ShawnJKD

Trinity Martial Arts is hosting Doctor Jopet Laraya on the weekend of September 27th & 28th, 2008 for a seminar on Johnny Chiuten's Pronu Supinus Arnis system.

Saturday September 27th - 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Sunday September 28th - 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Location: TKMT Toronto Kickboxing & Muay Thai (TKMT) Academy Inc. in downtown Toronto, ON, Canada

Cost: $125 with pre-registry ($25 deposit) for the weekend or $75 per day at the door.

Contact: Shawn Gliddon - shawn@trinityjunfan.com

Students are expected to arrive 30 minutes early so that they are registered, changed, and on the mats ready to start on time. On both days there will be a break at the half-way point.

TKMT is a fully matted gym so attendees are requested to wear only mat
friendly shoes (wrestling) or bare feet along with their workout clothes.
You should also bring with you sticks and other personal training gear.

Doctor Jopet currently lives in Hong Kong I really don't know when we may be
able to have him here again so I hope you'll take advantage of this
opportunity.

Below is some information on Dr. Jopet Laraya and on the Pronus Supinus
style:

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Jopet Laraya began his martial arts training in the early 1960's, in the
Philippines, at the age of 7. Growing up in the provinces of Leyte, Ilocos
Norte, and Batangas (birthplace of the Balisong), he was exposed to the
various styles of Philippine stickfighting including the Lapunti Arnis de
Abanico system of the Caburnay family and most extensively in the
Pronus-Supinus Cadena De Mano system of Master Johnny Chiuten. As well he has trained in many different styles of Chinese Kung Fu and was the public
relations officer of the Jing Mo Kung Fu club of Toronto, headed by Master
James Lore.

Dr. Jopet has written numerous articles for various martial arts magazines
and also appears in at least two books on the Filipino arts - He
demonstrates La Punti Arnis in the pictures that accompany the Marks Wileys' description of that art in his book Filipino Fighting Arts, and also has
written an article on the making of the Balisong that appears in Wiley's
compilation Arnis: History & Development of the Filipino Martial Arts.

The seminar will likely focus on single stick but I hope to have Dr. Jopet
also show us some of his empty hand skills as well.
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* this is a brief overview of the Pronus-Supinus style written by Doctor
Jopet to fill people in on the material that will be examined at the
upcoming seminar.

The originator, synthesizer and head of this system, Master Johnny Chiuten,
Jr., draws upon his many years of involvement in different martial arts
disciplines.

Johnny Chiuten, of Filipino-Chinese descent, was born in Bogo, Cebu in the
the late 1930's. He had an early introduction to martial arts from his
father, uncles, and grandfather where he honed to near perfection the basics
of stances, blocks and punches. To maintain his cultural heritage, he was
sent to China to be brought up in the traditional Chinese customs. Here he
was further exposed to more martial arts styles from his relatives.

Returning to the Philippines, he involved himself in more martial arts
styles, from boxing to wrestling, Judo, Karate, Tae-Kwon-Do, and Aikido.

Upon graduation from high school, he enrolled in the state university in the
pharmacy department and joined the Beta Sigma Fraternity where he headed the martial arts section. All throughout the university days he was an
instructor at the Hong Sing Athletic Association in Manila's Chinatown, the
assistant of GM Lao Kim, the grand old man of Manila's Chinatown in Ongpin.
He also "observed" and "trained" with instructors from the other Chinese
martial arts clubs. It was his long association with GM Lao Kim where he
inherited the Dragon-Tiger style of Kung Fu (a family of Hung Gar) and
started him on his quest for martial arts perfection, after dabbling in
almost all available Chinese martial arts styles in the Philippines.

Not content with the external styles, he also learned internal styles (tai
chi, pa kua and Hsing-I), yoga, the occult and meditation practices. From
all these arts that he learned, he integrated the principles into his brand
of arnis.

Johnny had been trained in the Balintawak style of arnis by no other than
the grandmaster, GM Anciong Bacon. After learning all he could from this
style he moved on and found the arnis de abanico style of GM Felimon
Caburnay which he helped improve by incorporating the stance of kung fu and the intricate hand techniques of tai chi & aikido.

The resistance of the arnis de abanico old timers to the introduction of the
new concepts of kung fu into their art resulted in several factions. And
those that learned the improved abanico style (the collaboration of Master
Johnny & GM Felimon Caburnay) were few and what they learned of the
improvements were mostly the physical aspects, without the advantage of
having trained long enough in the intricacies, applications and rationales
for the use of the stances, holds, traps, and take-downs. And as is common
to all martial arts masters, the best techniques and secrets are "kept in
the same household", to be shared only to the closest and most trusted
followers.

The primary, and perhaps the trademark characteristic of the style, is the
use of the crossed leg stance and its application in advancing and / or
retreating while delivering multiple blows. Trapping techniques with the
hands, feet, sticks & dagger, not to mention the intricate takedown and
locking techniques, make this style very different from the traditional
Filipino Martial Arts.

The name give to this style, Pronus-Supinus (prone-supine) refers to the
yin-yang relationship of the hands, and the Cadena de mano (chain of hands)
refers to the continuous hand movements as it relates to attack and / or
defense techniques. These incorporate the principles of the different arts
that form the bulk of the offensive and defensive arsenal. What forms the
very foundation of this art is the stance work, hand and foot techniques,
and whole body being involved in the expression of the art. The stick and
dagger are merely the extensions of the total art. There has been no claim
of this art being a pure Filipino martial art style but rather, an
expression of the fighting philosophy of Johnny, as comprehended and
translated by his followers.

From its origins in the island of Bantayan, Cebu to the training halls in
Manila's Chinatown & the Area 11 training grounds at the university of the
Philippines, Johnny's art has been introduced to the USA by Master Rene
Navarro and in Canada by Dr. Jopet Laraya.

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Please pass the above, and my contact information, on to anyone you know
that has an interest in the Filipino Martial Arts. If you would like to
register for the seminar or have any questions feel free to email me at
shawn@trinityjunfan.com

__________________
Trinity Martial Arts
www.trinityjunfan.com

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