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| MATTI HK instructors and students pose for The SUN. |
By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Master Rene Sorezo |
That spot beneath a flyover at the northwest end of Harcourt Road Park
The group, Modern Arnis Tapi-Tapi International Hong Kong, or
MATTI HK, is one of a few arnis schools set up by Filipinos who are promoting
the national martial art in the city. The others include Abanico Tres Puntas
and Lakas Katorse FMA Hong Kong.
Master Renato Sorezo, a fifth degree blackbelter in arnis,
is the chief instructor of the group that he formed in 2007. The supervising
instructor-grandmaster is Bambit Dulay, a 10th degree red belter.
By Sorezo’s count, the group has had about 100 members since
its founding, mostly Filipino domestic workers who spend half of their Sunday
rest day going through the swing-block-strike motions of arnis.
But MATTI HK, like many other Filipino associations in Hong Kong , has seen its membership shrink over the years as
practitioners return home or move to greener pastures.
“Ang members ko, kung hindi nagpo-for good, nasa isandaan. Yung
iba nag-for good, umuwi ng Pilipinas, yung iba pumunta ng Canada at yung iba pa
pumapasok,” said Sorezo, a civil engineer who is a member of Builders, a group
of Filipino architects and engineers.
On weekdays, Sorezo is a principal works programmer for a
China Railways-led engineering joint venture that built the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai
Bridge and is now building a noise barrier project in Taipo.
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| Sorezo demonstrates bolo fighting with police officer-instructor. |
Sorezo said his group now attracts enthusiasts from
different nationalities, including local police officers who are attracted to
the exotic martial art.
At the time of the interview with Sorezo on Jan 20, he had a
male senior instructor who was doing mock combat with a female instructor. It
was the same officer who was administering the belt promotion exam for yellow
belt aspirants.
“Ang isang yan, Chinese yan, pulis. Dati anim sila rito pero
busy na yung iba, ang iba naman ay nagtuturo ng Wing Tsun, yung Chinese martial
art,” said Sorezo.
Another foreigner-student is a Nepali man who, the master
said, is keen to learn arnis.
Outside of Hong Kong, the Philippine martial art has spread
to several other countries in addition to the United
States , such as Australia ,
Canada , Belgium , Dubai , France , Germany ,
Greece , Israel , Italy ,
Japan , Malaysia , Russia
and Singapore
Two Filipino females, both new joiners, and a male OFW, were
practicing various “tapi-tapi” or “counter-to-counter” moves of the stick fighting
art, such as strike-block-counter strike, hooking and disarming, when The SUN
chanced upon the group.
Sorezo said the MATTI HK members, who each pays $100 monthly
dues, gather at the usual spot to train from around 1pm to 5pm on Sundays. They
first do limbering to warm up and loosen their joints before the actual
practice.
Aside from stick fighting, members are taught empty-hand
combat, such as neutralizing an attacker who is armed with a knife or stick.
Sorezo also teaches “kali”, the Filipino art of knife fighting
using blunt aluminum bolos and various knives, as well as the “dulo sa dulo”
grip sticks similar to aikido’s yawara sticks, and retractable batons.
Members also earn belt promotions as in other martial arts.
The group holds promotion exams for belt aspirants.
Sorezo, who had been a judo and sikaran (Filipino
footfighting) practitioner, said the self-defense training of his members is
vital, especially in these times when you can be attacked without a warning
just about anywhere.
Arnis was catapulted to its stature as Philippine martial
art and national sport when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Senate
Bill 1424 in December 2009, according the martial art its rightful niche and
honor in history.
The law, which dislodged sepak takraw as the national sport,
was authored by then Majority Leader Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, a former national
arnis champion.
For arnis masters and lovers, that event became the martial
art’s crowning glory.
