Fil-Am martial arts wunderkind wants to be an actor

Matthew McFarlin, ten-year-old martial arts champ. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO — Ten-year-old Filipino-American Matthew McFarlin, who was recently crowned as Choi Kwang Do martial black belt state champion in Michigan, dreams of someday becoming an actor.

A second-degree black belter, Matthew, topped the Speed Drills and Patterns and was second in Air Shield Attack to top his division at the 2nd Annual Choi Kwang Do Festival attended by over 160 black belts, including some of the best Choi competitors throughout the state and in the world.

The youngest competitor in the black belt category, the Pinoy martial arts wunderkind also helped his local club to second place finishes in the Demo and seven-man black belt competitions.

Organizers said this year’s daylong winter festival held at a local school gymnasium in Saline showcased skills competitions highlighting patterns, speed drills and power on air shields among students and instructors from around the world. Other categories included Team 7 color belts, Team 7 black belts and Michigan Demonstration Teams contest.

Matthew first caught media attention when he placed second in the International Choi Kwang Do Seminar and Tournament in London, England held on June 2-4, 2013. Competing against 14- and 15-year-olds, Matthew won two trophies in Speed Drills and in Patterns, a way of combining certain moves.

Black belt at 6

The only child of retired Ford Motor Co. photographer John McFarlin and the former Arcelie Garcia of Santa Ana, Pampanga, Matthew was introduced to Choi Kwang Do at the age of four and got his black belt two years later on August 6, 2011. After another two years he tested and earned his second degree.

An achiever in the gym and in the classroom, Matthew has managed to excel in sports and in academics with the support of his doting parents who are themselves health buffs. His father John was an accomplished college wrestler and amateur body-building who still visits the gym at least twice a week. His mother, Arcelie — Arcy to family and friends — is dubbed the “Zumba Queen” at the local Lifetime Fitness Health Club.

“As a member of the Black Belt Club, Matthew attends Choi training after morning classes almost six days a week, in either Canton, or nearby Novi, Michigan,” John said by email.

“We hope that he sticks with his current schedule which will have him earning his 3rd degree Black Belt sometime in 2016, shortly after his 11th birthday.  This will rank him among the youngest, highest ranked black belts in the martial arts world,” he added.

Through his dad, Matthew told FilAm Star that his No. 1 hero is WWE pro wrestler John Cena, “because Cena is somebody who never stops trying to be the best and he never gives up.”

Matthew’s other favorite is Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao because, “it is impossible to have a Filipino parent who doesn’t love Manny.”

In fact, the McFarlin family delights in hosting TV-viewing parties for Filipino friends whenever Pacquiao has a fight.

According to the elder McFarlin, Matthew is very active in the Dearborn Baseball Club and is currently taking three hours of training every Saturday for Winter Baseball camp.  The exceptional boy has played on Flag Football Leagues and several soccer teams.

Despite the year-round demands of martial arts training and other sports, Matthew’s mom is pleased that her boy is excelling in his studies as well.

‘Dream pupil’

“As a mom, I’m really proud of the way Matthew is doing very well in school,” said Arcy, a B.S. Education graduate, by phone to FilAm Star on Wednesday. “His teachers tell me that Matthew is a ‘dream pupil’ who does his homework and behaves in class.”

Last year, Matthew was president of his Student Council and also sang with the Honors Choir, Arcy said. But he eventually had to give up these school activities this year because he was starting to miss practices with Choi Kwang Do, which is a year-around activity.

A full-time homemaker, who spends time to take her child to school activities, Arcy said Matthew used to tell her he wanted to become a doctor, but changed his mind when he realized it takes a minimum of eight years to become a doctor of medicine.

“I think he may have lost interest in becoming a physician as he excelled in Choi Kwang Do and got parts doing small time commercials,” Arcy narrated with a chuckle. “Now he does not want to be a doctor; he wants to be an actor.”

Matthew is also into music, a training that should be useful to his ambition to get into acting. He studies the violin, takes piano lessons, and is currently a very active talent/model for the I-Group, a talent agency based in Southfield, Michigan.

According to dad John, Matthew, now a sixth grader at Howard School has done some work for clients that include Fathead.com, Good Year Tire, General Motors, and the Detroit Zoo, among others.

As parents, Arcy and John have high hopes for their multi-talented only child, and they look forward to taking him back on another trip to visit their folks in Pampanga.

“The first time we took Matthew to the Philippines it was to introduce him to our family as a two-year-old. When we come back, maybe soon, we know our folks will all be proud of him, because he’s really a very good kid,” Arcy said.