Onra: May 31st, 2012
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Hafa Adai,
Its May 31st, 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 16th scheduled for the Micronesia Mall and the Copa De Marianas no-gi tournament on June 30th 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: According To The Urban Dictionary “PLUS…”
May 24, 2012 by admin
Filed under Onra, Special Forces
Follow Fokai on Facebook.com/fokaiofficialpage
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
May 22, 2012 by admin
Filed under 1008, EthicAndEtiquette, Onra, Product Development, ProductDevelopment, Videos
A Video Edit by JohnnyH of 66degrees in discussion of the FokaiProductDevelopment
TheOlympicStandard:
May 5, 2012 by admin
Filed under FokaiAthletics, Onra
TheBigIdea is Now GlobalPhenomenon
by:NealKranz
Editor’s note: This weekly column looks at the global phenomenon of multi-country, multi-sport events or Games and their wide-ranging effect on the world of sport and beyond.
The vision of organizing a multi-country, multi-sport event in different locations every four years became a reality more than 100 years ago with the staging of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
Since that time the idea has spread across the globe and numerous organizations have taken to staging their own versions of “The Games,” creating an explosion of opportunities for athletes to compete for their countries.
Yet, where in the world did the driving force and idea behind all of this activity begin? Maybe not quite where you would think.
If you said Greece, you were at least on the right continent, but a little east of correct. The idea of staging a multi-county, multi-sport event came from the studies of a French aristocrat by the name of Pierre de Coubertin. As a young man he traveled to England and saw how the schools there valued a combination of physical education and traditional studies. From there he began thinking of ways to promote the educational and humanistic values he saw developed through sport.
At some point, lightning struck (excuse the Zeus reference) and his mind connected the pageantry, values and power of the ancient Olympic Games with the modern need for a single, repeatable event to promote international sport, and the idea for the modern Olympic Games was born.
It was not easy
Of course, the transition from idea to actual event was not an easy process. Pierre de Coubertin had to convince a lot of people that such an undertaking was worth their time, not to mention money. It may seem ridiculous now, but most people were skeptical that countries would even bother sending athletes to other countries just to play “Games.”
Still, a group of like-minded people joined de Coubertin and formed the International Olympic Committee in 1894 in Paris and began preparing to organize the first modern Olympic Games. When the athletes entered the stadium in Athens, Greece, for the opening ceremonies in 1896, there was no way they could have known the impact they would have on the history of world sport.
Billions of fans
Little more than 100 years later, hundreds of thousands of athletes and billions of fans have taken part in either the Olympic Games or other multi-country Games based on the Olympic format. Billions of dollars are spent annually on the promoting and staging of these Games and they are a great source of international pride for the individuals and countries involved. In short, the Games have become a truly global phenomenon that is still going strong.
With the spectacle of the opening ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympic Games less than 100 days away, it is fitting to pause a moment and consider just how big a single idea can become. Truly amazing.
See you next time, when I will look at the opportunities and challenges the spread of various types of “Games” has brought about.
Neal Kranz has been a teacher, athlete and coach on Guam for more than 20 years. He competed at the 1996 Olympics in wrestling and has a master’s degree in Olympic sports organization management.
Onra:March15th,2012
Hafa adai.
First of all, the column has been a few weeks overdue and a sincere apology to the handful of you who spare a piece of your valuable time to share in the good intention that is rooted in between the lines of these words of babble. The Pacific Daily News has been kind enough to give Guam’s competitive and non-competitive martial arts a voice and truthfully — in particular these past few weeks — the island’s achievements really have a lot to speak of.
Among other things:
Our neighbors in Saipan are rising from the ashes of misfortune as the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands’ major headquarters for mixed martial arts development was set afire by a-yet-to-be-identified arsonist on Feb. 8. Saipan’s premiere fight training center was down but not out as Trench Tech’s Purebred Saipan is already back up and running in its new location on the seventh floor of the Marianas Business Plaza. Contact Cuki Alvarez on Facebook for further details if you want to help with the resurrection of Saipan’s ongoing campaign for positive mixed martial arts representation.
A standing ovation for PXC 30 and the Rise for Japan. What a great example of Guam’s embrace of mixed martial arts in conscious effect for the greater good.
Guam continues to succeed in U.S. jiu-jitsu competition. Great job for Guam’s Gerson Atoigue for taking gold in the adult brown-belt division at the Seventh Arizona Open & Arnold Classic 2012 and good work again for Mike Carbullido, taking first place in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials for the adult purple-belt 202-pound division.
Props for Universal Alliance’s Jon Tuck, who fought well in his chance at one of the 16 slots of The Ultimate Fighter’s Season 15. Despite breaking a toe in the middle of the fight, great job fighting forward valiantly, letting the watching world know that Guam will fight strong to make its way forward into the upper tiers of world MMA.
Good luck to Joey Lopez and Maria Dunn, who are in Morocco to compete in the continental qualifier for the London 2012 Olympic Games March 16-18. We are endlessly looking forward to seeing our island’s grapplers in the world’s greatest sporting event.
Magnificent 17
Ava and Alexandria Aflague, Laralei and Jayronne Gandaoli, Stevie, David and Ambrosio Shimizu, William and Thomas Ludwig, Ralph Gutierrez, Johanna and Ayden Duenas, Brian Roberto, Justin Untalan, Gi’anne Mantanane, Rayjon Umadhay and Adriano Cruz are 17 names worth remembering from the Purebred/Lloyd Irvin Jiu-Jitsu Academy for the countless hours of training, the priceless accounts of sacrifice and the thousands of miles of traveling to California for Feb. 19′s Pan Kids Jiu-Jitsu Championships.
In an effort to cement their victory from last year’s tournament that turned eyes of attention from all around the jiu-jitsu world toward this tiny dot in the Pacific, they finished in a close second place to team CheckMat (who was accompanied by Universal Alliance’s Ethan Flores of Guam). Just a hair’s margin away from becoming the event’s defending champions, Team Lloyd Irvin walked away from its 2012 venture to and through the Pan Kids Jiu-Jitsu Championships with more virtue than they had asked for.
Just a day before the Pan Kids tournament the representatives from Guam decided to pay a visit to the Gracie Museum in the newly located Gracie Academy in Torrance, Calif. There, to everyone’s surprise and thanks to super-perfect timing, they were happily greeted by the legendary Rorion Gracie, who was kind enough to spontaneously offer a personal and very elaborate tour of Gracie jiu-jitsu’s history, personally dialogue different details that shared true and memorable stories of the days-of-old Gracie Challenge and outline the steps that led to the inevitable creation of the UFC.
After hearing of the hurdles that his father Helio endured to create Gracie jiu-jitsu, the hosted tour was a priceless experience and a lifetime highlight that in itself made the trip vastly more than worthwhile.
The past couple weeks we’ve been in touch with all kinds of Mariana Island martial arts headline stories. Off-island jiu-jitsu success, MMA for benefits, our fighters on national TV, etc. It’s amazing the stories we are able to tell truthfully through these many ventures of self-improvement.
Recognizing that a martial arts headline or cover story in the past seemed more exotic, and few and far between, now it seems that virtually every week we are given a highlight-worthy public feature and broadcast. It’s success story after success story, competition after competition, ambition after ambition. Guam’s occasional MMA or jiu-jitsu headline that used to make a sound on this mere 32-mile-long island has now become a frequency that is resounding positively all over the planet.
Pushing for success
Our guys and gals are putting in real work. Our athletes are competing in the greatest events, they are training with the world’s best and even outside of competing, they are going above and beyond to join in the push for the success of fighting sports and competitive martial arts. We have been supported with hard work and sacrifice; we are blessed with ambition and direction. As a result, we are increasingly inspired with the panoramic view of massive opportunity. Guam is leading the way to put the Mariana Islands in good light throughout the extending landscape of combat sport. It’s really inspiring to see our island, our people and our neighbors in the Marianas reaping its benefits. Byproducts of our love for the game have escorted our island recognizably and honorably throughout the many corners of its increasingly complex and diverse industry.
Martial arts has done, is doing and will be doing a great service for the islands even if for any reason we should become the most unaccomplished competitors in the world.
Watching Dana White, Dominic Cruz and Urijah Faber give Jon Tuck props on national TV, seeing our Pan Kids competitors hosted by Rorion Gracie, hosting celebrities and legends at 13 degrees North 144 degrees East firmly illustrates that our efforts through competitive martial arts have blazed the way for a path toward greatness for the Mariana Islands.
In this ridiculously competitive sport we’re definitely not the best in the world nor are we pretending to be, and we are light years away from perfect, but you can’t argue that martial arts and competitive martial arts on Guam in many ways is something done properly.
After reading comments on Facebook to see our athletes and martial artists rise above discipline and/or gym affiliation to show their support for our brothers in battle around the world, it’s obvious that in a venture of (among other things) learning how to defend ourselves, we, at least and in large, have learned to fight for the honor of our islands, something far greater than any single person, discipline or gym. And in this small part of an even bigger picture, the growing numbers of fighters and fans around the world will agree that our islands are definitely something worth fighting for.
For her honor always.
Thanks for dropping by.
FokaiSaipan:RisingFromTheAshes
March 13, 2012 by admin
Filed under Familia, FokaiSaipan, Onra
Perseverance:noun:TrenchTech /PurebredSaipan.
TrenchTech,the building, was burned down in early February. Trench Tech, the Family, lives on…Show your support for CNMI’s competitive martial arts ambition. Connect with them @ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1445984088
BlastToThePast:GoknaVillage
March 13, 2012 by admin
Filed under Onra, Special Forces
KnowYourRoots13N144E. window into the magic of the very admirable Gokna Village
Fokai:/f’keye/.noun.verb.
Heres a really cool and key article about our people and the Soul of Guam…
I (recently) attended an AFLAC insurance function at the Westin Resort. A Chamorro dance company performed for us. The spokesman for the dance company made closing remarks on his aspirations to continue performing for the preservation and promotion of our Chamorro culture.
A couple of days later, I went shopping at Kmart. I entered the store at the door marked “entrance.” Directly ahead of me was a group of about eight teenagers leaving the store. They showed no sign of yielding a small pathway for me to complete my entry because most of them had their heads buried in their video games or were texting while walking. I yielded to them and made my way toward the outside edge of the group to let them pass. I bumped the arm of a girl who was engrossed with her electronic device. I looked back to confirm I did not knock her down and she was upright and fine.
I also noticed that she gave me hard looks (atan baba) for the bumping incident, which I did not appreciate.
I’m in my 60s and I felt disrespected by this young girl. I also feel she disrespected the cultural preservation efforts of those who performed (at that function), as well as the efforts of others who are also engaging in Chamorro cultural preservation in other formats and mediums.
I pondered this experience further and concluded that the dance performance I previously witnessed may not be conveying the true spirit of our original culture.
Chamorro cultural preservation efforts must take on more than how we dressed, danced and spoke in the past. Our preservation efforts today must be to instill good character traits and values into our children, as our ancient forefathers did.
Our ancient fathers embraced the traits of respect among many other good values. They understood it to be vital to the survival of the culture. They understood it prevented self-destruction by anarchy from within. They knew it would keep us strong and blessed, even in our conquest by outside forces and influences. They knew that respect for others would produce the “good fruit” to perpetuate the true spirit of the Chamorro culture. They lived it and passed it on to generations forward.
We too must live it today.
My experience at Kmart tells me that we may have been producing bad fruit in the last few generations. The experience also told me that our culture cannot be respected by others because they fail to be impacted by its true spirit. Disrespect within us Chamorros will breed a personal disrespect from within for our own culture. Our language and all our dancing, chanting, history would be deemed valueless and not much more than interesting entertainment.
If all cultures bring forth “good fruit,” world peace might evolve.
Let’s get back to the true spirit of our ancient roots. Start right now with your generation. I’m not against tribal tattoos and our necklaces or pony tails, dancing and chanting. Focusing only on these things alone will cause us to fall short of our preservation goal.
Thomas Garrido is a resident of Leyang, Barrigada.
SoCal2012:Legends Past,Present,Future
1st 24hours back in Cali and had the honor of visiting the Gracie Academy in Torrance. What was supposed to be a casual browse through the Gracie Museum turned out to be a martial arts highlight as Rorion Gracie of the originally touted Gracie Brothers gave us a thorough narration of the museum icons, relatively detailed history of the birth of Gracie Jiujitsu and the UFC–and a rare first person perspective into some of the good and great times behind the scenes in the Gracie compound.
Only 2hours after had the benefit of breaking a serious sweat at the newly opened UFC gym in Hawthorne. Rocked by kettlebells, humbled by the VersaClimber and absolutely floored climbing Jacob’sLadder–watche dteam Purebred/LloydIrvin Guam and Team LloydIrvin Academies from the east coast go into group training, better acquanitance, and a special impromptu photo op in their octagon for a future UFC.com photo…
A Magic Day for the Jiujitsu Kids
ANother day of strength and honor in the Guam Jiujitsu Almanac.
Onra:February9,2012
Hafa Adai,
February 18th looks to mark a big day for Guam Martial Arts as on the homefront Guam Kyokushin Karate will host the 5th Freshman Karate Tournament at the Dededo Sports Complex, in the Philippines PXC29 will feature GroundFu and Guam’s Jesse Taitano and Ryan Bigler as their main event bouts and a timezone away 17 members from Team Purebred/LloydIrvin will be competing in the PanKidsJiujitsu tournament in California ..
Congratulations to Scotty Duenas and Maria Dunn for their gold medal finishes in the 2012Oceania Championships and hats off to a job well done in BJJs long and winding road for Guam’s newest blackbelts Patrick Fleming, Omar Damian, and Will Escobar of Team Purebred/Lloyd Irv in.
Guam is honored to again host a direct descendant of the martial arts pioneers that changed the world—Welcome back to Guam Carlson Gracie Jr.! Sincere hope and confidence that you will find within your students and others that Jiujitsu is flourishing profusely where America’s day begins.
A few weeks back the guys from BudoVideos .com were on Guam filming at different grappling academies across the island, interviewing many of the pioneers and new faces regarding the past, present, and future of what could be considered Guam’s most popular martial art.
As of this week–That end product is available online on their website.
Budovideos .com has done a magnificent job in opening windows online to some of the greatest grappling tournaments in the world—the AbuDhabisCombat Championships, the Jiujitsu World Championships,etc… They definitely have their hands full and it says a lot that they would literally travel thousands of miles to broadcast Guam’s jiujitsu story. The 44minute and 37second piece is an excellent opportunity for online viewers to get a backstage glimpse into the perspectives of the different academies that illustrate Guam’s growingly elaborate picture. At the very least 330 people already like it. Dial into www.budovideos.com or find its link on www. Fokai.tv and see what the fuss is about and come witness a description of the islands far beyond the grass skirts, brown tree snakes, power outages, and other misleading topics of conversation that miserably fail to reveal the proper picture of the island we love, live in, and fight for.
Jiujitsu has done this much for the island and with the long list of talent in the waiting—athletically the future looks promising. With the good intentions of our industry, the hard workof our , and with the critical and undying support of its fans-Jiujitsu in Guam has proven itself to be a truly honorable effort and an extremely successful venture.
Certainly the benefits of Jiujitsu training have given us more than enough reason to enroll in an academy, to talk about endlessly, and to convince friends to join in all the fun. And though it might not be the main focus of our training—its Good to see how the online world is digesting Jiujitsu on Guam as training in paradise.
Because its something that we have not only digested well—but something we have reprocessed even more positively.
Thanks for dropping by,
