Onra:September10,2009

Hafa Adai,

In case it was forgotten, congratulations to our newly appointed Guam Unarmed Combat Commision. Lots of work ahead. The island hopes for and is trusting in your best service.

In true testimony of their outstanding performance in the Marianas Open, ( with only a team of 5)The Army National Guardsmen returned with their second place overall finish from the Army National Guard Modern Army Combatives Tournament on August 28th. Congratulations toMelvin Manibusan, Vince Cruz, and Josh Cruz returning with the gold and AJ Aguon for bringing back the bronze.

The Guam National Guard will also be sending out a team of 14soldiers to return to Fort Benning in FGeorgia to compete in the 5th Annual All Army Combatives Tournament from September 17th til the 20th.

From last checked, Xavier Reyes is on Deck for Rage In The Cage on September 11^th. in Arizona . PXC18th:DeadGame 2 is on September 19^th in Guam. RobWashington is replacing AJ Aguon in Taiwan for PRO Fighting on October 4^th. TheArt Of War3: Saipan All Island Submission Grappling Tournament is on October 10^th.

Some other powerful things are definitely in play for Guam in industry and competition. Join us next column while we discuss further details including Spike22 ‘s MelchorManibusan and his Dream that just might come true.

Good News–They found a cure for cancer in Chuck Norris tears! Bad news though is that Chuck Norris never cries…

Heard that joke while back and wanted to pass it on and Just to give one pespective of the State of the Art(s) here on Guam.

.Training in World Martial Arts arrived on Guam more than half a century ago and the arts like Karate, Judo, Aikido, and different forms of Kung Fu were made available throughout different parts of the island. Some arts were structured entirely for self defense and some were catered to competiton on and off-island. Though boxing and wrestling are not widely considered martial art, they joined and maybe even preceded judo and karate as Guams first ventures in off island combat sports competition.

Years of training and competition went by and eventually we saw the popularization of”Kung-Fu” movies. Many at this point found an idol in BruceLee (and Bruce Li and never ever forget Chuck Norris–EVER!))jogging suits sold more than ever with the rocketing sales of Nunchaku(Chaku Sticks) and Shuriken(Ninja Stars) following close by.

Guam had always been into boxing, the rise of an icon, Mike Tyson, gave Guam fans another hero.During the time of Kyokushin Karate’s and Kempo’s poplularization and notoriety in Guam as fierce martial arts, Mr. Miyagi and Daniel-san joined Bruce Leroy in showing us all the role of responsibility in fighting; TheHulkster pointed and persevered his way to the top of the WWF;The rising action stars like Jean Claude Van Damme showed us how to kick butt and be buff; Jeff Speakman taught us how to hit a hundred times a second and just when we thought wed seen it all—Boom! The great Steven Segal came around and introduced a whole new way of kicking butt…even with long hair!

We oohed and aaahed and we were convinced that we’d seen the toughest guys on the planet—and then came the UltimateFighting Championships. The martial arts world would never be the same.

The arrival of Brazilian Jiujitsu to Guam introduced a revolution in training and the coming of theSuperBrawl brought us to the front seats of live and up close No Holds Barred Fighting Competition.

Today after Mike Tyson has fallen and Bruce Lee still hasnt returned–Combat sports on Guam is a different and evolved product. Kickboxing has become a wider curiosity, Boxing is still going strong, Tae kwon Do clases are still full. Aikido is still going, and Judo is still focuse on the Olympics and international competition. Just as impressively however are the ventures of local Brazilian Jiujitsu and Submission Grappling, and Mixed Martial Arts Competition.

In the pursuit of the truth of effective martial arts, MMA competiton has successfully breathed added life into amateur and less consequential combat sports competitions, it has created a small industry and has sent our fighters all around the world. Furthermore, not only are our fighter athletes inthese fileds hosting quality local and international events and tournaments, our representatives are bringing back medals and trophies from international competitionand are attracting foreign investments and attention into local ventures.

Really, there is so much detail to be added and interpreted before, in between, and after these lines. Theres a lot of fruit that has fallen from the trees of seeds that our predecessors have planted. And hopefully from this fruit we will find more seeds.

Though Not everybody is shooting to be a world champion, and fame and fortune don’t necessarily define success. However, whenever under the umbrella of local combatives,  with the true interests of making greater things available to our people now and later ;its only healthy that we keep it mind the value of this momentum as we venture forward. when we choose to promote, elect,appoint, compete,support, or entertain– hopefully we also realize that, in the trail of our ventures,  we can in one way or another leave behind the education, inspiration, and cultivation of ourselves and ultimately of this legacy we call the Mariana Islands.

Thanks for dropping by.