Over the past four hundred years, Filipinos have developed a
form of martial arts, and after perfecting this art, called Arnis.In 1565 A.D., when Spain took control
of the Philippines, Filipinos fought hard, modifying their fighting systems to
mimic the Spanish's sword and dagger method, however they were no match for the
Spanish’s military capability.(Spanish Colony)In order
to preserve their art, Arnis, the art of stick fighting, Filipinos practiced in
secret.

Annette Dancel, a first
generation American Filipino woman born in California, shared a passion for
martial arts, the way many Filipinos do.However, she took the fervor she has for martial arts in a direction
most Filipinos do not; she mastered the Korean martial art.Motivated to make a difference in her
own life and an impact on others, Dancel dedicated herself to the art of Tae
Kwon Do.In an interview with
Annette Dancel, many issues were questioned that explain how she fits in the
continuum of Filipino American history including the following:

1.What motivated
Dancel to take Tae Kwon Do rather than Arnis?

2.What
discriminations were faced as a Filipino woman in a Korean art?

3.What is it like
going back to the Philippines?

4.How do you fit
into our American society as a Filipino American with your accomplishments in
Tae Kwon Do?

This
dissertation of how tae kwon do changed Dancel’s life focuses on these four
questions.

What motivated Dancel
to take

Tae Kwon Do rather
than Arnis?

The Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do is ninety percent kicks
and ten percent hands.(Dancel,
Personal Interview, Oct. 2004)Tae
Kwon Do is an extremely physical male dominant sport that unlike many other
forms of martial arts focuses on the power of their various styles of
kicks.While Arnis does contain a
few kicks, this art focuses on fighting with weapons, especially sticks, while
Tae Kwon Do focuses on ostentatious kicks while fighting with bare hands and
feet.

When Dancel was only fifteen years of age, she would like any
other teenage girl, go out with the boys everyday after school.Her best friend however, would head
over to a Tae Kwon Do dojo and dedicate herself to practicing tae kwon do every
day.One day, Dancel wondering
where her best friend would disappear to after school, went with her best
friend to one of her classes.Ever
since she watched that one class, Net knew she wanted to train hard like her
best friend and practice the art of Tae Kwon Do.At first sight, the variety of flashy kicks and different
self-defense drills caught her attention, and she knew she would too join the
class.Being a high school student
however, she felt she was “too cool” to do so.It took about a good two years for Dancel to get the courage
to get out onto the tae kwon do floor and start training.

Discrimination as a Filipino
American

woman practicing a Korean art?

With Tae Kwon Do being a male dominant sport, Net faced many
different types of discrimination.The men in her class picked on her as well as the other women in the
class because they knew that they were stronger, and that they had a slight
advantage over the women.However,
on a positive outcome, Dancel also benefited from this experience because she
was never treated differently than the men in the class.Dancel’s instructor never treated her
any different than the other students in the class, regardless of race and
gender.Dancel was instructed to
do the same amount of exercises, the same warm-ups, the same amount of pushups
and pull-ups in the same amount of time and no different than the men
would.Because of this impartial
training from her instructor, Dancel has not only herself but also her
instructor to thank, for the strong motivated fighter she is today.

Even more so discriminatory than being a female, was being a
Filipino American Koreans take a large amount of pride in Tae Kwon Do; the
Korean art.In Dancel’s class,
Korean students felt the need to pick on the students that were not Korean,
because Tae Kwon Do was not their origin martial art.The Korean students felt that they had first priority to
practice time, the teacher’s attention, and that they were better than the
other students.Being a woman in a
martial art made her an even larger target to pick on.Dancel however, did not let any of
these prejudice attacks stop her from training hard and earning her respect
while mastering the ranks.Determined
to achieve her black belt, and motivated to keep training, she dedicated
herself, trained hard, and earned the respect of her classmates and
instructors.Her exceptional
training and dedication also showed when she was offered the position on
choreographing demonstrations for the demo team and the S.W.A.T, the Special
Winning

Attitude Team.

Dancel
takes a lot of pride in being a woman in a martial art and feels it necessary
for more women to take these leadership roles.In the Philippines, gender roles are very significant and
apparent.Women play a large role
in the family, making household decisions, working, taking care of the children
and family, and maintaining the house.Unlike the United States, women and men are equally seen as the
breadwinner of the family.In the
Philippines, when Filipino families immigrate to the United States, it is
usually the woman that comes to the United States first, contrasting gender
roles with the wife and the husband.(Espiritu 132)Even though
equality is becoming more and more apparent in gender roles, men are still seen
as the family breadwinner. (Espiritu 141) This is why Dancel feels it so
important for women to take pride in what they do, and to take leadership roles
in our society.

What is it like
going back

to the
Philippines?

In
the Philippines, America is portrayed as the land of wealth, opportunity, and a
place that provides a chance for a better life.Filipinos living in the Philippines look up to those who do
come to the United States, and see these people as “those who have made it.”
(Brainard and Litton 167)Even
those who have blue-collared jobs or that contain odd jobs, such as being a
custodian or a manager at McDonalds, are praised and looked up to as wealthy in
the Philippines.For many
migrants, the trip home is a chance for public validation and recognition in
their own country of origin. (Espiritu 86)

However, some of the Filipinos who do make it to the United
States do not like their experience in the states.Some Filipinos face discrimination they would not have
expected in America, and most come to the United States to find the wealth that
they never grasp because of the uneven distribution of wealth amongst the
affluent and the less fortunate.Some of these Filipinos that return home also expose the truths about the
promise of America, even it if does diminish their own status in the
process.(Espiritu 92)

Dancel
has been to the Philippines to visit families and friends once before in her
life, and she plans to go again next year.In the Philippines, the respect she receives from her family
and friends are phenomenal.Being
a Filipino American born in the United States gives her a high status when she
returns home to visit family and friends.Not only do family and friends in the Philippines look up to Dancel for
being successful in the United States, but they also praise for being a
successful woman in a male dominant sport.Dancel takes an enormous amount of pride in the respect that
she is given through family and friends back in the Philippines, and hopes to
make a difference in their lives the way she impacts the lives of her students
here in the United States through her training and her wise words.

Filipinos
in the United States try to visit their homeland as often as possible.However, with the hectic schedule most
Americans endure, that does not permit a whole lot of time to visit family and
friends in the Philippines often.The Filipinos who do come to the United States, the land of wealth, feel
obligated to send money or balikbayan boxes home, filled with goods and items
from the United States, periodically, to help their less fortunate family on
the islands.(Espiritu
97)This gesture of sending
valuables home to family back in the Philippines stresses the close bond the
Filipino community holds, even when separated by the states.

How do you fit
into our American society as a

Filipino American
with your accomplishments

in Tae Kwon Do?

As
a Filipino American that has mastered Tae Kwon Do, and still training, Dancel
feels that she fits into our American society just fine. She takes great pride
in having accomplished her goal of becoming an instructor in the martial
arts.Dancel feels fitting into
our American society was not as difficult for her as it may have been for a
Filipino person not born here in America.

As an American born Filipino, Dancel feels that she fits into
Filipino history as a rarity, because of the accomplishments she has succeeded
as a black belt instructor in Tae Kwon Do.Dancel feels that she is a rarity because not many women are
able to master a male dominant sport, let alone, a Filipino woman in a Korean
art.

Although Dancel has always lived the life of an American woman,
she still and has always upheld the traditions of her Filipino culture.Dancel celebrated her eighteenth
birthday and had a debut, a large party celebrating the transition of a young
Filipino girl into womanhood, she cooks and eats Filipino food often, and she
believes in many Filipino superstitions such as not being able to give shoes as
a gift without receiving change, because if change is not given back, the
person would walk right out of your life.Dancel goes out to Filipino clubs where her Filipino friends and herself
could enjoy themselves outside work.The Filipino community bond for Dancel, even as an American, is very
apparent in Dancel’s everyday life and routines.Dancel is Filipino, and upholds her family origins, as well
as she is an American.However,
she would not be represented correctly if not titled as both, a true “Filipino
American.”