Dodong “ dela Cruz Jr.
Email: tonyfalcon98@yahoo.com
Lupon, Davao Oriental, Mindanao, Philippines
Guro Dodong loyalty is to the Organization, MARRPIO, under Dr. Remy P. Presas, Jr., Presas Family
Arnis., and to Isirdo Modern Arnis under Master Jose Isidro. He has their trust and confidence by granting and
accrediting him to be Lakan Antas Isa. Master Jose Isidro supports Guro Dodong generously. He is not only
Guro Dodong Master but also a very close friend to him and his family.
Guro Dodong is also very thankful for the support of some people in the Lupon community like the
first lady Mrs. Erlinda D. Lim the wife of the Mayor of Lupon, (Davao Oriental) and his son-in-law. Councilor
Sonny Alonzo, and the councilors Ms. Gina Libre, and Cenen Angsinco. Our Barangay Captain of Poblacion
Lupon, Florentino Macquilan III., and Kagawad Alan Balingit. These people supported my Arnis activities here
in Lupon.
Guro Dodong has organized new groups of martial artists, ISMART- LUMADS, (Isidro Modern Arnis
and Taekwondo) (Lupon United Martial Artists for the development of Sports). These groups will develop athletes to represent the Municipality and Province in the field of Sport Martial Art competition. Aside from these
all the members will also perform and participate in community service like, peacekeeping, traffic enforcement,
and Community Emergency Response and Rescue, intelligence gathering. They will be trained to perform such
duties depending on their capability. These people will be the future Army, Police, Barangay Tanod and security
guards, in Lupon Mindanao. There is a Brotherhood of Martial Artists, as a Filipino everyone must learn and
train in Arnis, the first priority in martial arts. Working together for the peace and harmony among the different
martial arts and styles, and promote sportsmanship and brotherhood. To help maintain peace and order, to make
the community a safe place to live. Master Jose Isidro is very supportive to Guro Dodong plans and actions in
these matter. He is our Grandmaster of the group and the Great Grandmaster is Dr. Remy P. Presas.Jr.
Lupon, Davao Oriental, Philippines
Each issue features practitioners of martial arts and other internal arts, other features include historical, theoretical and technical articles; reflections, Filipino martial arts, healing arts, the culture of the Philippines and other
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Lupon is said to have derived its name from the native word “naluponan”, meaning a body of land accumulated at
the mouth of a river resulting from years of continued accretion. The settlers shortened the word “naluponan” into what is
called now “Lupon”. This “naluponan” area was then applied to the mouth of the Sumlug river of Lupon municipality of
today.
Lupon was primarily inhabited by the Mandaya and Mansaka in the hinterlands, and the native Kalagans in the
shorelines of Lupon connected to Pantukan municipality and San Isidro municipality today. But, through a wave of migration [local immigrants from Luzon and the Visayas (Christians and Muslims alike)] and the coming of logging concessions, the population of Lupon has increased through the succeeding years.
Lupon first became a regular barrio of Pantukan in 1919. Two years later Governor General Francis Burton Harrison issued an Executive Order No. 8, series of 1921, creating Lupon as a Municipal District comprising eight (8) barrios
that include Poblacion Lupon, Sumlog, Cocornon, Tagugpo, Piso, Maputi, Langka, and Banaybanay.
Datu Commara Manuel was appointed as the municipal district president from 1921 to 1929. The American Occupation in the Philippine Islands was serious about pacifying inhabitants from rebellion against the American regime. What
they did was to create Mindanao into a Moro Province, at the expense of the Christians both Catholic and Protestants
also inhabiting the whole region. It was on this ground that Lupon was said to have been made into a sultanate with Datu
Manuel as its sultan. But such an idea of Lupon becoming a sultanate was short-lived as Datu Manuel was replaced by the
succeeding municipal district presidents.
Getting to Know Guro Antonio “ Dodong “ dela Cruz Jr.
The FMA Informative wants the reader to learn a litte about Guro Antonio “ Dodong “ dela Cruz, Jr. known as Guro
Dodong from his own thoughts.
I’m reminded of that basic concepts and principles of what
Grandmaster Roland Dantes told me to learn the basic fundamentals, concepts, principles, theories and philosophies, to have a
deeper understanding of the art to be learned. He told me, constant practice makes you perfect and that makes you a Master of
the art.
Before, I just wanted to be a student to learn self-defense
to protect myself and also to share it to my comrades in the Barangay Tanod in our community in which I’m the Commander.
I’m a 14 years volunteer before I resigned and moved on.
I don’t have any ambition to be a teacher, because I know that to be a teacher there’s a big task to
achieve that is how to teach the students effectively and to impose discipline. There are lots of things to learn
and in the Lupon, Mindanao no one or a very few are qualified Guro’s to teach and train students. They know
how to fight effectively, but they don’t know how to explain the wisdom behind it.
However, I can’t resist the request of my Arnis idol Grandmaster Dantes to promote and propagate
Arnis in the Lupon region. After the training with our group of Barangay Tanod, Grandmaster Roland promised
to come back to our place in Lupon to train and prepare me for that purpose. But unfortunately after a month
Grandmaster Dantes passed away. I was so frustrated and down of his passing. I was there at Grandmaster Dantes funeral in Antipolo City where I met many Filipino martial arts greats, mostly Modern Arnis practitioners.
I also meet Guro Peachie Saguin who was very good to me and provided me with vital information
about the Filipino martial arts. I also meet the other pillars of Modern Arnis, Grandmasters Rodel Dagooc, Pepito Robas, Vic Sanchez and Jerry dela Cruz, and my uncle who is a Master.
Some of the practitioners offered me free training and to be a member of their Organization. But I did
not commit myself to any of them, but still I continue to practice the art.
After a year I was invited by Grandmaster Bambit Dulay to join the 5th
FMA World Festival in Palawan on July
2010. There I meet so many Filipino
martial arts Grandmasters and Masters
and practitioners from different parts
of the world and became friends with
them and on Facebook. Some were
the Russian Group led by Master Alex
Plaxin.
Also I met Master Jose Isidro, a Filipino - American and
we become good friends up to this day. I like his attitude of not
leaving his friend behind and very protective and is concerned
about our safety always. I enjoy his company and have great
fun during that event until we departed ways at the airport. But
our communication still continues thru Facebook. He is the only
Master who was able to convince and persuaded me to join his
group and to be under his guidance.
I appreciate also his loyalty to Dr. Remy P. Presas, Jr., and MARPPIO the Presas Family Arnis. I’m very
proud and honored to be part of their Organization.
Master Isidro has train me thru long distance training in YouTube. I choose him among
other Grandmasters and Masters, because he has
the quality of a good leader, very supportive and
generous and a loyal friend. We are compatible in
many things. In the near future we will be business partner of our joint effort to produce Arnis
Equipment, cost effective, safe and affordable to
the Filipino Arnisadors. This will be our Legacy to the Filipino martial arts. He financed and
supported this project and has already seen the
fruits of our labor. We have already tested this
equipment in our training, sparring and tournaments. This will be sold in the market soon. Master Isidro came to
Lupon in October 2015 to visit me and my students who are also eager to meet their Master and friend in Facebook.
There is a lot of things to learn and train in the Filipino martial arts. Here I want to teach more to the
children in the Elementary and High School students,” Sport Arnis “. This is what Grandmaster Dantes wished
was to spread and propagate and promote the Filipino martial arts, and to be part of the school curriculum. For
the adults, self-defense. For peacekeepers, defensive tactics, arrest and control procedures, etc. For physical
fitness, Arnis Kalirobics.
Sport Arnis is very attractive to the younger generations because of the art of fighting, they can express
their feelings, and their skills to hit and to get hurt, and this is very exciting to them. But I always remind them
that this is just a part of Arnis, the sport aspect and not the totality of the real art the Filipino martial arts.
In this stage the students learn the Basic of Arnis, discipline and practices. Creative Anyo and Labanan
are the competitions in Sport Arnis. For the Barangay Tanods and Peacekeepers they will also learn Sport Arnis
so they can also join in on the tournaments, but the important training is the Defensive Tactics Training for law
enforcers and peacekeepers that involves Arnis stick fighting, empty hand, punching and kicking, knife defense,
hand cuffing, arrest and control procedure and many more.
First they are oriented with the history of the Filipino martial arts. The people behind the creation of one
of the best martial art in the world. The importance of preserving it for the next generation to come. The Code
of Conduct to be observed by trainees. The discipline and its practices. Warm-up exercises, stretching, footwork
exercises and many more.
Knife Defense
Gun Defense
Training Commences
The first lesson that should be learned is the proper courtesy bow, the correct grip or holding of the
weapon. The different weapons used in the Filipino martial arts. The baston or sticks, rattan or any kind of hard
wood. Bladed weapons like sword and dagger and other improvised weapons. Empty hand is also introduce to
the trainees. The rattan stick is commonly used weapon for training. For sparring, we use foam padded stick.
To learn and understand the importance of assuming the proper stances for maintaining balance, agility
and coordination and body shifting, that develop physical fitness components of muscular strength, endurance,
flexibility, poise and proper posturing in Arnis.
The correct stance is a strong foundation to maintain stability and balance
when doing a particular techniques or sequence of techniques. With this the student
also learns how to place their bodyweight or center of gravity. Consistent practice is
highly recommended for with practice the student will be able to avoid of being outbalanced and the danger of being thrown or takedown. Maneuverability or footwork,
moving from one position to another can be achieved through proper foot placement,
these movements are called body shifting.
This includes striking maneuvers, blocking maneuvers and evasive maneuvers. Learning how to move in a fight will enable a student to develop the coordination of their arms, legs, and the whole body, to create an opening and opportunity
with good timing to execute a defensive, offensive, evasive and devastating attack
or strike to their opponent. This basic knowledge and information enables the practitioners to a better understanding on how to move and fight effectively.
Students are also taught the ranges of fighting,
the long range, medium range and close range or close
quarter. The different angles or direction of foot movements and attack. The cross (+) and the “X” pattern
for striking and footwork. the centerline in where the
offensive came from, for defense you have to move
away from the line of attack, either you move laterally ,
45 degrees angle to execute the counter-attack. The different striking and blocking
techniques in which the practitioners should understand and learn to combine the
strikes and blocks, that strike can be a block and the block can be a strike. Learning and understanding these basics, the practitioners will determined the fight, the
timing of the offensive and defensive and evasive maneuvers and the coordination
of all moving parts and techniques to execute.
In empty hands the student must also learn the human weapons, the weapons that we have in our body from top of the head to foot. Like the head can be
used for butting (if the feet and the hands cannot strike), the shoulders can be used
for bumping, the elbow, the hands also have many forms of weapons to strike.
The vital targets of the body, the nerves and pressure points, manipulation of
joints of the arms and legs for locking purposes, the Chi or the breathing techniques, etc. Striking and blocking punching and kicking are essential parts of the
training.
Teaching Effectively and Safely
Making training weapons is my way of teaching effectively and
safely. The traditional form of training was modernized by Professor
Remy A. Presas. In the training, traditional way of blocking is by hitting
the weapon arm, this is very unpopular to the new generations and a
hindrance to the propagation of the art, but Professor Presas, for training
purposes we have to block the stick. Hitting the hand and the arm needs
a thicker and expensive gloves and arm protector, but this equipment are
expensive
Today, by the latest innovation of the training sticks, we have the
luxury of hitting hard at full power to strike directly to any parts of the
body (excluding the head) without worries of injury and we can assured
the safety of the practitioners. It became cost effective because we eliminate or reduce the use of protective gears in training.
will create an explosive and destructive effect to the target.
Like a punch, it is a close hand form into a fist with the knuckles at its front. The hand is connected to
the wrist, a rotating joint. At this point alone it needs a lot of training and conditioning to make it a lethal weapon. The fist will carry all the body weights and the concentrated force generated from the body. The fist must be
strong enough to contain all the power being delivered, if it fail, the fist breaks from the sudden impact of the
strike to the target that causes serious injury and damage to the hand and wrist. The Fist which is the weapon
must be trained and condition enough to withstand the impact of the strike and capable to carry the force delivered from the body. For Guro Dodong, although he teaches power punching, but he also teaches his students
the other weapons that the hand is capable of being, like the palm, palm heel, back fist, back hand, knife hand,
the wrist, hammer fist, fingers, etc. Slapping technique also is taught, it is very effective and powerful strike that
doesn’t cause injury using these other weapon in the hand.
Dis-arming
Power in Striking
Guro Dodong was asked the question where he get his “Power” when striking. This question is not a simple
question. It needs a lot of explanation. What Guro Dodong knows and understands in fighting, the power is the
force that drives the weapon, either stick or a fist, to strike an object or person to produce a devastating and
destructive effect. For Guro Dodong, there are 3 aspects that determine the “Power of a Strike”.
In his Hapkido learning, HAP means coordination, KI means power, and DO means way. The Way of
Coordinating Power.
First is the Power of the Mind. The mental training for martial art, is the will to protect our own self to
survive and stay alive in a fight. Focus and concentration, and to plan a strategy and the execution is commanded by the mind. Strengthening the Faith that you can achieve your objective. Mind over body, Mind over matter
is the discipline and the rule. This must be coordinated to the other aspect.
Second is the Physical Power (the different parts of the body). The physical training involves the
strength, muscles, endurance, flexibility, agility, etc. of the body. Proper Stances and grounding or rooting, footwork, body shifting, balance and timing plays an important role in generating power.
Third is the “Breath, the “Chi or Ki”. The breath is the link between the Mind and the Body. The Chi or
Ki is your energy or Life Force. Martial artists believe it is located in your abdomen and can be summoned at
will. In martial arts, a practitioner might take a deep breath, focus his will or his Chi, and then strike the target.
Chi gives you the ability to add power, intensity and focus to achieving your goal. Breathing help you find your
Chi. Deep breathing by slowly Inhaling through the nostril, filling your lungs and abdomen. Then expel the
breath slowly through your mouth. Fell the energy and strength you expel, that’s summoning your “Chi”. Now,
make the expulsion of breath coincide with a physical and mental effort, this coordination of the three powers
MARRPIO
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