Welcome to Ni Tien Martial Arts Schools

Guro Fred Evrard meeting the Filipino Council of Kali Eskrima Arnis Masters in Manila

August 2007, a new student enters the Ni Tien school in Singapore, asking to watch the Kali Majapahit class. He's Filipino, descendent of an Igorot warrior family involved in FMA for several generations. Mike Bugnosen, that's his name, is from Baguio city, Philippines. He is staying in Singapore for a while and is looking for an Kali school to continue his practice. Already advanced in the Art, he has practiced several FMA schools before such as Doce Pares, Modern Arnis, etc. and is a former sports Arnis champion. After few minutes of watching Guro Fred Evrard's class, he knows he just found his new instructor, and the system he will dedicate his life to…

After a while, he unfortunately had to go back to Baguio. This was the beginning of a new adventure; the beginning of Kali Majapahit in the Philippines…

February 2008, Mike organizes a meeting between the Fullcon Council of Martial Arts Masters of Baguio and Guro Fred Evrard, to introduce Kali Majapahit in the Philippines, and to help promoting the practice of traditional FMA in its birthland. Among them, Aikido 6 th Dan masters, Arnis instructors, Muay Thai professional fighters, etc.

After 3 hours of talk and demo, the Masters reaction is more than positive. They want Guro Fred to teach them and to come back for a seminar. Muay Thai coach Kissack Gabaen will say: “I am ashamed of being Filipino and never have heard of such a complete martial arts system before. It's amazing. And the Kampilan, the Kris, the Sarong… Thank you for sharing all this with us”. Actualy, there was no reason to be ashamed since in northern Philippines, only sports Arnis is promoted and most Filipinos in Luzon have no idea what Kali, Silat or Eskrima are...

Guro Fred teaching the Martial Arts Masters of Baguio

That was the first step. Few months later, in May 2008, Guro Fred went back to the Philippines to meet and be recognized by the National Council of Kali Eskrima Arnis Master in Manila, and then went back to Baguio to give a seminar to the Martial Arts Masters and to several military and police officers.

Saturday's seminar

The seminar was a success. Guro Fred was interviewed by the national TV and Kali Majapahit students were on the news the same evening. After that, a Ni Tien Martial Arts school opened in Baguio, with Kadua Guro Mike Bugnosen teaching Kali Majapahit. Guro Fred has been invited to come back to Baguio in March 2009, for an even bigger seminar, plus a conference on the Filipino healing system of Hilot and a talk on Traditional Filipino weapons.

During F. Marcos' regime (especialy in the 60's and 70's), FMA masters were obliged to share their knowledge with the government. Those who couldn't keep a low profile and still didn't want to cooperate had no choice but to leave the country. That's how lots of famous masters / fighters arrived in California and Hawaii at the time. To preserve their arts, some local masters turned lots of Filipino Martial Arts into sports. Lots of the Warrior Arts of the Philippines were "export" to the US during the 70's.

This is how Kali Majapahit, through lineages like: Dizon (De Querdas) – Angel Cabales (Serrada) - Mike Inay (Inayan Eskrima) - Jeff Espinous (Kali Sikaran) - Fred Evrard – Mike Bugnosen, went full circle from the Philippines, to the US, Europe, Singapore, and finally back to the Philippines.