TANOD M.A. TRAINING @ LA CASTELLANA HELD by James U. Sy, Jr.

25 barangay tanods underwent a 1-day intensive Martial Arts training last August 19, 2008 at the La Castellana Municipal Hall, La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

The training was organized and facilitated by P/Insp. Teddy Velez, chief of the La Castellana Police Station.

Trainors were Masters Luciano “Nick” Montoya and Jonathan “Kano” Montoya and 1st Class Black belt Alonzo Articulo of the Murcia Martial Arts Center (MMAC).

Master Nick, 5th Degree Black belt, is the Founder/Chief Instructor of the Murcia Martial Arts Center (MMAC). He started his training under his relative Elmer V. Montoyo at the Hiraken Karate-do of the late Master George A. Gargalicano and was later endorsed to Master Casimiro “Chingi” Grandeza, Founder/Chief Instructor of the White Kimono Club and the acknowledged “Father of Karate in Negros”. The Hiraken Karate-do.

Master Nick organized the Murcia White Kimono Club as a chapter club of Master Grandeza’s organization and was later renamed to the Murcia Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan when GM Grandeza adopted Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan and introduced it to the Philippines. GM Grandeza trained under the Founder Kwan Jang Nim Hwang Kee in Korea in the 1960s with the support and endorsement of the Bacolod City Government.

Master Nick’s Club was renamed to the Murcia Martial Arts Center (MMAC) in late 2007 when its license carry expired. Today, MMAC maintains cordial relationships with GM Grandeza’s Philippine Soo Bahk Do organization andGM Montoyo’s Philippine Integrated Martial Arts Academy-Filipino Tang Soo Do Association (PIMAA-FILTSD), Inc. MMAC is a memer of the Intercontinental Federation of Filipino Martial Arts Schools (IFFMAS).

MMAC had produced many medallists and champions in Tang Soo Do, Karate, Kickboxing, and Taekwondo over the years, most notably Master Kano Montoya who once reigned as National Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Grand champion.

The trainors taught various methods of arresting techniques to the barangay tanods to make them more efficient at apprehending suspects without injuring them in consonance with their constitutional rights.

Arresting techniques makes apprehensions less violent and more orderly by the manipulation of the joints in the extremities of the suspect. Pressure is applied by hyper extending the joint or by twisting it beyond its full range of motion. The intense pain pacifies an otherwise violent suspect, making it easier to bring him to custody.

P/Insp. Velez was happy with the outcome of the training and plans to organize the same for his men at the La Castellana Police Station in the near future.