As a Filipino practicing BJJ here in the UK, I’ve always wondered whether other Filipinos (aka Pinoys, Flips, etc) are into this form of martial art. In the Philippines, a lot of people have practiced Eskrima (aka Kali or Arnis) in some form or style, undoubtedly due to being it as a mandatory course in Physical Education classes. Other forms of martial art such as TKD, Karate, Hwa Rang Do, Judo thrived back home, as well, probably due to the nature of the people there who like physical contact (anyone who played basketball with a Filipino can certainly attest to that!)
Anyways, I did scour BJJ and MMA forums for like-minded Pinoys but had very few hits. This was until I met (Facebook-style) Bong Abad, owner of GAWAKOTO, and one of Meerkatsu’s acquaintances (here's his profile article of Bong)
We got into chatting and thought that creating a Filipino BJJ UK Group on Facebook might be the way to meet fellow Pinoys. We thought it'd be a great platform for Pinoys to share their love of BJJ and anything Filipino. It immensely helped that Bong is an amazing graphic artist – see his work below and also collaborated with Scramble to create Scrambleman. This relationship enabled our FB page to be shared to all of Scramble’s fans.
So far, we’ve got a few interested and hopefully, a meet-and-greet on the mats would be next...
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