PDA

View Full Version : Who Was Florendo Visitacion?



Juan Perez
21st July 2002, 04:02
(I'm not quite sure if this is even the right forum for this question)

Years back I remember a copy of Black Belt Magazine with a self defense article written by Florendo Visitacion. As young kid, I used to compete in tournaments along with students of Lou Ferrer, Tony Mayo, and David James (all somehow connected to Vee Arnis).

But, I'm really curious about something:

Was Mr. Visitacion a master, in his own right, of actual martial arts of the times? The reason I ask is the that I have rarely seen any lineage on the art that shows that he received any mastership titles. How was he qualified as a master, fighter and teacher?

Could it be that his prime ocurred so long ago that I was too young to have noticed? I'm sure some old timers out here probably have an answer. Thanks, fellas.

Joseph Svinth
21st July 2002, 04:29
The first reference to Prof. Vee (1910-1999) that I recall appeared in "The New Yorker" sometime in the early 1950s. So yes, I'd guess this is before your time.

David James is a Vee senior still teaching in New York City; he appears on "Martial Arts: The Real Story." You can buy a copy of this show through "VHS Sales" at http://psfp.com . Cost is $29.95, postage and tax included. Background on James appears at http://www.fist-inc.com/kfvideo/james.htm . James sells his own series of tapes, some of which include images of the by-then elderly Prof. Vee in action. See http://espytv.com/veearnis.htm . A review of one of these videos appears here: http://home.att.net/~erik.mann/etvvj1.htm .

For online biographical information regarding Prof. Vee, see http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Track/2823/vee.html and http://www.danzan.com/HTML/ESSAYS/1999.html .