2010 NOBF Officers Appointed By: James U. Sy Jr.

P/Sgt. (Ret.) Grandmaster Estanislao “Eslao” T. Guarra, President of the Negros Occidental Baston Federation (NOBF), appointed the officers of the federation for the Calendar Year 2010 during the group's monthly meeting last June 19, 2010, saturday, at the Sea Breeze Hotel, San Juan St., Bacolod City.

The new NOBF officers are P/Sgt. (Ret.) Founder/Grandmaster Estanislao “Eslao” T. Guarra of Guarra Style Modern Arnis (President), P/Supt. (Ret.) Founder/Grandmaster Ibarra E. Lopez of Golden Kamagong Arnis Kali Escrima Association (GKAKEA) Inc. (Vice President), Founder/Chairman Abraham "Abe" G. Ganzon Jr. of Universal Defensive Tactics Academy (Secretary), Director/Grandmaster Danilo “Danny” L. Cardinal of the KaliSilat Arnis Association (KAA)-Bacolod (Treasurer), and Founder/Master James U. Sy Jr. of Conceptual Martial Arts Society (CMAS), Inc. (PIO).

P/Sgt. (Ret.) Estanislao “Eslao” T. Guarra is Founder/Grandmaster/President of the Guarra Style Modern Arnis (formerly the Gen. Juan A. Araneta School of Arnis).
He has served as Vice President-South Neg. Occ. of the Negros Occidental Baston Federation (NOBF) and the Arnis Philippines (ArPi)-Bacolod/Negros Occidental Chapter during the term of Col. Atty. Grandmaster Marcelino "Pope" C. Jalandoon, Ph.D., as President and Commissioner of said organizations respectively as well as Vice President-Internal Affairs for the Intercontinental Federation of Filipino Martial Arts Schools (IFFMAS).

Guarra studied Arnis under 20 professors, starting with his father Grandmaster Cornelio “Kune” T. Guarra. As an arnisador in search of the truth, he went around testing his skills against other hangkilans during his younger years. He served with the Bago City Integrated National Police (INP) for 32 years and was a multi-decorated cop. He had served as a training staff of the Bago City Police Station, teaching Arnis to more than 10,000 barangay tanods, police officers, security guards, and civilians by the time he retired.

P/Supt. (Ret.) Ibarra E. Lopez is Founder/Grandmaster/Chairman of Golden Kamagong Arnis Kali Escrima Association (GKAKEA) Inc. He had served as Vice President of the Negros Occidental Arnis Federation (NOAF), Negros Occidental Baston Federation (NOBF), and Union of Martial Artist Organization of Negros and Bacolod (UMA-ONEBA ).

Lopez started studying Arnis from his 7 grandparents at the age of 9. He was a competitor in his younger days, having been crowned as Provincial champion (1982) and National NARAPHIL heavyweight champion (1986) among others. He has served as Deputy Chief of the Intelligence Division of the Bacolod City Police Office and was the Arnis Chief Instructor of the Bacolod Police Station Training Academy, Bacolod City Tanod Brigades, and Navales Arnis Club. He is an accredited Self Defense Instructor for Security Guards in Negros Occidental by the Civil Security Group / PADPAO Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Abraham "Abe" G. Ganzon Jr., MBA, is the Founder/Chairman of Universal Defensive Tactics Academy (UDTA) and the Chairman of the Universal Care Center of Excellence (UCCE). He is Treasurer of the Intercontinental Federation of Filipino Martial Arts Schools (IFFMAS) under Grandmaster Elmer V. Montoyo and is the latest member of the Negros Occidental Baston Federation (NOBF).

He started martial training with Karate and later Kimdo Taekwondo and Aikido. By the time he joined IFFMAS, he further trained in Chi Kung under GM Montoyo and Arnis under Grandmaster Hortencio M. Navales, Master James U. Sy Jr., Grandmaster Danilo "Danny" Cardinal, and Grandmaster Jose "Joe" B. Mancesa. He holds the distinction as the first Bacoleño to be certified as an Instructor (Level 1-2, 2008-2009) in Commando Krav Maga under its Chief instructor Moni Aizik after undergoing the Instructors' Course in Singapore. He holds a Lakan Isa in KaliSilat under GM Cardinal and is working for his instructorship in Conceptual Martial Arts.

Danilo “Danny” L. Cardinal is the Director of the KaliSilat Arnis Association (KAA)-Bacolod and Founder/Chief Instructor of Traditional Shotokan Karate Arts (TSKA). He is the Bacolod City/Negros Occidental Commissioner for Arnis Philippines and is a certified national level Referee/Judge under the Arnis Referee Judges Association of Arnis Philippines.

He is recognized as a Grandmaster by Col. Atty. Grandmaster Marcelo C. Jalandoon, Ph.D., under the Negros Occidental Baston Federation (NOBF) and holds a 5th Degree Black Belt in Shotokan Karate. GM cardinal was the 1987 All Filipino Karate Invitational black belt lightweight kumite champion and 5th RTKF Karate Invitational black belt kata champion (1989). He was formerly Chief Instructor of the Ras Tanura Karate Federation (RTKF) in Saudi Arabia and the Midway Shotokan Karate-do and Director of Midway Kali-Silat in Honolulu, Hawaii.

James U. Sy Jr. is Founder/Master/President of Conceptual Martial Arts Society (CMAS), Inc., Secretary General of the Intercontinental Federation of Filipino Martial Arts Schools (IFFMAS) and Original Filipino Tapado Long Stick Fighting Association (OFTLSFA), Inc., and PIO of Arnis Philippines-Bacolod/Neg. Occ. Chapter He traveled the Visayas and to some extent, the NCR researching, documenting, and studying the various indigenous Arnis systems, as well as other Asian martial arts, and in the process studying under not less than 30 professors of Arnis.

Sy is graded Master in 6 Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) systems by the Founder or his inheritor (Lapu-Lapu Viñas Arnis, Original Filipino Tapado, Wild Judo, Filipino Tang Soo Do, Philippine Dynamic Arnis, and Arnis Combinado) as well as Instructor in Togle Style Modern Arnis and Yasay Sable. He also holds Black Belt Degrees or Instructor equivalents in 7 other Asian martial arts. He is a prolific martial arts writer having written hundreds of articles since 1998. He is the Western Visayas Correspondent for the Binondo-based Rapid Journal. Sy introduced less known local Arnis masters, particularly in Negros, through his body of works in the print and broadcast media and cyberspace