Category: Martial Arts
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FROM CEBU TO CHICAGO MARTIAL ARTS SEMINAR
Chicago’s Filipino and Filipino-American community is invited to a rare cultural and martial arts event at the Rizal Center: a Balintawak Eskrima Arnis seminar led by Grandmaster Bobby Taboada. Born in Cebu and raised in humble circumstances, Grandmaster Bobby began training in Eskrima as a child with his father and then worked tirelessly—literally scrubbing floors…
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Making Filipino American History
by: Gabriel “Jay” Catanus In October of 1587, Filipinos landed in what we now call Morro Bay, CA. They were either sailors or slaves on board a Spanish trading ship Nuestra Seniora de Buena Esperanza that sailed between Manila and Acapulco. A similar arrival is recorded in 1595. Many years later, in 1763, Filipino sailors…
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Fighting for the Future
by: Gabriel “Jay” Catanus On September 21, the Rizal Center was packed with grapplers for the grand opening of Rizal Center Jiu-Jitsu. The event was crowded and high-energy— with food, prizes, and live DJ’s, of course— as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) practitioners came from all over Chicagoland to support the new initiative, led by black belt…
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Welcome Crystle Dino!
[CORRECTION: The class time was posted as 6-8 PM, but it is 4-6 PM.] The Martial Arts at Rizal Center would like to welcome its newest instructor: Crystle Dino! FMA Freedom.Movemeant.Alignment. is a wholistically integrated program of Filipino Martial Arts, self-defense, rhythmic movement exploration, and body-based awareness exercises practiced within a trauma-informed and healing engaged…
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Martial Arts Report 2025
We had an exciting year of Martial Arts at Rizal Center! Here is this year’s class schedule: For current members: Remember we need new waivers for the new year. We already have several other workshops scheduled for this year. We’d like to get a pull-up bar and some steel bolo-like swords that are safe to…
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Haymaker Gym & MARC
Haymaker Gym has joined MARC, the program for Martial Arts at Rizal Center! I’m excited to have new friends (instructors, students, collaborators), new gear, and new ideas. Haymaker Gym will be teaching classes for Boxing, Wrestling/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, General Fitness, Striking, and Self-Defense. The new MARC schedule starts after this weekend. I will continue to teach…
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Program Changes
We had our first full month of Martial Arts at Rizal Center! Our first round introduced stances, footwork, sticks (bastones), palm stick/knife work, boxing, falls, takedowns, upper joint locks, and staff/spear. The next round will introduce infighting, kicking, lower joint locks, and Tai Chi. And yes, we take requests! Martial Arts at Rizal Center will…
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Announcing Wellness Program at Rizal Center
Announcing a new program: Wellness Program and Tai Chi at Rizal Center. An on-site hands-on wellness program for the young at heart. “It’s not how old you are. It’s how you are old.” Jules Renard Are you old? Or are you old old? How well are you? Compared to last season? Last year? Compared to…
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Announcing Martial Arts at Rizal Center
Announcing our newest program: Martial Arts at Rizal Center. On-site hands-on classes about martial arts in general with an emphasis on Filipino Martial Arts. How many Bolos do you see at the base of the Andrés Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan, Philippines? The absence of a handguard indicates that these familiar and readily available civilian agricultural…