BIOGRAPHY
PETER LUIS VARGAS (SIFU/GURO/ENFORCER)
AMERICAN MODERN ARNIS ASSOCIATES

Sifu/Guro Peter Luis Vargas is the highest ranking AMAA teacher and student in the world, under the world renowned Master Teacher, President and Founder Sifu / Punong Guro Tom Bolden. He is also one of the highest ranking instructors and authority figures in the underground family fighting style of "Closed Crane Kung Fu".

Mr. Vargas was born in the Bronx Borough of New York City in 1972 and was raised as a city smart street kid. He was informally introduced to the martial arts (Combat Judo/Jujitsu) as an uke (demonstration partner) at eight years of age in 1980. His father, grandfather and uncles, all had martial arts backgrounds and he decided to follow in their footsteps. Most of Mr. Vargas’ early training regiment consisted of learning hard break falls and body conditioning exercises.

Two years into his training he became interested in another martial art discipline that combined body conditioning with bone crushing strikes “Tai kick Boxing”. Mr. Vargas excelled in his training and by age 10 was allowed to spar with classmates 13 years of age and up. Because Mr. Vargas enjoyed his interactions in combat training so much, when he wasn’t in the gym training he satisfied his thirst for knowledge and experience in unsupervised matches with a small band of neighborhood teenagers and classmates. They convened wherever they found seclusion in hidden alleyways, abandoned buildings, basements etc. These matches where fought with old boxing gloves and two rules, one person gives up or last person standing. He quickly acclimated to his new passion and attributes his successes in Street Boxing and Tai Kick Boxing to the rigors of his early hard training in Combat Judo/Jujitsu. Mr. Vargas continued his training and fighting until 1988 when he took two years off from martial arts training to recover from a near fatal automobile accident.

After his recovery in 1990 Mr. Vargas decided to pursue two soft style martial arts, Tai Chi Chaun and the underground fighting art of Closed Crane Kung Fu. Unfortunately Mr. Vargas couldn’t complete his Tai Chi Chaun training as a result of his instructors' relocation to another part of the country. During his time studying Tai Chi Chaun Mr. Vargas, though not considered to be one of the most tenured/knowledgeable, he was considered by his peers to be one of the most lethal practicioners. Mr. Vargas continued to pursue the Closed Crane Kung Fu fighting style with great dedication and again excelled by obtaining his instructor certification and black sash in 1992.

In 1995 while still teaching and training in Closed Crane Kung Fu, Mr. Vargas was introduced to the world renowned Sifu/Punong Guro Tom Bolden the Founder and President of The American Modern Arnis Associates (AMAA) and began his training in Arnis. Two years after meeting and training with Guro Bolden, Mr. Vargas received a promotion to Trainer "Taga Pagsanay" and again in 1999 to Basic Instructor "Saligan Tagapagturo". Guro Bolden in 2000 honored Mr. Vargas with the prestige and honor of making him his first black belt ever, in his 40+ years of teaching and training martial artists. Guro Bolden in 2001 again honored Mr. Vargas by promoting him to 1st Dan (Lakan Isa) with the title of Advanced Instructor "Abante Tagapagturo". In 2002 he received two more Dan promotions making him a 3rd Dan black belt (Lakan Tatlo) with advancement to Senior Instructor "Punong Tagapagturo". In 2004 Sifu Vargas recieved two more Dan promotions from Guro Bolden which advanced him to 5th Dan black belt with the prestigious and coveted title of Teacher "Guro" in the AMAA system.


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