It was an especially memorable Sama Sama this year, with two Ascension ceremonies – one elevating Tuhon Chris Sayoc to PAMANA (inheritor) TUHON, the other recognizing the advancement of the Atienza brothers to Tuhon. The wives of the Tuhons were also recognized with the title of Silak.
I was proud to see Guro Lem, Joe C. Jay M., and Dylan M. represent our group so well. I hope that even more of us will attend Sama Sama 2008!
Eight additional 36 count knife drills were introduced, bringing the total number of knife drills to 10. There were melees and one-on-one battles as well as whip training and quick-draws. It was great getting together with the extended Sayoc family, including our brothers and sisters from all over the US and from Europe as well.
And one final announcement: from now on what we do will be simply called “Sayoc” instead of “Sayoc Kali”. We hope that this will allow us to keep doing what we are doing without having other people try to define for us what “kali” should or should not be.
