June updates

A reminder that tomorrow is the Mata Sa Bagyo potluck picnic in Pittsburg, Ca. This is open to the FMA community in general and the Serrada community in particular. I'm hoping people will attend what is becoming an annual gathering, which bring me to ....

... something I've discussed here before, which is the lack of support for so many events happening here in the NorCal FMA community. Last weekend there was a Balintawak seminar in Pleasanton, a town conveniently located between the East Bay, San Jose and central valley communities such as Stockton and Modesto. Once again there was an astonishing (to me) lack of turnout. There were about a dozen members of the Tabimina Balintawak club that sponsored the event, and there was me.

Sorry if I'm preaching from a soapbox here, but for years I bemoaned the lack of events such as this in our region, a chance to see top instructors from related arts sharing their knowledge with the rest of us. Over the past year or so there have been many opportunities to attend events like this, but participation has been so sparse that the promoters are now shying away from the effort involved to make these happen. Besides posting on my blog calendar, I also directly emailed nearly 50 people about this event, letting them know there was a steep discount if they mentioned my blog. Of those, exactly NONE showed up. For $50 they could have had 5 hours with grandmaster "Nene" Gaabucayan of Teovel Balinatawak Arnis; for $10, the cost of a movie, they could have watched.

This was an excellent seminar with a top instructor. I often say an event like this is a success for me if I learn one thing new. By that definition, last Saturday was more than just a success because I picked up a few good ideas. It's too bad nobody else has the time or desire to do the same.

For those who live in S.F. or on the peninsula, a reminder that there is a two day Richard Bustillo seminar this weekend. If anyone from here attends, let me know. I'd like to hear about it, and maybe it will relieve some of this sense of futility about such events.