“Pay Salutations” Kali inspired performance at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts designed by CKC member Caroline Garcia

In Los Angeles, Jamie Yancovitz trains her students at parks under swaying palm trees; meanwhile, in New York City, Kristen Cabildo trains hers in the backyard of her brownstone apartment. They're two women on two different coasts but with one calling: to create a safe space for other women, particularly Filipinas in the diaspora, where they can learn self-defense skills as well as the history and cultural heritage of their ancestry — all through Filipino Martial Arts (FMA).

Last week, Tim Hollenbeck and I received our instructorship under the legendary Guro Dan Inosanto. We spent four days at our first instructor camp at his academy in Los Angeles, California. Guro's school, a training facility/museum hybrid, has walls full of plaques honoring Guro's contributions to the arts, photos of the people he's trained with in his lifetime, and banners of the martial art systems represented at the academy. Guro teaches technique through the lens of a historian.