Onra:LiberationDay2011

Editor’s note: This column is about mixed martial arts, and it will appear on a biweekly basis on Thursdays.

Hafa adai.

Among other things, congratulations and good luck to our new Guam Amateur Wrestling Federation president Shawn Gumataotao. Barely two months in and he has reportedly introduced some healthy additions to the organization and is looking well seated with the impressive reinvigoration of Guam’s grappling, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling interests.

With its eyes set on the FILA Worlds Grappling Championships Sept. 28-29 in Belgrade, Serbia, and to secure an unbiased selection of Guam’s best grappling representatives, the Guam Grappling Organization is requesting that all training centers submit their best picks for the different weight categories of 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 90 and 110 kilograms for the divisions in gi, no-gi, pankration and combat grappling.

Submissions and inquiries can be made online to guamgrapplingorg@gmail.com.

Just around the corner, it’s PXC25 at the Marriot on July 29, while for those of us who missed PXC in the Philippines, we are able to catch it on MCV.

As busy and multi-dimensional as Guam’s fight sport and industry have become, as widespread our enthusiasm has grown, as impressive as our ambition has climbed, and as honorable as the sacrifices that have been made, surely there is a lot more to be reported regarding the developments and adventures of our island and islanders in martial arts and combat sports.

In the course of the few years that this column has been running (can’t believe it’s been that long), we’ve come across a lot of highlights and reports of good things that have happened and good things that have been in the works with our island’s fighter athletes and fight industry. As we’ve moved at our capacity to provide a small window into the ventures of our flag and the resonance of our national anthem, we’ve followed our athletes around the world and we’ve cheered together in our island’s victories and hopefully grown collectively from our island’s losses.

Regardless of all that’s been reported, admittedly still, there have been tons of accomplishments that have escaped this column’s radar as well as the radar’s of much larger media outlets.

Sincerely, this column hopes to service not just MMA and jiu-jitsu, it aims to be of service to Guam martial arts as a whole and through the medium of martial arts, share a sense of honor for our island and people regardless of gym affiliation, discipline and/or skill level.

Boxing, taekwondo, karate, judo, aikido, wrestling, these arts have been assets to our island long before the arrival of mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. They have been changing lives, touring our competitors around the globe and flying our flag honorably to the world even before the arrival of our first SuperBrawl. There is no denying that their efforts in the past have played a significant and tremendous role toward the collective success story our athletes, industry and island can speak of truthfully with our status in world combat sports today.

Our fighter athletes and martial artists today are luckier than ever with evolved training methods, advanced fight strategies and impressive training equipment. Coupled with super-significant developments in nutrition and ridiculous access to technical information, in honest and pure opinion, I feel that our fighter athletes today are more capable than ever.

When talking of the past and how our martial artists of yesterday can service our island today, many of the answers lie in their students; not necessarily with the efforts of enhancing fight skill, but more so significantly in extending the atmosphere of humility and honor, the call of duty for community service and for the ongoing pursuit of positivity for the many different ways of the fist.

Happy Liberation Day.

Thanks for dropping by.