Onra: May 31st, 2012

Hafa Adai,

Its May 31^st, 2012 and fighter athletes from Jiujitsu academies across Guam  are heading out American shores to compete in the Brazilian Jiujitsu World Championships this weekend. They will undoubtedly meet up with former Guam residents who have taken their competitive ambitions overseas and will come across numbers of people who will have more than a word to say of Guam, Guamanians, and our many branches out into Jiujitsu industry and sport. More than an ocean and several other bodies of water away, our athletes are excelling in wrestling, Mixed Martial Arts and submission grappling tournaments abroad. While the world awaits the 2012OlympicGames, the  biggest sporting event in the world set to take place in London.

On Guam shores, Grapplers are training for two upcoming tournaments in June, the Em-pyreClassic on June 16^th scheduled for the Micronesia Mall and the Copa De Marianas no-gi tournament on June 30^th set for the Phoenix Center.

Hagatnas portion of Marine Drive is Jiujitsu Alley.

Though possibly mistaken—word on the street is that Universal Alliance will be moving into the International Sports center along Marine Drive where they will be the new faces on the block with near-to-next-door neighbors, the well-established Purebred/LloydIrvin Jiujitsu Academy,  the Carlson Gracie Jiujitsu Guam Academy, and thePound Jiujitsu.  In less than 500yards distance our island will be treated to Guam’s most accomplished Jiujitsu training facilities and its fitting that they are situated in our island’s capital.

Rumor has it that there is another Jiujitsu World Champion in town doing another multiple day seminar at one of our new and premiere Jiujitsu facilities. If that’s the case—Welcome to Guam sir! We hope and trust that you leave the island with a good impression and with good words to resonate about an island that really appreciates the gentle art.

Personally speaking this column was created because there were so many events and achievements that were in the mix without any real media support and a bunch of folks thought that this deserved some attention.  With as busy as Guam’s combat sports schedule has become its pretty tough to be on top of everything. Thankfully there have been so many posts on facebook, so many articles in thePDN, so many stories in our local newscasts, as well as thorough coverage from Guam Sports network and our local TV program 66degrees. It seems that at several levels there is still a good amount of people getting excited enough about our islanders in combat sports and if we really want to stay connected to these increasingly busy dynamics..all we have to do is make an effort.

Former Shooto multiple time lightweight and welterweight Champion Rumina Sato was back on island for two days this week. It’s been about 13years since he first arrived on island and on this occasion, he was even more excited than his first time around. In between now and then, I’ve had the benefit to intersect with him on several occasions in Japan and despite his  being surrounded by scores of fans waiting around for autographs—without fail, he always makes it a point to make time to say hello and share good conversation with his friends from Guam. Always thought that was pretty cool. Whatever has happended here and whatever is happening in and through combat sports has definitely made its impact with influential people far and near.

Props for everything that’s happened. Gasoline for everything that is going on. And GoodLuck for everything that’s in the mix. Its awesome to be surrounded by an island that ,in sports so growingly more difficult—continues to try it’s best. Whether this competitive pursuit has been for gold medals or black belts..we have succeeded in large to cultivate not just a good name for Guam but also a good reality.  With Guam’s combat sports schedule and industry abroad becoming busier than ever overseas, our talent become more formidable, our connections ever-growing, and our resources more activated than ever—the sky seems to be the limit for what else is to come from the sacrifice of hard training supporting heart-driven ambition.

Like the song says, for her honor for her glory—exalt our island forever more. It looks at the very least, our island’s combat sports is aiming to do that one way or another.

Good luck to our competitors at the Jiujitsu World Championships in California this weekend. We are looking forward to hearing about our new world champion(s)

Thanks for dropping by.

Fokai Amphibious Division: Cocos Crossing

Fokai JAPAN: What Is Fokai

Heres the new Fokai song. This is the 6th fokai song written and performed in Japan and its translation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aaqcn2GpLSE&feature=youtu.be

FOKAI MUSIC(2012)

What we produce(Clothing) is what we are
Nothing different from the sun burning
Fokai is my life
Nobody knows what will happen
So why don’t we just try our best
Even if we all collapse we will still stand
That’s how Fokai gets strong

Born and grow to leave something in memory
Never quit when you decide to begin
There are times to laugh and cry
But only one life

Think positive and proceed
Dont lose your mind just Finish what you start
Never drop out, but will achieve
Fokai Familia will rise up together

Trial and error , be determined
If you don’t last 3 days your useless
Fight against softness
No need to talk but to show
Many things will happen beyond
So Why not try our best every time

Never quit when you decide to begin
There are times to laugh and cry
But only one life
Never drop out,but will stand it
That’s how Fokai will get strong
Born and grow to leave something in memory
Never quit when you decide to begin
There are times to laugh and cry
But only one life

We cannot go back
Don’t want to give up this thoughts
Even anxious comes in the way
Still we are standing and continuous
Made in Japan
Never to despise just save like money
Times caught in a hole and times of up and downs
But the goddess of victory will smile at Fokai

Whatever we draw in the beginning will it come true ?
No need to think too much
This is same as the Jah guide
No Regrets even a split second
Fokai Brand is since ever since

Many things will happen beyond
So Why not try our best every time
Never drop out, but will achieve
That’s how Fokai will get strong
Born and grow to leave something in memory
Never quit when you decide to begin
There are times to laugh and cry
But only one life

Why not try to live you life what you like the best
Is this your best , didn’t think so .
Feels strange this jam hypes me up
Watch us Fokai fan dem
We will promise this is just the beginning
Starting From
GUAM ,HAWAII , JAPAN , SAIPAN and to the world
We will head to the mountain peek

Many things will happen beyond
So Why not try our best every time
Never drop out, but will achieve
That’s how Fokai will get strong
Born and grow to leave something in memory
Never quit when you decide to begin
There are times to laugh and cry
But only one life

Even if we fall down to the beginning
Even if people think we are a fool
Even if we get old ages pass by
I will proceed this way all the way

via Governor of Guam: Eddie Calvo

GoodStuff:

Policy Speech on Federal Unfunded Mandates, Practical Considerations of U.S. Government Policy on Guam

Delivered in Okinawa
By Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo
May 22, 2012

Hafa adai and thank you for inviting me today,

Guam has a long tradition of military service … so much so that our sons and daughters have the highest enlistment rate in the United States.  Since the Second World War, that generation of Guamanians passed down to the generation of today an unwavering patriotism and support for what the United States represents.  Since then, we, like Okinawa, have hosted a large U.S. military presence.  Okinawa accounts for less than 1% of the total area of Japan, yet 18% of your island is occupied by the U.S. military… and you host 75% of all the U.S. troops in the country.  Similarly, on Guam, one-third of our island is owned and occupied by the U.S. military.

Okinawa has done much to focus attention on the heavy burden that it has had to bear to support such a large U.S. military presence.  Guam has always welcomed the U.S. military .

Yet today, as our two islands move in opposite directions in their relationships with the U.S. military, recent events have marked a stark contrast in how our national governments view their relationships with each of us.  The Noda Government and the Diet have continued their entreaties to the people of Okinawa in return for the sacrifices you make as you bear the bulk of the burden of the Security Treaty between the United States and Japan.  The government of Japan is finally understanding your frustrations and reaching out to you. Your sovereign is helping you to build your infrastructure and to expand your tourism industry, not just to allay the impact of the treaty, but to help your economy grow.

Yet, on the other side of the Philippine Sea, on Guam, there is a certain irony in that, until recent, the only assurances we had that our infrastructure would be improved to absorb the military buildup came from Japan.  Now that the number of Marines coming to Guam has been reduced, and the financial commitments of both countries have been adjusted, what was once certain has now become uncertain and ambiguous. We on Guam are left wondering whether anyone, even our own sovereign, will give Guam the practical financial offsets it needs to absorb the impact of the coming troops.

While the government of Japan is offering you assistance with your economy as you seek to reduce the U.S. presence of troops in Okinawa, we have to petition our federal government to do the same as it seeks to increase the U.S. presence of troops on Guam.

Our commitment to our sovereign is undiminished. Yet, I can’t help but question our sovereign’s commitment to us when it has unfairly treated us in the past and even today saddles us with severe unfunded federal mandates.  Despite this, it has been slow to grant us the economic tools we need to improve our economy ourselves.  Okinawa has made clear to Tokyo its feelings about how you have been unfairly treated in the past. Guam is also trying to make its voice heard in Washington, D.C.

Because we are less than a State, the U.S. government has often ignored the impact of some of its national decisions on us.  As the most prominent example, over 25 years ago the United States signed a compact of free association with several Micronesian countries that created the most liberal immigration policy in recent memory.  That compact promised to improve the economies of these Micronesian countries so they could be self-sustaining members of the global community.  Instead, it created a rush of migration to Guam, without any significant assistance from our federal government to help us absorb the cost of this massive migration.

Guam belongs to a brotherhood of Pacific Islands, and we are a welcoming people.  But when the unreimbursed cost of helping the migrants with public housing, public welfare, employment programs, education, and medical care exceeds 15% of our local government revenues, we can’t help but be angered. And this is not anger aimed at our island brothers and sisters, but at a national sovereign who fails to recognize the practical implications of its unmet obligations.  How can any local government survive a 15% drain of its local revenues?  How would Okinawa feel, how would it fare, if Tokyo imposed an immigration policy that immediately drained 15% of your local government revenues?

Our public programs are falling short in providing services to our residents because of this immigration policy. Instead of providing Guam with the corresponding funds to offset this impact, the U.S. government limits what we receive for federal social programs far below what it provides to every other State in the nation on a per-capita basis.  And as we struggle to provide basic public services because of the federal burdens placed on us, , the U.S. government sues us for not providing such basic services as trash collection and disposal, water and waste water treatment, mental health care, and even housing prison inmates. This has forced us to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars, over a billion dollars in total, to meet the U.S. government’s demand on what is a minimally acceptable level of service for our people.

We, like you, have gone to our federal government asking it to treat us fairly…  Asking it to help us absorb the cost of these federal mandates and immigration policies that drain so much of our local revenues.  For over a decade, our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.  Now we are being asked to absorb the additional cost of the U.S. Marines coming from Okinawa. You will understand the skepticism that I have when I am being told by the same government not to worry… to trust it to take care of the cost and the impact of the buildup.  This is the same government that has ignored the financial impact of its previous mandates… that reduced our federal benefits to a fraction of what other citizens of the United States receive.  My skepticism is such that I must tell you that I had more confidence in Japan’s commitment to help us improve our infrastructure than I have now in our own government.

But, still, we are a patriotic people.  We love our country, and we are proud to be Americans.  We are proud to play a role in preserving the security of our country, Japan, Asia and even the world.  We just need our government to listen to our pleas to treat us fairly, as your government has begun to listen to your pleas.

As this buildup moves forward and you transition your economy to one less reliant on the U.S. military, we are transitioning ours to one that considers increased military spending. There are limitless opportunities between our communities.

Our sovereigns may have complete control over this buildup, but our economy is mature enough to ensure the viability of our island, if our government would let us control our own destiny.

Last summer, I testified before our U.S. Congress, and last week I wrote a letter to our President, asking them to help us by allowing us to help ourselves.  Since taking office last year, I and my administration have worked unceasingly in trying to get our government to approve a China visa waiver program. This will allow Chinese visitors to come to Guam visa-free so that we can expand our tourism industry.  So it was with great interest that I observed the Japan government’s efforts to help Okinawa expand its tourism industry by approving a multiple-entry China visa for Okinawa.  Yet, on Guam, we continue to wait for our government to take action…  To give us the opportunity to improve our economy ourselves. If we have to continue to absorb the cost of the existing unfunded federal mandates, and if we have to absorb the cost of the military buildup, we at least have a fighting chance with tourism.

As I have done in earlier trade missions to other parts of Asia, I am here to encourage all Okinawans, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Russians, and everyone else in Asia, to visit our shores.  I know that some will see Guam and Okinawa as competitors in the same tourism market.  I prefer to see us as kin, sharing a common bond and a common aspiration.  Sharing common experiences and frustrations with our respective national government.  Sharing a similar history of an independent people who were first colonized and then incorporated into another nation.  Sharing a similar identity of a people who are part of a larger country, yet who even after hundreds of years, still have a unique language and culture that distinguishes us from our parent country.  On Guam, instead of saying “Welcome” we say “Hafa Adai.”  In Okinawa, instead of saying “Yokoso” you say “Mensore.”  We are an island culture – you are an island culture.  There is something in being an islander that I think makes us more welcoming – maybe it’s the year-round sun and the sand that makes a people friendlier.

We have a lot in common, and perhaps that is what makes the economic potential between our communities so great.  The geopolitical importance we’ve shared for the past half-a-century, though on separate sides of the Philippine Sea, can help shape a relationship and a mutual understanding of where we can go.  We should seize this day as two communities who have been subjects of a sovereign, and who are proving to the world that we can build futures more reliant on what we can do for ourselves than what our national governments can do for us.

Thank you so much for your hospitality and for your time today.  This will go down as one of the most memorable days of my tenure.

Fokai: According To The Urban Dictionary “PLUS…”

We googled Fokai and came across the Urban Dictionar and this is what they had to see about fokai. in italicized letters. We add words in bold letters and make comments in regular letters. Though we can see where they are coming from–its important that people have a better understanding of spirit of the word we represent.

PLEASE READ ON:

Numbers s 1-3 is their example in use of the word .We COMPLETELY AGREE WITH NUMBER 1 and 3. We can also agree with number 2.  Four your better understanding–we added number 4.

1) He/She has the Fokai attitude, and will never quit.
2) I’m going to fokai your face!
3) Fokai!
4) Five People went fishing. Three People caught fish. FivePeople went home with fish because since they fished together…the fish was fokai’d to the people

A local word in Guam that has since been adopted as a very popular brand of clothing started by a close group of friends in Guam.  The brand was first gained popularity with its connection to mixed-martial arts-, but now has included many other extreme sports. Fokai has primarily is used to mean “to go for it”, but has been used in slang as meaning “to break something” or simply “fuck you!”.

but comes from an ambition rooted in bodyboarding and the  effort to celebrate and cultivate a common and local word that ignited natives towards initiave and  the drive to persevere through adversities.

Dependiing on the generation you speak to… The word “fokai’s” roots come from things as diverse  as to “deck” in a fight or to persevere through  a difficult situation. In two generations prior fokai was also used as a word to mix and even as word describing distribution and even great-giving.

In its evolution..FokaiIndustries  is the effort to promotes pushing through adversities to win but also moving forward with dignity and lesson learning through defeat. In essence–its imminent self-victory and the endless effort forward.

Rock&Roll.

FokaiRoad:viaRDC&66Degrees

A Video Edit by JohnnyH of 66degrees in discussion of the FokaiProductDevelopment

GoodVibrations:FokaiJapan

NewFokaiSong and videoslideshow by FokaiFamilia Japan

TheGoldenToken:Mt.MangguBALI

TheGoldentToken makes its way to the top of Mt.Manggu in BedugulBali. Roughly a 4hour climb through some real terrain–Wayan,TheHolyMan, Agus, and Romemake their way to the top to pray for among other things…friends,Family,Hope,&Faith.

FokaiMusic:GoodVibrationsWithTheKing

66degrees revisiting Yellowman’s visit to Guam in 2008. Super Reggae Concert for sure.Yellowman took full stage as GregoryIsaacs(Rest in Peace brethren) couldnt make it to the show for the propsed dual-sensation concert.

FokaiProduct:TheFokaiBackpack

Video techpack of the form and function of theFokaiBackpack…

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