Post date: Mar 15, 2014 2:32:25 PM
Here is Master Guro Finder's biography:
I have been involved in martial arts for over 40 years and have been teaching professionally in the SF Bay Area since 1985, starting with my Kenpo teacher Al Thomas (until 1989) in Oakland at School of the White Tiger. I also began teaching Escrima there in 1986 directly under GM Angel Cabales, and have run my own program independently in that art since he passed away in 1991. I teach privately as "Bay Area Serrada Escrima" (B.A.S.E.) My formal ranks include black belt under Sifu Thomas, Advanced Diploma under GM Cabales, 3rd Dan in Ch'uan Fa under Sigung John K. Wong, and honorary master certificates under Decuerdas GM Arthur Gonzalez (through his Martial Arts Cultural Exchange) and GM Anthony Davis (World Serrada Escrima Association).
In 1989 I was a championship member of the first U.S. Eskrima Team competing in the Philippines, making the finals in both Cebu and Manila tournaments. I later served as treasurer on the first regional board for WEKAF (World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation) for the West Coast, and have been judge and center referee for that organization in national and international competitions.
I am also the first person to successfully market long-lasting hi-impact synthetic sticks for martial arts, starting in 1989, as Stickman Escrima Products, which now includes my own line of custom made hi-impact synthetic training swords and knives. In 1998 I was inducted into the Filipino Martial Arts Hall of Fame for my innovations in training equipment for these arts.