Informative Issue No. 38 2012ElvisElvis

is in the Philippines

Elvis Impersonator - Johnny Thompson

Punong Lakan Garitony C. Nicolas and Johnny Thpmson

Searching for FMA in The Philippines Visiting and Teaching at MMDA About Johnny Thompson

Each issue features practitioners of martial arts and other internal arts, other features include historical, theo-retical and technical articles; reflections, Filipino martial arts, healing arts, the culture of the Philippines and other related subjects. The authors, publisher and owner of this online magazine are not responsible for any injury, which may result from the instructions contained in this online magazine. Before embarking on any of the physical activates described in the magazine, the reader should consult his or her physician for advice regarding their individual suitability for per-forming such activity. The ideas and opinions expressed in the FMA Informative online magazine are those of the authors or instruc-tors being interviewed and are not necessarily the views of the publisher, editor or owner of the FMA Informative. The articles are the property of the author’s that wrote them and cannot be used without the permission of the author. The FMA Informative is for the promulgation and promotion of the Filipino martial arts and the Culture of the Philippines. NO issue can be printed and Sold for Monies, without the express permission of the Owner and Publisher of the FMA Informative. www.johnny-thompson.com

Johnny Thompson has been performing in the Philippines and Malaysia for Pagcor Casinos, Resorts World and Star Cruises for the past 3 years. He decided to move to the Philippines for a 2 year period and try to brand himself in Asia the “Elvis in Asia”. Johnny Thompson has a great love and respect for all Asian culture, food and the people. A good friend Punong Guro T Jon Ceunca from Las Vegas, Nevada suggested that he search out and locate one of Remy Presas of Modern Arnis or Ernesto Presas of Kombatan students or instructors to continue his training while in the Philippines. Johnny found Punong Lakan Garitony C. Nicolas through Facebook. Before actually meeting Punong Lakan Nicolas, Johnny Thompson researched his Facebook pages and his website. Johnny looked at his credentials and saw that Punong Lakan Nicolas had accomplished a lot at his age. Johnny likes to associate himself with successful people, who are doers and not just talkers. Johnny Thompson is the same way, he likes to “Do”, not just talk. Punong Lakan Nicolas is a very nice person, easy to talk to, and is highly skilled Arnisador. Johnny also noticed that Punong Lakan Nicolas does not want to be involved in the politics or feuds between styles or schools. He wants to unite all the Philippines martial artist and promote camaraderie between all styles, systems, schools, and Grandmasters. Johnny Thompson spent 2 days training with Punong Lakan Nicolas at his school in Manila, and getting to know him and explaining his martial arts background. Johnny holds 4 Black belts and he is certified in 6 martial arts systems, including Advanced Arnis Instructor under Grandmaster Remy Presas and Hock Hochheim. Punong Lakan Nicolas invited him to teach a couple of my favorite knife and self defense techniques. Johnny wanted to show the MMDA police some easy moves to remember in a life threatening situation, so he taught them a “catch and hold, catch, hold and strike” technique he had learned years ago from Guro Hock, something very easy for beginners to learn.

Searching for FMA in The Philippines

Johnny Thompson’s good friend Punong Guro T Jon Ceunca from Las Vegas, Nevada suggested that he search out and locate one of Remy Presas of Modern Arnis or Ernesto Presas of Kombatan stu-dents or instructors to continue his training while in the Philippines. Over 15 years ago Johnny Thomp-son trained at a Remy Presas Mod-ern Arnis school in Chicago, and in many seminars and camps with the late Grandmaster Remy Presas. He learned so much from him. Also he is a student and 3rd Degree Black Belt under W. Hock Hochheim of Dallas, Texas. John-ny Thompson contacted Punong Lakan Nicolas, after finding his Facebook pages. As it turns out, he also trained Guro Hock years ago while he was working with Grand-master Ernesto Presas. Johnny contacted him on Facebook, and set up a time to attend his class in Manila. Before actually meeting Punong Lakan Nicolas, Johnny Thompson researched his Face book pages and his website. Johnny looked at his credentials and saw that Punong Lakan Nico-las had accomplished a lot at his age. Johnny likes to associate himself with successful people, who are doers and not just talk-ers. Johnny Thompson is the same way, he likes to “Do”, not just talk. Punong Lakan Nicolas is a very nice person, easy to talk to,

and is Highly skilled Arnisador. He has writ-ten over 2 dozen Books on Arnis, and Johnn bought several that he is currently reading. Johnny also noticed that Punong Lakan Nicolas does not want to be involved in the politics or feuds between styles or schools. He wants to unite all the Philippines martial artist and promote camara-derie between all styles, systems, schools, and Grandmasters. Johnny Thompson spent 2 days training with Punong Lakan Nico-las at his school in Manila, and getting to know him and explain-ing his martial arts background. Johnny holds 4 Black belts and he is certified in 6 martial arts sys-tems, including Advanced Arnis Instructor under Grandmaster Remy Presas and Hock Hochheim.

Johnny Thompson has been performing in the Philippines and Malaysia for Pagcor Casinos, Resorts World and Star Cruises for the past 3 years. He decided to move to the Philippines for a 2 year period and try to brand himself in Asia the “Elvis in Asia”. Johnny Thompson has a great love and respect for all Asian culture, food and the people. His fiance is a Filipina from Davao Oriental.

Johnny Thompson, Mark Gadomski, Cheryl Bour, and Grandmaster W. Hock Hochheim after Cheryl and Mark

tested for Black Belt. Johnny had just tested for my 3rd De-gree Black Belt with Grandmaster W. Hock Hochheim.

Punong Lakan Nicolas invited Johnny to teach a couple of his favorite knife and self defense techniques. Johnny wanted to show the MMDA police some easy moves to remember in a life threatening situation, so he taught them a “catch and hold, catch, hold and strike” technique he had learned years ago from Guro Hock, some-thing very easy for beginners to learn.

Visiting and Teaching at MMDA

Taking a Tour of MMDA

MMDA Employee from the office of the Assistant Opera-tion Manager get a picture with Johnny Thompson

Johnny Thompson explains his training theory

Punong Lakan Nicolas introduces Johnny Thompson and explains the lesson for the training session

GMA 7 Reporter,John Thompson, Atty. Carlos Operation Manager with Punong Lakan Nicolas and Johnny Thompson

Working with the Traffic Enforcers on, coordination, balance and techniquesDemonstrating Techniques

A Personal Note - From Johnny ThompsonIt’s important that no matter what style or martial art you decided to train in, that you must practice to stay on top of your game. Even Manny Pacquiao must train daily/weekly to stay in fighting shape, stay fast and strike with power. I had taken a 12 year break from my regular training as I have been performing and traveling all over the world since the year 2000. I am happy that I have found a true Master like Punong Lakan Nicolas to train with and learn to improve my skills and over health and fitness levels. If I need the self defense skills, they will be there. If I never need to defend myself or my family, then the exercise and fitness I get from working out in the Filipino martial arts is also a great reward and will help me to live a better quality of life. There is Supreme Grandmaster Canete in Cebu who is 93 years old and

still teaches the Doce Pares system every day, trains everyday and still has never been beat in over 100 full contact matches. That says something for the Filipino martial arts. I often wonder why the Filipino martial arts are not as popular as Tae Kwon Do or other martial arts, when the Filipino martial arts has so much more to offer than any other arts. Filipino martial arts is the Original MMA or mixed martial art, meant for survival in life or death situations. Why is that not more popular in the Philippines than Tae Kwon Do or JiuJitsu? Many times it is the politics and in fighting that get in the way. When Instructors fight or get jealous of others, they tend to not communicate with others. This is a huge problem, because how can you grow if you are divided? What happens then, is other styles from other countries like Ko-

rea and Japan, start teaching and becoming more popular because they have already gotten pass the infighting and set up a structure of teaching on a global level, not just on a local level. Arnis is the Na-tional Sport of the Philippines, how come there are more Tae Kwon Do Schools than Arnis Schools? The Filipino martial arts Grandmasters and Masters need to come together and start also being business men, marketers and problem solvers if they truly wish to see the Filipino martial arts grow nationally and worldwide and not just in their own backyard gym’s. I believe that Punong Lakan Nicolas and the other Grandmaster’s that he has been working with in the Philip-pines Martial Arts Hall of Fame will be the ones leading the way over the next decade to expand the Filipino martial arts to all Filipinos and other worldwide.

Receiving my First Black Belt, 1st Degree Tae Kwon Do from Master Donald Moore of Elgin, under John Pelligrini

Johnny Thompson and some of his advanaced Students and Black belts at Academy of American Martial Arts. - with

Mike Plachy, Tommy Kincaid, Jho Moraga and Edward G. Bertagnoli in Chicago, IL.

About Johnny Thompson - Elvis Impersonator

Johnny began his Elvis Impersonation career by working for a singing telegram agency in Chicago. His career skyrocketed leading to performing at House of Blues Chicago and for the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. Eventually working with the Top Elvis Bands has lead Johnny to be one of the Premiere Elvis Tribute Artist in the World Today! Johnny has worked with The Jordanaire’s , Elvis’s Original backup singers and many of Elvis’s original entourage

including Elvis Stage Manager, Al Dvorin, who was a dear friend. Johnny has also met and worked with George Klein, DJ Fontana, Kay Wheeler, Joe Esposito and various Elvis Movie Co-Stars. Johnny has won many National Elvis Impersonator Competitions. Besides being a performer, Johnny is an accomplished martial arts instructor. He was nominated into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 1998 and has 4 Black belts to his credit. He as a 3rd Degree Black Belt in American Combat Kempo, 3rd Degree Black Belt from the American Knife Fighters and Street Fighters Congress. He also has a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and 1st Degree Black belt in Combat Hapkido. Johnny is also a Certified Jeet Kune Do Instructor, Bruce Lee’s fighting Method, and Certified under 2 Grandmasters as an Advanced Instructor in Filipino martial arts of Arnis and Escrima (a knife, and hand to hand combat System). Johnny has taught women’s Self Defense courses, Law Enforcement

including FBI Agents, Local Police Departments and Prison Guards in the Chicago area. Johnny was also a member of the Original Mortal Kombat Stunt Team in Chicago, starring all the main Characters from The Mortal Kombat Video Game. And was a stunt fighter in a move called “The Book of Swords” starring the stunt teams members, most notably Ho Sung Pak. He has appeared on numerous TV shows and Movies and has appeared World Wide from China, Vietnam, The Philippines, Korea, Finland, France, Belgium,Japan,Bolivia, Dominican Republic,Canada to Mexico and Jamaica. Johnny Hosted the MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet in 2005 and was labeled TRLVis for MTV’s top Show TRL. He has since appeared in over 4 other MTV Show and on Vh1’s Surreal Life. He has done live shows all over the World with Clients That Include Major Casinos in Las Vegas and Fortune 500 Businesses. Resorts and Concert halls in Countries like, The Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, France, Belgium, Finland, Canada, Dominican Republic,

Mexico and China. Thompson toured Europe in France, Finland and Belgium. Playing at sold out arenas. Greg Thompson of Greg Thompson Productions (GTP), on of the world’s largest show producers, with shows in Las Vegas, Reno, Biloxi Ms, on Broadway, Valley Forge-Pa., considers Johnny to be the “World’s Top Elvis Impersonator”. Johnny was cast by GTP to play Elvis in The Wolfman Jack Rock-n-Roll Review in Tunica, Ms,. GTP has recently produced another show around Johnny’s Elvis Impersonation called “Greased Lightning” that opened in Canyonville,Oregon in May 2001 and again in Biloxi, MS in 2003. In 2003 Johnny wrote and starred in a show for Greg Thompson called “Elvis, Elvis, Elvis” that was produced at Seven Feathers Casino,Oregon.

If you are interested in Booking Johnny as Elvis in Asia please contact him on this website. He is available anywhere in Asia. The Philippines, Malaysia, Bali, Singapore, Macau, China, Japan and Thailand. With Clients all over the world. Clients That Include Major Casinos in Las Vegas and Fortune 500 Businesses. Hotels and Resorts in Countries like Dominican Republic, Mexico and China. Thompson toured Europe in France and Finland. Playing at sold out arenas. Johnny is highly in demand and available for Television, Fairs, Film, Stage, Casinos, Theaters Festivals and Corporate Events and Trade shows.

Website: www.johnny-thompson.comFacebook: Click Here

Johnny thompsom and the HotStep Dancers before my show in the Philippines on April 20th. - with Karen San Pedro, Kat San Pedro, Phoebe Kate Amber, Chilyn Escobar and Miks Pariñas.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Hard Rock Cafe in Manila, Philippines

Modern Arnis Mano-Mano Filipino Martial Arts Unit 204 CK Sy Diamond Building 156 Libertad Street, Pasay City, Philippines Landline: (632) 466-7290 Mobile: (63906) 482-2277 Email: filipinomartialarts@yahoo.com Website: mamfma.wordpress.com

Visit the MMDA Arnis Club: www.facebook.com/#!/MmdaArnisClub

www.FMAinformative.info

School Submission The schools listed teach Filipino martial arts, either as the main curriculum or an added curriculum. If you have a school that teaches Filipino martial arts, or you are an instructor that teaches, but does not have a school, list the school or style so individuals who wish to experience, learn and gain knowledge have the opportunity.Be Professional; keep your contact information current. - Click Here

Event Submission Submit your event whether - Seminar, Workshop, Training Camp, tournament, or Gathering - Click Here

Advertisement Submission Advertising in the FMA Informative Website is FREE. An Ad in the FMA Informative can create Business. Your Advertisement for Filipino martial arts forums, blogs etc, can be included in the FMA Informative. Advertisment is for the Filipino Martial Arts and the Philip-pines.Click Here and fill in the information. Additional information and .gif, .jpg, .bmp, or .tiff. Email to: Advertise@fmainformative.info

Article Submission Finished manuscripts should be accompanied by color or black and white photographs. Though we take care of materials, we can not be responsible for manuscripts/photographs and accept no liability for same. Every photograph or graphic must be accompanied by a caption Carefully key photos to caption information with a letter or number. We reserve the right to use any photo(s) as cover material or additional compensation. We also reserve the right to edit material and to crop photographs.We reserve the right to use articles or parts of articles that are given and approved from time to time as needed to promote the Filipino martial arts and the Culture of the Philippines. Physical manuscripts should be typed in black, double spaced, and set to 1-1/2 margins (right and left). Emailed manuscripts should be typed in Ariel or Times Roman, on programs such as Notepad, Wordpad, Microsoft Word, Word Perfect and can be sent as an attachment. Photo(s) can be sent as a .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .tiff to Article@fmainformative.info We welcome your article, ideas and suggestions, and look forward to working with you in the future.