Monsour del Rosario in Martial Arts fest
OLYMPIAN Monsour del Rosario, a Representative of Makati 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 eighttime 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.