Thanks for your candid answer Andy.

Taking the answer to my question out of your post: your status as "guro" and affiliate instructor are on Pat's say so alone and not any formal training or assessment of your ability to teach.

Thank you..

Please answer the question rather than infer I am asking it for anything other than professional reasons....

Hi Riki, can you post this reply to Tig's post.

Hi Tig's good to see you are continuing to be somewhat of an ****. And remember you went public and tried to make out that I am corrupt. Tsk Tsk Tsk.

First you threaten to link the old Rapid Arnis London web site to other sites, then you start adding up slanderous remarks and trying to back this up with old youtube footage, all because your instructor decided to leave Rapid Arnis??? who is junior instructor by the way not a full instructor.

Now I talked to Damien when he decided to leave and I had no objection to it as he said he wanted to try other FMA styles, now bear in mind I not only support that, I whole heartedly encourage people to look at other styles and if they prefer them then they go with my blessing. But in the first conversation with Damien said he was going inacctive because he had no students, then I see the RA London website states otherwise, it was only after I pointed out to Damien that I dont like being lied to that he then said he wanted to try other systems, Oh and that Rapid Arnis was too hard??? He also told other people that he was loosing students because Rapid Arnis was too hard???

Is it? Well if it is then that is not a bad thing eh?

Now we have this latest little escapade, Now I dont take kindly to former students badmouthing me behind my back and yes I mean Damien, especially to other senior FMA practioners to which beleive it or not I talk to and have done in quite detail regarding what has been said. And others trying to start a hate campaign against one of my senior student or instructor members. I will back my members against any bad remarks made against them, of that you can be very assured.

Then one of his students, i.e. YOU try to question my decision to put in place a very compitent individual to take over the Rapid Arnis London name, which by the way belongs to me and is my legal copyright, so you have no right to sell it legally without my permission, I gave Damien permission to use the name Rapid Arnis London, and it is my right to take it away and give it to anyone I choose too. It is not up for auction as I am not selling it.

Unbenown to you or others for that matter, Andy has been ready to teach for some time and has been teaching individuals for some time, I actually prevented him from opening a club sooner in London as I did not want to step on Damien's toes, DAMIEN HAS GONE, HE HAS LEFT, CEASED TO BE, IS NO MORE A MEMBER OF RAPID ARNIS so I no longer have to hold Andy back and let him do what he does best, TEACH. If you went to one of his classes, you may be surprised and you might learn something?

If I appoint someone as an affiliate instructor then that is my perogative to do so and quite frankly none of your dam business, also the title Guro simply mean's teacher and as Andy is teaching on my behalf then he is for all intense and purposes a Guro. He has the full backing of ALL the Cheif Instructors, you can take it up with us all personally if you like?

Yes your right, Andy is not a black belt in Rapid Arnis yet, and neither are you and I guess you never will be, but I am sure in due course and with enough hard work Andy will be and quite honestly I have seen him in action on more than one occasion and his techniqual ability is more than adequate. Also to point out, Andy is being closely supervised, advised, trained and helped when he teaches by one of my most senior instructors Louis Beale, now are you now going to question his rank and mine too.

Now Damien did ask me at the last camp, after I refused to let him try for full instructor before completing Junior Instructor, why I make people wait a year between the two grades, well actually they are not two grades, they are one in the same grade, part one is Junior, part two is full Instructor, the year gap is a probationary period and the reason it is done like this is to see if part one goes to anyones head and they become an **** and if they do they dont get to do part two and become a REAL Full Instructor in Rapid Arnis. After recent events it shows it works would'nt you say.

No one grade jumps once they reach fighter level Rapid Arnis unless agreed by the executive board that is something I can assure you, even though individuals have asked me to do this, Damien for one asked if he could go striaght for Full Instructor and skip Junior Instructor. No one is allowed to grade jump especially at that level.

And to point out and lets make this perfectly clear, Andy has far far more expeariance of both Rapid Arnis and Doce Pares than Damien ever did when he first started teaching RAPID ARNIS, so really why the sour grapes surely he is off to a far better start.

If you have a problem with the way I run my organisation and the support I give to my existing members then you have 2 chioces dont you.

1. Train elsewhere and never speak of us again and we wont speak of you.

2. Take it up with me personally, after all you know where I live and you have my number.

Your decision.

Also the reason I insiste of seeing a blackbelt first from most of the affiliates is quite simple, I need to know they have the ability to teach and have a regular class before taking tham on as representatives for Rapid Arnis using our name and teaching our style.

Now if I have someone within the group I know well I can skip all that simply because I know them, I know their ability and I know that they can teach.

For instance, here is a list of people who taught Rapid Arnis before reaching black belt in anything.

Jude Tucker - Assisatan Cheif Instructor Kapatiran Arnis
And the first person to reach full instructor in Rapid Arnis

Shamin Haqua - Cheif Instructor for Kalis Ilustrisimo in UK and Ireland
He was the first person to reach Junior Instructor.

Louis Beale was actively teaching classes at the Rapid Arnis London (note the name of the group) HQ whilst he was brown belt

Lucy O'Malley was blue belt when she was already assisting and teaching at international seminars.

All where lower or the same rank as Andy

Think on it

Hi Rick , Could you please post this up for me

Hi Guys,
Thought i'd just get my say on this, JUST because someone has a black belt ( which you could buy from any sport store) doesn't mean they are capable of teaching!.

Andy's job is teaching so I think that quallifies him on that aspect.

As for belts I know of some styles that the chief instructor wears a white belt and others that have no belt but wear T-shirts instead ( so I take it they are not true teachers either? B*****ks.).

This thing about grade jumping well the way I see it grades are only there to put a bit of preassure onto the individual at a certain time to test knowledge ability not if you know how to portray this factor as no 2 teachers are the same.

If the Head of an organization wants to give permition for 1 of his students to teach then that is upto him and his senior board not someone who has'nt got a clue !! i.e. you!

Many instructors start teaching from an early grade, I have yellow belts partnered up with people with no grade as this gets the yellow grade involved in helping out plus the person with no grade relaxes more not being stuck with the instructor, so I take it I can't teach eitherand this has got to be wrong surely>

If so then let me know
Scotty