OLYMPIAN and Makati Representative Monsour del Rosario, popularly known as a Filipino taekwondo champion and action star, graced the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) Festival held over the weekend at the Abreeza Ayala Malls Activity Area.

Del Rosario, an eight-time national champion and a back-to-back Southeast Asian Games (Seag) gold medalist, gave an inspirational message to the participants and showed a short demo during the second day of the two-day FMA festival.

"I was honored to meet the FMA grandmasters from different styles who have dedicated their lives to keep our indigenous fighting traditions alive and enrich and advance FMA," Del Rosario, on his Facebook post, said.

FMA masters and practitioners in the country and visitors from Israel and South Korea also joined the event.

He also said that the best way to support FMA is to practice the art as way of life.

"As a proud Pinoy, I have made it a personal crusade to promote FMA in the Philippines and abroad. Whether in local or international movies, I proudly demonstrated my FMA- Kalis Illustrisimo moves to ignite and broaden public awareness on the FMA. I would like the public to embrace this FMA as part of our Filipino identity."

Meanwhile, Manolo Luis Del Rosario, the convener of the FMA Festival, told Sun.Star Davao via Facebook chat that the thrust of the event is to present FMA as a cultural heritage.

"What makes this festival unique are the talks featuring history, culture, and even related uses in physical therapy and cognitive development," he added.

Davao City Toursim Operations Office (CTOO) head Gene Rose Tecson, who welcomed participants, said Filipinos should know their own art.

"I want activities kasi na distinct sa iba lalo na culture-based. Hindi popular ang FMA and yet Hollywood movies are using it. Hindi din alam ng marami na some of our dances incorporate martial arts techniques like the singkil, silat and even maglalatik. Dapat yan alam natin," Tecson, in a separate interview, said.

Professor Felipe Jocano Jr., meanwhile, talked about the history of the FMA and its relationship to Filipino culture while master Romeo Macapagal discussed the historical roots of FMA and the Spanish connection.

Master James Sy shared the FMA Myths as Del Rosario tackled the FMA training methods and the Filipino Worldview.

Dr. Adrien Pierre Quidlat, for his part, talked about the FMA potentials in other fields such as education, medicine and sports science while SGM Dionisio Cañete presented FMA as sport.

Demonstrations of repertoire from different martial arts groups were showcased.

The event was capped with an immersion by Telu Bituun Bagani, Rapido Realismo Kali, Kali Ilustrisimo, Doce Pares Multi-System, Kuntaw-Silat and Mandirigmang Kalidradman.