Q: My Instructor has a Yaw-Yan certification posted on his gym, how do I know if he is authentic or not?
A: There are many ways to spot a fake Yaw-Yan instructor. Most fake Yaw-Yan instructor cannot answer these questions without lying: What is his batch, year he started in Yaw-Yan, where and under whom, who are his batchmates, how long did he practiced the art, when did he received his mark (he should have a seal on the right shoulder if he’s a Senior, and on the chest if he’s a Junior), what classifications and ranks did he received (if he suddenly just became a Guro without going through numbers of series of promotions then you knew off hand he’s a fake), and hosts of many other things only real Yaw-Yans would know, but those are some questions you may want to start asking.
Q: My Instructor said Yaw-Yan and Muay Thai are exactly the same and that there’s no difference in it, but your site says otherwise. Which is true? Is Yaw-Yan the same as Muay Thai?
A: Your instructor obviously doesn’t know Yaw-Yan and doesn’t know Muay Thai. Any Senior Yaw-Yan instructors will tell you that there’s huge differences between Yaw-Yan, a Filipino Martial Arts and the Martial Arts sport of Muay Thai from Thailand. A lot of our Yaw-Yan instructors are also certified as a Muay Thai instructors and they can tell you that they’re not the same. Yaw-Yan is a Filipino Martial Arts of which the empty-hand movements are patterned after the blades & sticks. Muay Thai on the other hand is a national sport and cultural Martial Art of Thailand. Altho Yaw-Yan is oftentimes referred to as the close-cousin of Muay Thai, that reference is mainly due to the fact: who can best represent the Philippines in Muay Thai matches other than Yaw-Yan? Hence, almost all certified Muay Thai instructors in the Philippines are also certified Yaw-Yan instructors. Transitioning from Yaw-Yan to Muay Thai is rather easy, but not vice-versa. The very first batch of fighters sent to Thailand to represent the Philippines in Muay Thai competitions were all Yaw-Yan fighters. There was an unspoken rift in the early days between Yaw-Yan instructors who were loyal to Yaw-Yan vs. Yaw-Yan instructors who transitioned to teaching Muay Thai due to its associated financial gain.
Q: My instructor said he’s a Yaw-Yan Fervilleon Master and a Muay Thai Kru. Why is he not listed on this list?
A: Please note that this site lists only Fervilleon gyms or groups which were qualified, certified, and given permission to propagate Yaw-Yan Fervilleon by either Grandmaster Nap Fernandez, or by the International Director Master Armando D. Liban (if gym is outside of the Philippines), or by the National Director Master Saladin Dacuyan (if gym is in the Philippines). If your instructor said he’s Yaw-Yan Fervilleon but he’s not listed here, either he is not certified in Fervilleon or the site just hasn’t been updated with his records yet. Please kindly have your Fervilleon instructor inform us with your gym information so we could add him up and your gym info into this website.
Q: My instructor received his Yaw-Yan certification during his visit to the Philippines and also received his Muay Thai certification in Thailand, I couldn’t asked how long it took him to get those, mind if I asked you?
A: Nope. To be a Yaw-Yan Master takes decades, Warrior classifications go up to First- Class Fighters; then after reaching 1st Class, ranking starts from First-Rank (Guro) and on up. A Yaw-Yan Master essentially is 6th Rank, and is bestowed to those who had previously held their 5th Rank. The only way a practitioner can be a true Yaw-Yan Master according to Grandmaster Nap is if the person has been practicing and teaching Yaw-Yan continuously for at least 3 decades and must be 50 years old and above. To be a Muay Thai Kru on the other hand is very tricky, you can go to Thailand and take a short 2 to 5 days seminar from one of those Muay Thai camps and receive a Kru or even an Ajarn certificate. The title of Kru and/or Ajarn are extensively coveted by visiting foreigners; and Thai locals know that. Those certificates may have earned the foreign practitioners some bragging rights as well as increased business value, but other than that it means nothing. You can likewise go to Thailand and get a kru certificate yourself in a few short days. Do not delude yourself into thinking that a paper certificate replaces real knowledge, actual experience, and technical skills of specific arts built up over years of practice. To know any real art, go learn it from someone who really knows the authentic art if not from the source, and you must put in the time and effort in practice and training.
Q: Where is the Headquarters of Yaw-Yan Fervilleon?
A: The International Headquarters is in Rockville, Maryland U.S.A., and the Philippine Headquarters is in Pasay City. Please check the Gym Directories of Certified Fervilleon Training Centers on this website for further details.
Q: My Instructor said he is the only Yaw-Yan instructor certified by Grandmaster Napoleon A. Fernandez to teach in the U.S.A.
A: Oh my! There are plenty of certified Yaw-Yan instructors in the U.S.A., please contact the main Yaw-Yan USA Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland for a list of credible bona-fide instructors. You shouldn’t trust a dishonest instructor, his deceptively false claim shows absence of if not lack of integrity. If he can lie once, he can lie a lot of time. There are plenty of underlying reasons that your instructor lied, mainly for motives of selfish personal gain as well as to dissociate or separate himself apart as different, more superior, unique, the best, the one & only, and so forth. This prevailing self-centeredness is common not only in most big martial arts organizations but also in any other groups or associations… where there will always be a segregated group who would smack-talk, backstab, and bad-mouth their seniors, elders, and the very group they originally belonged to. Think of this in relation to how protestants, separatists, rabble-rousers, etc. would have far different personal interpretations of the original teachings. In much the same way, this segregated group would cause dissension or strife with his senior, and would claim that his new group is the best if not better than the original group. Hence, they’ll lie and make preposterous claims that they’re the one and only. I suggest you make further investigations and find out for yourself. If you want to learn real Yaw-Yan, find a real Yaw-Yan instructor who offers real Yaw-Yan teachings, not a mere watered-down system of many other arts put together. Yaw-Yan is most certainly not a fusion of Muay Thai and Tae-Kwon-Do. Grandmaster Nap hated that word “Fusion of other arts” as it is not, it is rather a Filipino Martial Arts system uniquely different from it’s foreign counterparts. Grandmaster Nap wanted to refer to Yaw-Yan as “A Filipino Martial Arts which empty-hand movements are patterned after the movements of the Blades and Sticks!”.
Q: What is the difference between Yaw-Yan, Yaw-Yan ArDigma and Yaw-Yan Fervilleon? and are there any of these located in the U.S.?
A: I believe this questions had already been addressed somewhere here on this website if not on other Yaw-Yan sites. Yaw-Yan (saYaw ng kamataYan) was the original art taught and introduced to the public in 1972, the empty-hand movements were patterned after the bolo and arnis. The other 2 are the major revisions and improvements of Yaw-Yan: Yaw-Yan ArDigma (Arnis panDigma) which empty-hand movements were patterned after the movement of Arnis sticks was introduced in 2005, and Yaw-Yan Fervilleon aka Estocada de Brazo Y Pie or Estocada de Mano Y Pie [according to GM Nap it can be interchangeably referred to either Estocada de Brazo or Estocada de Mano] must be known as Filipino Fencing, which empty-hand movements were specifically patterned after the movements of the blades. Fervilleon bears the family name of the creator of the art, i.e., Fernandez-Avillada-Napoleon. Fervilleon according to Grandmaster Nap himself was the culmination of his long arduous efforts, studies, analysis, and his best choice selection of proven Yaw-Yan techniques plus additional refinements. Fervilleon was conceived in mid-2007 but was not completed till January of 2013. In Fervilleon, the movements and naming conventions (e.g. talim, bangkud, saksak, aldabis, sikwat, etc.) are apparent that it is patterned after the bladed arts, specifically that of Uno-Tero. There are 3 iterations of Fervilleon – 2007, 2010, and 2013. The 2013 iteration is the final Fervilleon iteration which Grandmaster Nap wanted to be utilized and standardized across all Fervilleon gyms inclusive of the last offshoot systems he named. The complete Fervilleon manuscript and syllabus was handed by Grandmaster Nap to his loyal disciple Master Armando D. Liban, whom he named as the torchbearer of Yaw-Yan Fervilleon. Yaw-Yan gyms are scattered around the U.S.A., look only for authentic Yaw-Yan instructors. Paper certificates should not be your only basis.
Q: Is this registered thru Philippine SEC?
A: ahahahaaaa! Scram! Get a Life!
Q: I am a Yaw-Yan instructor here in Cebu and I would like to open my own gym, can my gym be a part of this Federation?
A: Yes of course. For Yaw-Yan instructors who wish to open a Yaw-Yan Fervilleon gym within the Philippines, Please contact our National Director – Master Saladin Dacuyan to become affiliated with Yaw-Yan Fervilleon International Federation and receive your designated Regional assignment. For Yaw-Yan instructors in the US or outside of the Philippines who wish to establish Yaw-Yan Fervilleon Gyms in the US or outside of the Philippines, please contact our International Director Master Armando D. Liban to become affiliated with Yaw-Yan Fervilleon International Federation and receive your designated Regional assignment.
Q: My Yaw-Yan instructor is Grandmaster <so and so>, do you know him?
A: It doesn’t matter if I knew him or not, what matters is the fact that there is only one Grandmaster of Yaw-Yan and there can only be one Grandmaster of Yaw-Yan. The sole creator and originator of Yaw-Yan, Yaw-Yan ArDigma, and Yaw-Yan Fervilleon is none other than Yaw-Yan Grandmaster Napoleon A. Fernandez. You should never ever address anybody else as Grandmaster other than Grandmaster Nap. It is not only fraudulent and deceiving but also quite disrespectful and rather dishonest for anyone to proclaim themselves as a Yaw-Yan Grandmaster when there’s only one Grandmaster and creator of Yaw-Yan. As long as “Yaw-Yan” is affixed to a style or system of Martial Arts, it should properly bear credit to the rightful intellectual owner of the style or system — none other than the one and only Yaw-Yan Grandmaster Napoleon A. Fernandez. If there are any other Yaw-Yan practitioners claiming to be a Grandmaster, they are either self-proclaimed disrespectful practitioners or someone promoted by another self-proclaimed Grandmaster. It is a fact that there never was anybody promoted by Grandmaster Nap himself to be another Yaw-Yan Grandmaster. GM Nap wished to be recognized and remain to be recognized as the one and only Grandmaster and sole creator of Yaw-Yan, and we should all respect that. There can certainly be a Yaw-Yan successor in a lifetime, but there shouldn’t be another Grandmaster in the art of Yaw-Yan. A successor does not necessarily need to be a Grandmaster. Analogously, such as nobody can ever replace Steve Jobs, although there can be successors to continue what he started, the same with Yaw-Yan. It is Grandmaster Nap’s wish that he remained to be the one and only Grandmaster or Yaw-Yan and it is written in his manifesto dated March 22nd, 2013. If you want to be a Grandmaster, then create your own art, simple as that! Don’t plagiarize and use GM Nap’s art and take credit as a Grandmaster of his art! That’s not nice!
“The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be like his master.” ~Luke 6:40
“It was PRIDE that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels” ~St. Augustine of Hippo
Please Stop bastardizing the art! Respect Grandmaster Nap’s wish! If you are truly one of his students, then follow him as any loyal disciple should, and not as his equals!
I hope the following memes would wake up some sense on all practitioners of this art.
So the next time someone asked you this question… what will your response be?
“Maraming loyal sa Yaw-Yan, pero iilan lamang ang loyal sa gumawa ng Yaw-Yan”
~Grandmaster Napoleon A. Fernandez.
(“Many are loyal to Yaw-Yan, but only a very small number of you are loyal to the creator of Yaw-Yan”).
If you consider yourself loyal to Grandmaster Nap, then honor him and his wish as our one and only Grandmaster of Yaw-Yan.