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This is dedicated to the one who Honed me to become a better person... |
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GRANDTUHON LEO T. GAJE JR.
This is a tribute for his endeavor to spread the Filipino Culture through the practice of the Indigenous Art of the Living Past in the Modern Times.
Mandatus Samuel A. Ibe
E-mail at : dmantasdaga@yahoo.com
-ENDORSEMENT-
To all whom It may concern;
Mandatus Samuel Ibe Web site and the Knife Extract from Pekiti - Tirsia Kali System (MantasDaga) is a product of dedications and sincere devotion to the true original fighting art known as Kali. Mandatus Samuel Ibe as a student and his qualification to bring the wisdom of the past enhances greater field of specialization that qualify him to teach MantasDaga as an integral elements of the original Pekiti - Tirsia. As an Instructor of MantasDaga, Mandatus Samuel Ibe can bring a new atmoshpere of instuctional skills to develop individuals whose blood line is a true knife fighter. The measure of an effective teaching is effective skill in the actual combat and in the teaching environment.
Sgd: Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr.
What MantasDaga Is...
MantasDaga (Man'Tas Dag'a) - a ferocious knife; violently cruel in nature; uncontrolled and intensely eager; very wild and disastrous, causing great harm, damage, grief.
Mantas (Man'tas) - The word Mantas was used during the tribal war of the 6th-12th century (Sri-Visayan and Madjaphahit era) this is a Pre-Visayan term applied to the fearless chieftain and to the furious blade warrior of the clan.
Mantas -(Mantas) "People who think of the topmost point of everything". "A man with an extreme survival prowess". "One who posses the greatest degree of ingenuity".
Tas (Ta'as) - a Visayan term for height(hit).n.[<earlier highth;me.heighth;as higthu(akin to Goth.haunitha)<heah(see highath):pronoun.with historical-th is still heard collqially].
1)"The topmost point of everything"
2)"Greatest degree; extreme; climax; culmination".
Daga (daga) - (dagger)[dag'ger],n.[me.(12th c.),as if <daggen,to slit;akin to Ofr.dague,Lt.andSp. daga,G.degen;L.daca,Dacien knife I.
"A short weapon with a sharp point,used for stabbing.
The MantasDaga's of the Philippines are deeply rooted in the history and culture of the Filipino people. They are the products of a highly developed civilization which flourished long before the arrival of the West upon its shores, and of centuries of warfare against a variety of oppressors. Both these factors are responsible for the highly technical and pragmatic outlook of the Filipino martial arts.
The Maharlikas was the original name of the Philippines before the coming of the Portuguese and Spanish in the 15th and 16th centuries. The general consensus among scholars is that the first settlers in the Philippines were the Negritos of prehistory. It is theorized that these small dark-skinned people traveled by land from Central Asia, perhaps via an ancient land bridge. They brought with them the short bow and later developed the long bow.
This process was followed by a series of Malay migrations from what is today Southeast Asia and the Indonesian Archipelago. The first of these began before the birth of Christ. These taller seafaring people brought with them the first bladed weapons as what we called the MantasDaga's or the Kalis.
In the 5th and 6th centuries in Indonesia and Malaysia a huge empire was formed due to the migration of the Hindu tribes of India to Sumatra and Java. The Srividjayan Empire, as it came to be known, eventually spread as far as the Philippines. Their martial arts skills, advanced weaponry, and superior organization made it possible for them to conquer the earlier settlers. Some fled to distant islands, others stayed and the two cultures merged. The Srividjayans were the ancestors of the Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Pampangos, Visayans, and Bicolanos. The area of the Central Philippines where these people first landed is today known as the Visayan region. It is thought by many Filipinos that the island of Panay, the most western part of the Visayan Islands, was the birthplace of this MantasDaga's or Kalis– as the Filipino martial arts were known at that time. The Srividjayans brought the influence of Hindu and Indonesian religion, philosophy, arts, and combative forms to the Philippines and this is Kali (Arnis to some) , Silat and MantasDaga.
During the late 18th century, a Cultic Tribe flourished in the mountains of Panay (Iloilo) as a counter part of the Babaylans of the Negros Island. During a ceremonial rites, the tribal leader or commonly called as the "Mantas" touches the altar seven times with the dagger, seven pigs were sacrificed every seven years as the "Daga" (an Ilonggo term for offertory), thus the word "MantasDaga" was also derive from this group.
How Philippines was Discovered
How it was Re-Organized
After a long and tedious years of study and researched in the Inner Kernel of the Filipino Fightng Art with the different Masters and Grandmasters who has expertise and knowledge in the Filipino Fightng Art, it was only until I met and was able to associate with Grandtuhon Leo T.Gaje Jr. during the late 80's, his brilliant wisdom and philosophy has been an instrumental building block for me to further my study and research with his guidance in the Filipino Fighting Art.
Grandtuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr. has influenced me a lot to continue the legacy of the Art by joining him every seminar and tournaments that was being held here in the Philippines.
Propagation and randomized promotion of the Pekiti-Tirsia System throughout the world was intensively on the process during the late 90's as well as re-introducing it to the Military, Law Enforcement and Private sectors of the society, I'd choose to concentrate merely to the less privelage and to the few individuals who has no access in learning the Filipino Martial Culture.
This was then a chance for me to assess of what should I have to offer and teach since the people I am about to face are mostly of different discipline as well as out of school youth and are exposed with the real street life.
Knifefighting was one of the best thing I learned and mastered during my years of study via Pekiti-Tirsia System. This was also the best I could offer when I decided to gather and start teaching the Filipino Fighting Arts.
It was a rainy season of 1999 and an on the spot gathering of the frustated, depressed,and oppressed individuals in one of the coffee hang- out in the city of Bacolod. Most are members of the prominent fraternity and street gangs that has been involve in most of the gang wars,chaos, and disturbances around the city.
I heard the discussion of the group on how to take revenge for there 2 injured brothers and immediately joined the topic and give some suggestions on how to make it. I had found out that we all have the same thinking, philosophy and mentality and that is survival ! but the top most we all have in common is this KILLER MENTALITY.
The group had attentively focused about the topic I feed them and brilliantly amazed on what I am talking about and decided to make me as there Leader and Adviser. Now, it come to my knowledge that the group are mostly abandoned by there individual parent and guardians so I decided to adopt the group and imposed to them the Discipline of Kali and on how to survive at all cost . Being a Martial Artist, I know that I have a Moral Obligation to teach and guide them to be on the right track and never again to involve in any fight without a cause which they followed.
I introduced to them the importance of the long lost culture of the Filipino Fighting Arts, but most of them are already familiar in the use of edged weapon as it is there immediate equalizer during the street gang fight. We decided to call ourselves as MAPINTAS that later became a registered name as the MANTASDAGA base in the original Pre-Visayan term for PINTAS.
The group started with 9 people. From then on, its expanded and had gain respect from different Martial Arts Organizations.
Now, most of the members are experiencing gang war syndrome and are now ready to rip the entrails of those who will cross there way. The main reason of our existence is to promote the street combat realism using the knife or any edged weapons as a sort of survival and to share the technology to those who have hunger for knowledge specially to those idiots and ignorants in the Filipino Fighting Arts.
The group are now actively train individuals from different walks of life without asking any training fee or seminar fee. Our purpose is to promote friendship, brotherhood and comaraderie and not to merchandized the Filipino Culture.
The group motto is: " we dont care about your intention co'z we have our lethal options!".
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