With great sadness I received the news, that Grand Master P. Greg Alland passed away on April 13th, 2020.
Parts of his life story are like a martial arts movie stereotype. He was raised in a foster home. Bullied by other kids, his interest in how to fight was sparked in his early years. Unlike in the movies he didn’t study as a child in a shaolin monastery. Instead, when Greg had grown to a young man, it was love that finally brought him to Martial Arts. His wife was a Filipina nurse and when he fetched her from the hospital, he happened to meet a Filipino gentleman, Leo Gaje, whom we all know as the keeper and Grand Tuhon of Pekiti Tirsia Kali. That first meeting happened in 1972. Greg Alland started training under the guidance of Grand Tuhon Gaje and the rest is well known history.
Greg Alland was among the very first students of Grand Tuhon Gaje. Greg trained and lived martial arts with a passion, that only those who knew him can comprehend. He literally trained day and night. I got inspired to our overnight trainings in Reutlingen, when I experienced the overnight trainings with Greg Alland in New York.
While Greg was studying Pekiti Tirsia his martial journey had him meet and learn from other masters such as Supreme Grandmaster Dionisio Cañete, Grandmaster Jerson Nene Tortal, and his dear friend, Suryadi Eddie Jafri. In 1989, GT Leo Gaje could see that Greg did everything in his own style and that he should name his practice. That's when SinaTirsiaWali Kali–Silat was born.
Greg taught and promoted the art the same way, that he had studied it: with all his heart! His life motto was „Have sticks, will travel!“ and „Fear no man on earth“!
Indeed, Greg Alland travelled the world and was an inspiration for many people. In the time before Youtube and Instagram, his TV productions for the Arnis America Association and his video tapes were promoting FMA techniques and philosophy to many people around the world, who otherwise would have had no access to Filipino Martial Arts.
My first Kali teacher
I had credited Greg Alland in my vlog from April 4th as my first FMA teacher. Little did I know at that time, that he should pass away one week later. He always was and still is an important inspiration!
I will never forget how my brother and me first time met with Greg Alland at the airport in New York. We wanted to explore Filipino Martial Arts. When we met with Greg Alland in New York, he opened the door for us to a new understanding of martial art and culture.
In the following years we travelled to New York frequently and then invited Greg Alland to visit us and teach our group in Germany. The more I developed an understanding of Filipino Martial Arts, the more important became this Art for my training.
Greg Alland encouraged my brother and me to travel to Philippines and meet with Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje and Grand Tuhon Jerson ‚Nene‘ Tortal. So many good experiences and memories are owed to Greg Alland.
I remember his training contract demanded training ‚up to and including death’.
Greg Alland, your legacy is kept alive by your students
May you rest in peace and continue training in Heaven!
Uli Weidle
