FMA MASTER AND GRAND MASTERS
Author: Bram Frank
review by Wmpyr
If you have been seriously training in Filipino martial arts, then chances are your instructor or in my case my instructor's instructor (Professor Remy Presas) is bound to be featured in this book.
Since the explosion of Youtube, we have many opportunities to see actual video footage of these exceptional martial arts teachers. So it was nice to see many of these "familiar faces" featured in this book, so that I could further understand some of their personal history and background.
Looking through a who's who of Filipino martial arts experts compiled into Professor Bram Frank's book gives the reader some insight into the rich history of Filipino martial arts, and how each one of the leading practitioners have served to be building blocks to develop the community that is Filipino martial arts.
In other words the teachers give back to society by passing on their knowledge. This keeps the art alive and well as it progresses to the next era. Professor Bram Frank's book let's you peep into the Filipino martial art's circle of life.
As much as it was great to look up certain instructors in this book or learn about new ones, which I did until wee hours in the morning, even better was at the start of the book, Professor Bram Frank states that this is not about comparing who is better, or who is right, but instead it's about setting differences aside, respecting the different perspectives and directions of each individual, and uniting under the Filipino martial arts banner to spread the art.
Reading this book made me proud to be a part of this community. From my personal experiences I can say that Filipino martial arts practitioners have been very generous to share their knowledge with me. They have also given me very kind words of support and encouragement. I am very grateful for that and the best way that I feel I can say "Thank you" is to continue this tradition and help others learn the art.
Professor Bram Frank's website:
www.cssdsc.com
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