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2006 11 09 My Students trip to the Philipines Mike Wilkinson For the month of May I traveled to the Philippines in what was quite an eye-opener. My journey began in Manila, the capital city. Myself, being a shutter-happy tourist, was ready to start snapping photos of the city; however, I was advised by a local friend that exposing my digital camera in the streets was not the wisest thing to do. It was certainly a different feel knowing that personal safety for a white tourist is quite low to the bottom of the scale. Everywhere I went I needed to be aware of my surroundings and always on my guard. Most malls and stores had armed guards waiting by the door, hands twitching eagerly to search every person who walked in. What blew me away the most though, was the extent of the poverty in Manila. I have traveled to Asia before, but this was beyond anything I have ever seen. After being tossed out of my personal bubble, I traveled to the northern province of Ifugao where I spent three weeks caring for and ministering to kids. Poverty and parental abandonment were alarmingly high in the area we were. Many of the people in the province know up to four languages: Tagalong, English and up to two other tribal dialects. I teamed up with a young buck from Ontario and a local woman who owned an orphanage and we spent the time with the local kids playing sports, hanging out and distributing food and toys. It was heart wrenching to listen to many of the stories of the kids and youth; many of them involved issues that just overwhelmed me. There was much pain and heartache in the youngsters, yet their smiles, positive attitudes and contentment always inspired me. Some days we would hike hours to different villages in the mountains just to meet more people and listen and care for them. It humbled me because even though I came to minister to the people, they taught me more than I will ever know. It certainly stretched me as a person and gave me a lot of growth when it comes to my faith and how I see other people. In one sense it is nice to be home, yet I do miss the sights, sounds and faces of the Filipino people. And now, just in case you might travel to the Philippines, here are some life lessons that I learned from my trip:
1) If heaven has a flavor, it must be fresh Cebu mango.
2) If a river looks sketchy to swim in, you probably shouldn’t swim in it.
3) No matter how socially apt you feel, striking up a conversation with four drunk, machete-wielding Filipinos probably isn’t the best thing to do.
4) While brushing all the bugs out of your bed seems like a good idea, it gets to the point where it is like trying to stop the tide from coming in.
5) Sliding on a cement waterslide into three feet of water screams “head trauma”.
6) NEVER eat what six year olds are selling in the streets.
7) Toilet paper and running water are luxuries.
8) Just because there is a crosswalk on the road doesn’t give you any rights, nor any guarantee of your own personal safety.
2006-04-16
A slightly allegorical discussion and a huzzah to the new season
Well spring is here, boiiing!
Funny thing is, on the whole, when you ask people do you acknowledge the possibility of intelligent life forms in this vast, vast (I repeat myself as I think its worth mentioning twice) cosmos and suggesting it to other adults, will get you a response not akin to a manikin in a store front. Better still a large majority will say nay, and probably want to burn you on a stake or poke you with sticks. Yet the hoodwinking children of tender years into the belief of a benevolent rodent that lays chocolate confectionary (well they are egged shape but, I can confirm it isn’t chocolate), is ok and considered a bit of a wheeze. How much time goes into this subterfuge?
The amount of time spent into organizing theses events would in my humble opinion be better spent feeding the poor blighters who are migrating from the inner city to suburbia. This is mainly due to the refurbishments and the newbie yuppies moving in.
How does this tie into martial arts and self defense, weeell, not much really, apart from me wanting to rant and as a tenuous link into a quote by Miyamoto Musashi.
“Perceive that which cannot be seen by the eye”
Not everything we see or have been lead to believe is a truth. Sometimes a chocolate egg is just a big rabbit dropping, and as we get older or knowledgeable (which ever comes first) it is our duty to figure out the difference (without taking to much of a bite as sometimes its hard to swallow - and isn't always chocolate). By discovering the habitual defaults in our consciousness we can redefine our selves. This is a start for self preservation and our tools of combat.
Do not take this as a defining statement of my character as I reserve the right to change my mind on any subject at any time. May we all go in peace and may our gods smile upon us with a plentiful banquet of chocolate eggs.
Rock on!
Keep safe and Sa lamat.
2006 03 01 What a busy year last year eh? Lots of mental stuff going on. Makes me reconsider my significance in the grand scale of things and not sweat the small stuff. Mind you, at the age of eight I found out from my science teacher in school that the sun would eventually go nova and the earth would be burnt up. This had a profound effect on me and for weeks I had restless nights. I eventually asked my dad if this was true, I can't remember the exact answer was, but he mentioned that we would all be gone one day. I realized this but I wasn't lamenting my own future, as at that age I hadn't fully contemplated my own mortality. However, I was concerned that one day, all this would be gone and remarked at what a shame it would be. I then went off to play war with my friends. Ah, the innocence of it all. Any hoo, don't sweat the small stuff and as an acquaintance of mine once said (as I was ferrying him and a couple of friends around in my car, and an unscrupulous git would not let me in to the lane on the highway) "slow down Dig, Ho, Ho". Very profound man he was, spoke volumes. I hosted a couple of seminars last year for two very respected men in the Filipino Martial Arts community. Guro Carlito Bonjoc (Mata Sa Bagyo) and Guro Roger Agbulos (Astig Lameco). I am very fortunate to have met these guy's for two reasons. Both are very talented and command respect and both are buh-rilliant blokes to get on with, I have never laughed so much ( apart form that time when one of my mates back home in the UK was drinking a pint of beer and started to laugh at a trivial matter. At this point beer came out of his nose, always a neat trick that). My guys, a small cadre, but committed, enjoyed themselves immensely. This year has started off to a good pace, The AeFa cadre hosted Astig Combatives first seminar for the year at the surrey YMCA in BC Canada. If you ever get a chance to see Guro Roger don't miss him. I am not an expert in all things martial, nor am I in fitness, but I can extrapolate from past experiences and specific gathered information and therefore can conclude that Guro Roger can accelerate your training program for edge and impromptu weapons. He has appeared in several books on Filipino Martial Arts and videos with the late Guro Edgar Sulite, who he was close friends with.
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