Jamie Yancovitz

Jamie Yancovitz is a speaker, educator, and community leader. An Ilongga-American from the Bronx, she was raised in both NYC and Bacolod, Philippines. Jamie founded Survival Arts Academy in 2016 in Bacolod to help protect women & children against violence through Kali.

Jamie is a specialist in Languages & Cultures of Asia, Southeast Asia and Middle Eastern Studies. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, did her Master’s work at the CUNY Graduate Center, and has taught at UCLA, California State University, California State Polytechnic University, East Los Angeles College, City University of New York, Central Philippines State University, University of St. La Salle, and communities across the globe. She is also a Yoga Teacher & Reiki Practitioner.

Jamie is revered for being the first to create an all women of color/LGBTQ/BIPOC training space for Kali in the world. Training for Self-Protection and healing from violence — for women, children, and communities of color — became an act not only to reclaim our bodies, but to also reclaim and decolonize the ancient Filipino fighting arts of Kali. Through Survival Arts, Jamie has created a Warrior + Healer praxis that is deeply rooted in ancestral healing, energy work and spiritual consciousness.

In 2018, she introduced her Survival Arts training program to Los Angeles & Southern California’s indigenous women’s communities, training over 300 students in one year. Her work has been featured in Adidas, Business Insider, Bustle, CNN Philippines, Rappler, TFC, Voices of America, Voyage LA, Long Beach Post, and the Huffington Post.

Jamie’s work is rooted in the belief that all women & gender-expansive folks should have the knowledge to protect themselves in mind, body & spirit. Survival Arts works to create a safer world for all.

For speakings & trainings, please contact her here.

Darcey De Los Reyes

Darcey De Los Reyes is a Filipino American professional photographer and videographer born in Zambales, Philippines, and raised in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.

As a freelancer with over 15 years of experience in fashion and portrait photography, DELOSPHOTO has created a name for himself as a shooter. Having shot the rising models of the fashion industry, he has also worked with all the top tier clients, from modeling agencies to multinational brands.

As a Pekiti Tirsia Kali student, Darcey trained under Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr. and the Ladra Brothers, Tuhon Bobby Ladra and Tuhon Apolo Ladra for over 12 years. As a practitioner and co-instructor, he believes in protecting the art and creating space for Filipinos to connect to their own culture saying, “The purpose of the art is to protect the family. We should be teaching more women.” 

Currently based in the Philippines, Darcey contributes his work into photography, videography, and instruction for Survival Arts, while serving as the official PTK photographer of Grand Tuhon. For photoshoots and bookings, contact him at delosphoto.com. His work can also be found on @delosphoto.

Alicia Yurong

Alicia Yurong is a healer, dancer, licensed acupuncturist and instructor of Chinese Herbology at Arizona College of Acupuncture Medicine and Bodywork, with a Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine at Emperor’s College in Los Angeles, California.

Born and raised in Hawai‘i, she grew up in a culture that fosters community and connection to land. She dances hula at a hālau (school) in Tucson and participates in oli (Hawaiian chant) classes online with masters in Hawai‘i. She strives to incorporate principles of pono (balance/harmony), pilina (connection), and aloha (love) into her life as much as possible. 

Alicia is passionate about embodied movement as a way to connect with heritage, ancestors, place, community, and the body. Since starting to circle and train with Survival Arts in 2018, she’s become committed to building strength of body, mind, spirit, and community through kali and decolonization. Before studying holistic health, Alicia researched settler colonialism, identity, and dance in Hawai‘i and received a Master of Arts degree in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and French from DePauw University. 

As a facilitator of our Survival Arts LA Training Circles, she is now based in Tohono O’odham & Pascua Yaqui Land / Tucson, AZ. Alicia believes in the warrior and healing arts as a means of transformation and connecting to ancestral wisdom and Pilipinx culture. 

Arianne Olegario

Arianne Olegario is a creator, yoga instructor, and sound healer from Manila, Philippines. Her energy encourages our hearts and challenges our bodies to open up to freedom of movement. Arianne holds space for us during our Survival Arts Retreats, leading our yoga, sound bath, meditation practice and healing ceremony. 

Arianne has been a mindful movement coach for 9 years for retreat centers, locally and internationally, and has developed a program on Embodied Resilience & Movement to provide a grounded, holistic approach for mind, body, and spirit. Her vision is to be able to support individuals to become more resilient Beings and create harmony in the heart through meditation, yoga, and other movement practices. 

Based in the Philippines, Arianne holds space for Survival Arts community virtually through Sound Healing, movement & meditation. Arianne's intention for sharing is to have a shared space to call out for freedom, through our movement and through our roots.

Inabel Bee Uytiepo

inabel bee uytiepo (they/siya) is a queer, Ilocano-Chinese somatic forgiveness practitioner, artist, teacher, animist and forever student. inabel has been studying death and meditation since they were a child. inabel began a healing arts practice after decades of being a Buddhist meditation student and teacher. inabel is an intuitive and trained bodyworker with a focus on wholistic manual therapies for digestive and reproductive systems via neuromuscular, visceral, aura & energy presencing. inabel is a certified transpersonal hypnotherapist. With community, inabel offers trauma informed personal sessions and holds co-creative careshops, events, community circles and retreats.

inabel’s current offerings include anti-racism healing circles, and ancestral wayfinding with all ancestries, most often with Asian, Pilipinx, femme, gender queer and LGBTQIA+ community. inabel is one of five co-conveners of the Asian led cross-racial solidarity grassroots organizatiom Peoples Collective for Justice and Liberation. inabel also holds space for Survival Arts community virtually through Ancestral Listening.

inabel’s most recent endeavor is sharing their life’s explorative work in a co-creative journey called the Wayfinding Collective. Sign up to receive updates at healingisgiving.com 

Charley Sta. Maria

Charley Sta. Maria is a storyteller, filmmaker, community organizer, environmental educator, protector of Mother Earth and keeper of ancient wisdom. Born in Baguio City, Benguet and raised in Baguio, Manila, and Bacolod, Charley is a core leader in Survival Arts, holding space for our ancestral healing and training work.

Charley has worked and volunteered for a number of NGOs, including the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network, Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Masungi Georeserve Foundation, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, and the protected marine sanctuary of Danjugan Island. 

Charley has a Bachelor of Arts from Ateneo de Manila University and has worked on a number of films and documentaries to promote peace, environmental advocacy and education for indigenous communities. Through visual storytelling and education, Charley works to empower the marginalized and forgotten, moving together toward the sustainability of our living Planet. To learn more about Charley’s work, check out her channel.

Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr.

As the supreme grandmaster and guardian of Pekiti Tirsia Kali, Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr. is a 3-time Hall of Fame awardee, and Weapons Master Instructor across the globe. He has been featured on magazine covers since the 1980, most recently on the cover of Black Belt Magazine, recognized as Man of the Year 2018. In 2019, Grand Tuhon received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Martial Arts Supershow in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Grand Tuhon brought Pekiti Tirsia Kali (PTK) to the United States in 1972, and has since then shared his family art with more than 25 countries around the world. His contribution to Close Quarters Combat and Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) community is unsurpassable, making him one of the greatest living legends of our time. PTK is so effective with the use of weaponry and blade technology, that it is sought after by military & law enforcement groups internationally, serving as the only official Filipino fighting system of the Philippines military, U.S. Special Forces, Indian Special Forces, and Austrian Special Forces.

Based in the Philippines, Grand Tuhon continues to teach all around the world, preserving the PTK technology, and protecting this indigenous Filipino fighting art that has survived the test of time, from ancient warfare to modern weaponry.

For inquiries about training with Grand Tuhon, contact him here.