Excerpts from the 3rd Lema Cup Tournament/Celebration The 3rd Lema Cup Tournament and birthday celebration was held last March 16, 2008. Note: click on images for a larger picture. The event was held at the Open Air Quadrangle of the DMST, UP Diliman. The event was organized by the Mandirigmang Kaliradman, Academia Tercia Cerrada Cadenilla y Espada y Daga and the Sangkil Karasak. It was attended by Ate Patty Luna-Caballero, LSAI Masters, instructors, members, the DMST Commandant Col. Gil Aganon, and other guests. The event was headed by Master Bot Jocano. The emcee was MK's Jopot Solana. The tournament was also held outdoors. The rules were almost the same as the usual padded stick format tournaments except that the checking hand was allowed to make it more LSAI-like... after all, it was an LSAI event! However, you can't use the checking hand to punch or grab. It was a race to 10 points limiting the round to only 3 minutes. Since it was an LSAI event, the players were representatives of their respective LSAI clubs: Ronald Santos - Warriors (Son of Master Romy Santos) Melbino Pantonia - ? Dave Beltran - Mandirigmang Kaliradman Jerson Monderondo - Independent Victor Malicdem, Jr. - Lahing Mandirigma Arnis Serrada Ruel Apostol - Academia Tercia Cerrada Cadenilla y Espada y Daga John Bradshaw - Kidlat Arnis Club Phan Minh Quan - Angkan ng Mandirigma Elimination Round: Fight 1: Ronald Santos vs Melbino Pantonia, Ronald Santos Wins [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idyHPxBuAUA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idyHPxBuAUA[/ame] Fight 2: Dave Beltran vs Jerson Monderondo, Jerson Monderondo wins Part 1 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQSRLJ_lw0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQSRLJ_lw0[/ame] Part 2 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1VvA1NjUxE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1VvA1NjUxE[/ame] Fight 3: Victor Malicdem, Jr. vs Ruel Apostol, Victor Malicdem, Jr. wins [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8sD-EwIa5M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8sD-EwIa5M[/ame] Fight 4: John Bradshaw vs Phan Minh Quan, Phan Minh Quan wins [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWiBbsv43aI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWiBbsv43aI[/ame] Intermission Demo: Arnel Hila (1st Lema Cup 2006 winner) and his daughter [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBpYaApp5vQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBpYaApp5vQ[/ame] Semi-finals Round: Fight 5: Ronald Santos vs Jerson Monderondo, Ronald Santos wins [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0SOi9vpzs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0SOi9vpzs[/ame] Fight 6: Victor Malicdem, Jr. vs Phan Minh Quan, Phan Minh Quan wins [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDcxrJjXwjA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDcxrJjXwjA[/ame] Final Round: Ronald Santos vs Phan Minh Quan, considering the size difference, it was like a David vs Goliath fight. Ronald Santos wins a very technical fight, earning the 3rd Lema Cup 2008, best of the best! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnkRfBOPPYk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnkRfBOPPYk[/ame] The end of the tournament concluded that Ronald Santos is the 3rd Lema Cup 2008 champion. This is the second year that Phan Minh Quan ended up in the Final Round and is a player to reckon with next year if he will still be competing. This is Ronald Santos being awarded with the trophy and a symbolic stick by Mike Ariz, the previous year's champ: A close up of the trophy, which was actually a sword with engraved markings: The champions, posing with Ate Patty Luna-Caballero (seated), standing from L to R: Mike Ariz (2nd Lema Cup Champion 2007), Arnel Hila (1st Lema Cup Champion 2006) and Ronald Santos (recently concluded 3rd Lema Cup Champion 2008) The tournament's referee was Mike Ariz. The tradition being set was that the previous year's champion will be referee for the current year's tournament. After the exciting fights, Jennifer Oliquiono of Lahing Mandirigma Arnis Serrada (LAMAS) showed her gold medal winning anyo to the crowd. There were demos and sharing of techniques all over the place. Those noted were olisi, olisi y daga, daga empty hands and dumog of Master Nols del Rosario, espada y daga of Master Romy, a demo of old school techniques by an LSAI elder Master Herman Lecanto of Capiz with Jerson Monderondo, and others. Lunch was served, courtesy of Master Shaun and other sponsors. The usual cutting of Mang Ben's birthday cake followed: More pictures at LSAI's Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9002232223 Thank you for reading! Thank you Brando for the pictures and videos! Mabuhay si Grandmaster Benjamin Luna Lema! Mabuhay ang LSAI! Mabuhay ang LESKAS!
Congrats This looks like it was a fantastic tournament Ruel! You will have made Patty very proud! I see Jon is still touring Israel? Congrats to Santos JR you have grown!! Take Care rebecca
Great clips, guys, looks like you all had a great time. Hopefully I will get time to pop up to Manila this July to see you guys again. Sent my regards to all the LSAI guys and dont forget your Jon Escudero wig Hey that's cool that you can do You Tube clips on here now, how do you do that. Best regards Pat
Thank you Rebecca and GM Pat for the appreciation! Indeed, we had a great time! Pat, just copy the source code in "Embed" in your youtube video, and then paste it in your post.
