FMA Informative Newspaper Vol4 No.2

Vol 4 No 2 - 2015
Newspaper
Propagating the Filipino Martial Arts and the Culture of the Philippines
Edged Weapons and Self Protection
Do You Train in a Blade
System?
By Nick Stevens
Article
By Joel Huncar
Types of Striking and
Cutting
By Bram Frank
Article
About ...
Past Events
Health & Safety
Discovering FMA
The Goat Locker
Tid-Bits
I read an article in the local newspaper the other day that had some great news,
crime in Canada is at a very low level. However with the good news came some bad; knife
assaults and knife crime was up over 30% in
Canada. The knife is probably the most common weapon used by criminals in Canada.
Another important statistic to consider is that according to the FBI crime statistics you are 80% likely to survive a handgun assault but only 60% likely to survive a
knife assault. While this stat may be slightly
different here in Canada; there is no denying
the lethality and danger the knife represents.
However finding an instructor capable
of teaching realistic knife defense is not easy.
There are three main factors that you need
to look at when judging a self-defense program’s ability to teach realistic knife defense:
1) Does the instructor understand the
use of the knife in combat? I have studied Filipino martial arts for two decades. I
was pretty sure I knew knife combat but
over the past ten years I realized I knew
knife dueling not really knife combat.
To really know knife combat I had to
understand how the knife was used to attempt to injure or kill a victim. I began researching incidents, watching videos from
security cameras of real knife assaults and
murders, and whenever I could talking to
victims of knife assaults. The results over
the years has helped me understand my
Filipino martial arts better and has made
me streamline my self-protection program.
Understanding what a knife assault
looks like generally allows me to separate art
from function. However it also helps me understand how my art translates to function.
This is one of the best gifts understanding
this type of ugly violence has given me.
2) Does the instructor only teach the physical skills of defending against edged weapons? If you only teach your students about
how to fend off a knife assault you are
only giving them 5% of what they need
to know. Other factors such as awareness,
de-escalation, after incident actions and
personal first aid need to be addressed.
Awareness assertiveness and deescalation can save you from ever being
involved in a violent incident in the first
place. If you can see a situation before it
takes place you may never need to use
your physical fighting skills. If you can talk
down an angry person you may be able to
keep a bad situation from getting worse.
Self-defense instructors who never
discuss this stuff are not really preparing you
mentally for real self-protection. It is like a
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2 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
driving instructor who only
teaches you how to get out
of a skid instead of teaching
you how to properly navigate
the streets legally and safely.
After care is another
thing that needs to be addressed. Things like a physical
body survey to look for injury
as well as some first aid are
important things to know. As
is how to talk to police and
authorities and what are your
legal obligations after the incident. These things not only
can save your life but also
keep you out of jail if you have
seriously harmed your attacker.
3) Does the instructor spend
too much time on knife dueling? When I am teaching the
art of Arnis weapons dueling
is a huge part of the curriculum. However when I teach
self-protection I rarely teach
knife dueling. I teach a lot of
how to defend empty hand
vs the blade and also how to
use the blade against armed
and
unarmed
attackers.
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 3
When I teach weapon
vs weapon I tell people that
is a rare situation; even if you
carry a knife for personal protection you are more likely going to have to defend empty
handed to buy time to get
to your personal weapon.
Also mismatched weapons should be taught. Knife vs
club, club vs knife, and all sorts
of weapons combinations
should be taught. That way
you can improvise with what is
at hand in your environment.
I hope from reading this
you get a good idea that real
personal protection is about
way more than kicking butt. It
is a wholistic discipline that requires research, effort and a lot
of discipline. It is definitely not
simple and there are no shortcuts. However for those interested it is a very rewarding skill
to put the time into acquiring
Keep in mind edged
weapons defense is only a
very small part of what is selfprotection.
To Contact Joel Huncar
Email: arnisador_1@hotmail.com
Phone: (250) 919-7786
Do You Train in a Blade System?
By Nick Stevens
How do you know if
what you’re training really
works with a blade? The purpose of this article is to reveal
the primary attributes that
make a martial art or combatives program a “blade system.” This will allow the reader
to objectively evaluate the
training options available to
them and make educated
decisions about what will
best meet their objectives.
Firearms and blades
are the same in the sense that
they are both used to deliver
a lethal wound that will stop
an aggressive opponent who
is intent on doing you or your
family harm. There should be
no difference in your mindset regarding the severity of
a situation. If you deploy a
firearm or a blade, your intent is to eliminate a threat
that you feel requires deadly
force. You don’t draw a blade
in a fight for any other reason.
The training behind
blade use in combat has to be
striving for a kill shot with every move. If this is not the case,
the curve that you cannot react in time to save yourself.
If you only pick up a
training blade to help your
training partner learn to defend from blade attacks, then
you do not have a developed
curriculum for edged weapon
use. In order to understand
the options a person armed
with a knife has, you must
become proficient with the
attacking side of a blade encounter. If you have never
seen non-linear angles, hand
switches, lines of cutting, halfbeat attacks, etc. then how
can you defend against them?
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then you’re wasting energy
and time in a violent confrontation where your life or the
life of a loved one is on the line.
The first thing we need
to do is define what we mean
when we say a blade system.
A blade system is offensive in
training and in mind set. Every technique in the system
strives for lethal entry on his
opponent. Blade technology
has to come first.
What a blade martial art sys-
tem is not:
You train only how to ‘defend’ against a knife but
never how to use it.
If you spend the majority of your training time
defending against a blade,
you are already on the losing side for several reasons.
Defending by definition denotes that you were
attacked and thus are behind
the curve. You are now trying
to play catch up to someone
trying to kill you.
Since action is always faster than
reaction, repeatedly reacting to
some else’s attacks
makes it only a
matter of time until fall so far behind
You use a blade to immobilize or subdue
If you can cut the arm,
you can cut a vital target
There are systems out there
teaching tendon cutting and
and non-lethal controlling
techniques such as administering wrist locks (?!?) with
a blade. This gets back to
the original premise above,
why are you carrying a blade
if you do not plan to use it
for lethal confrontations?
Using the blade and
gun analogy again, there are
people out there that say you
can shoot to wound with a
gun. You’re right, you can. But
are you willing to put your
life and the life of a love one
on the line because you only
want to shoot to wound and
hope that does the trick? Of
course not. The probability of
success for these non-lethal
moves are low in real world
scenarios. If you are in a situation where you have drawn
either a blade or a firearm
you want the threat neutralized before you or anyone you
care about is harmed. So why
would you try a low probability action such as cutting ten-
don/muscle or putting a wrist
lock while holding a perfectly
good blade on someone in order to save yourself?
Your blade training is the
same as your stick training
In many systems of mar-
Having seen a decent amount of training in my
time in the martial arts, I see
people doing a lot of slashing in their blade systems. The
problem with slashes is that,
with the exception of a few key
should have a thought and
tactic behind it not just a preordered movement pattern.
If in a fight where lethal
force is required there should
be no attempts at arm bars or
take downs. Leg reaps would
tial arts they
have angles
of
attack
which they
use for both
stick
and
knife. There
are several
problems
with using
stick attack
lines with an edged weapon.
The first problem is targeting. Blade targets are very
different than the targets
sought using a stick. If you are
using a stick you are aiming
for bony landmarks to strike to
deliver the most damage such
as hands, elbows, jaw, etc.
With a blade you
are aiming for vital targets
that will cause exsanguination such as carotid arteries, femoral arteries, abdominal aorta and so forth.
Power generation is another consideration. With a
stick you need different body
mechanics to generate the
power required to hurt your
opponent. With a blade, power is not part of the formula.
What you need is speed and
accuracy.
Sticks do not translate to
blade.
Slashy Slash-Slash Slash?
targets of the human body,
they are not fight stoppers.
As you can see from the
pictures above, these are all
slashes from an edged weapon. While the wounds may
look bad, they are relatively superficial in nature and not life
threatening nor would they
have
necessarily stopped
an attacker. If
you have ever
been cut in
a fight, you
know there is
a good chance
the receivers of
these slashes
did not even
know they were cut until after the fight was over.
Slashing should not be
your entire system. Only with
knowledge and understanding of human anatomy can
you know where a slash will
work vs. a thrust. Targets that
are more superficial on the
human body such as the carotid artery would be appropriate to slash for lethal entry.
Every time you move
you should be trying to gain
that lethal entry that will
start the timer on your opponent bleeding out and
ending the fight. Every entry
also not be recommended as
your initial move or entry. If
you are trying to enter with
these then you are inappropriately mixing disciplines. A person trained in a blade system
will always lead with the blade.
The power is in the blade. Use it.
This brings us to the
question: What percentage of
your system is bladed? 10%?
50%? There is a simple test
that I encourage everyone
to try and do. Put a training
blade in each hand and practice your forms/katas/isolations. Try out your techniques
in training this way. If you have
to make changes so you are
not self-cutting then you do
not train in a blade system.
A blade systems technique can always change to
empty hand and back to blade
without modifications while
an empty hand system cannot change to bladed without
modification. The practitioner will end up cutting themselves because
the techniques were not
designed to avoid it.
This is not to say that
other martial arts have
no value; it is to say they
4 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
aren’t blade systems. They may
have blade components in
their systems that have varying degrees of effectiveness,
but as we’ve discussed, this
does not make them blade
systems. You should be able
to trust in your training. Value
what it has taught you but be
able to be honest about what
real world applications you’ve
taken from it. If your system
has only taught you defense,
has taught you techniques
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 5
that that are based on other
Knife Tactical Response
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niques that end in self-cutting or techniques you can only pull
off with a “scarecrow” partner,
your system needs to be modified if proper blade training is
important to you. Any other
training has been a hobby with
little or no real world application in a life or death situation.
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Types of Striking and Cutting: Reality in Combat
By Bram Frank
Basically there are four
striking motions that may occur in any attack: the long arc
stemmed blow, the shortened
arc or stemless blow that is
pulled inward halfway through
the swing, the rap which is a
blow that returns along the
same path it went out and the
thrust or jab.
Presentation
How one strikes or cuts
is vitally important in combat.
If one cannot properly deliver
ones’ strikes or counter strikes,
the results could be disastrous. It is therefore important
to learn HOW to deliver ones
strikes and cuts with maximum
efficiency: ones’ life could hang
in the balance. There are many
instructors who teach blunt
and / or edged weapon usage. Most of them do not understand the body dynamics
to execute proper striking or
cuts. If one doesn’t understand
the conceptual dynamics of
proper striking, one cannot
possibly teach those dynamics to others. Some base their
method of striking on a previous instructor; some base it
on tradition. In Modern Arnis
as in most Filipino martial art,
the way to strike is based on
physical reality and the laws of
physics: two very good overall parameters to work within.
Presentation is important in weapons usage. Not
what one looks like but what
does one present to the opponent. In a combative situation the weapon should be
presented to the opponent
BEFORE anything else happens. WHY? The weapon is
usually held in ones’ hands.
The human hands are our fastest part of our bodies in action and reaction. That’s where
the old adage “the hands are
quicker than the eyes” comes
from, the fact that the hands
are VERY fast. The adage compares the hands to the eye because the eye has incredible
recognition speed of motion
and movement. Think of the
number of times people get
startled by a sudden subtle
movement, one which was
seen out of the corner of ones’
eyes. And the human hand
actually moves quicker than
the eyes can perceive its motion. Add to this the eyes can
be fooled. Because humans
have BI-ocular vision that is
two eyes set apart actually
seeing from different points
of view we get the wondrous
effect of 3-D sight. The down
side is the placement of the
eyes allows for blind spots, actual distortion of physical reality, and perspective misalign-
ment. Which brings one right
back to presentation. How a
weapon is presented can affect the outcome of the combative situation. Presentation
is not how one looks holding
the weapon, nor just putting
the weapon motion first, but
how does the presentation effect what the opponent actually perceives coming at him.
The knockout punch is never
seen but felt. You don’t see the
bullet that kills you. The sword
has returned before the opponent knows it was drawn. Warriors, common people, martial
artists have all heard these or
variations of these statements.
They are used to illustrate
or be morals of stories. They
come from combative reality: with proper presentation
an attack is OVER before it is
even perceived to have begun.
A short digression to
targeting zones is necessary.
In the Abecidario of many systems the #1 angle, a downward
diagonal has come to mean a
downward diagonal aimed at
the neck or the shoulder. With
the coming of Stick- fighting,
the shoulder / collarbone became the appropriate target
of the #1 strike. In the old days
when a bladed weapon was
used, the targeting zone of this
first strike was the EYE zone. If
ones opponent shifted out of
the way, the very next zone in
range was the neck, and if the
evasion went further, last zone
was the shoulder.
Presentation was to attack the
eyes, from an angle that is considered the “blind-zone” of human vision. If the strike actually hits the target zone, then the
whole zone became blind. Human eyes function as one unit.
Poke into one eye and BOTH
eyes close. Poke into one eye,
and BOTH momentarily lose
vision. The eyes rest near the
temporal region of the skull,
a very sensitive, thin part of
the skull that is on the sides of
the head to better protect it.
This region of temple and eye
is exactly where the #1 strike
comes to, generally moving
in a downward diagonal curving motion from back to front.
A blow that was unseen, unperceived, hits the opponent
in the temple region of the
head, stunning the opponent.
The impact of the strike also
hits the eyes, blinding the opponent in the midst of real
combat. There is no question
as to what the result in combat
will be at this point: a disaster
for one, a victory for the other.
This angle is repeated in
many forms of motion. In the
modern era, Bowie fighters, the
last of the great “Bladesmen”
of our time, used a motion
called the back-cut to accomplish the same end. Evasion of
the blow was so slow due to
presentation, lack of perception, that IF the cut “missed”,
immediate disfigurement was
the result. Death usually followed. Swordsmen have used
these motions for hundreds of
years. Over time the translation has been misplaced, but
those that seek the way of the
weapon are rediscovering it.
The
art
of
presentation
has
returned.
To start a strike one
needs to lead with ones hand
or weapon. After the weapon
is on the way to its target, then
the body moves to follow. The
presentation is one of “nothing” then sudden motion and
then realization that the body
is moving as well towards the
target. The hands can fool
the eyes, but the body can’t.
The body has too much mass
to overcome, inertia to initiate movement. Therefore the
hands launch toward the target, almost pulling the body
along with them. Yes, I know
that stepping on the triangle,
body shifting and “setting”
to strike has a great deal of
power. That stepping / shifting/ setting is within the flow
of combat within the conceptual idea of “mobility”. To attack, the hand must lead, and
the body must follow.” Stepping the triangle”, if done in
combative reality actually follows this pattern, hand, footbody, shift…and the strike is
there AS the body shifts its
position and weight. Some
instructors call this explosive action. What it is, is proper combative presentation.
The Lunge in fencing
or sword fighting is a perfect
example of two types of presentation. The first is that the
sword is aimed tip towards
the opponents’ eyes. The presentation of the weapon this
way makes the weapon almost
invisible for it is not within
the perspective focus. It also
is coming upward at a slight
angle from under the nose
area, a blind zone often taken
advantage of by practitioners
of Wing Chun Gung–Fu. (trap
the forward arm with a palm
block, occupy the space, and
deliver a straight blast to the
face). The second presentation is that before there can be
recognition of the attack, the
hand with the weapon has already arrived at the target. The
hand shoots out and pulls the
body along into the lunge position. The weapon makes contact as the foot touches down
in its forward position. What
makes this so unstoppable is
that one perceives the hand
sometimes, the body always,
but one never takes into consideration that the weapon
was at the target LONG before
the hand or the body. One is
stuck as one begins to perceive that an attack was initiated. In terms of combat reality,
it’s disastrous for the attacked
and good for the attacker.
In martial arts systems
most teach a lunge punch. The
standard comment of today
is that learning about a lunge
punch is pointless because no
one in the real world punches
like that. Very true statement.
Only trained people know this
move and very few of them
apply the conceptual usage of
the lunge punch. Since most
people step (robotically), then
punch, (with a punch aimed at
the midsection), the attack was
seen long before it got on its
way. Bruce Lee’s leading finger
jab is an example of the lunge
concept. His finger strike was
unstoppable and is the perfect
example of lunge presentation
one can use. Lee’s fingers were
in ones’ eyes BEFORE one knew
the attack was coming. Lee understood and used the conceptual motions of fencing.
His ready position was a sword
- fighting stance with hands
held as if in an edged weapon
blind zone: slightly angled towards the opponent’s eyes. His
hands’ strike lead up through a
“blind zone” directly to the opponents eyes, followed by his
body. This fencing presentation of not telegraphing ones’
intent has become a mainstay
in Bruce Lee’s art of JKD. Bruce
Lee was into combat reality.
Presentation really works.
The act of striking
The #1 angle strike: “downward diagonal”
Note: Combative range will effect how one strikes an opponent.
The shortest distance
between two points is the
straight line. Therefore one
should move ones’ hands
directly towards ones’ opponent. Even with a weapon in ones hand a straight
line is still a straight line.
Within the plane of that
straight line is a human arm
whose actual motion is dictated by the rule of “form follows
function”. To extend a human
arm, it needs to rotate within
its space from palm up (upper
cut) to palm down, and outward (overhand right).
The position keys in the rotation of a punch:
Striking Key #1 uppercut
(palm up)
Striking Key #2 straight punch
(palm inward)
Striking Key #3 overhand
right (palm down & outward)
These keys describe the
total rotational positions possible for the human arm. The
distance from an opponent determines the natural rotation
of the arm. This can be over
ridden by direct control of the
individual person but in general “form follows function” is
the natural state. The weapon
is an extension of the hand, so
the weapon will follow the motion of the arm and the hand.
Contained within a conceptual
motion, that of a forward strike
following a “straight line” there
are actually several planes of
motion being used. Holding
the weapon in the Striking Key
#1 position, at a natural state,
the weapon itself will be at
a diagonal position at ready.
Simply punching the weapon
hand out, as is, will strike the
opponent with a downward
diagonal blow. The actual total body position is a boxing
or natural fighting stance, feet
shoulder width apart, elbows
in, and hands up.
The
strike
could
be
“punched” outward: with or
without rotation
• with no arm rotation the
butt of the weapon could be
the impact zone
• with no arm rotation the
lower edge of the weapon
can be the impact zone
• with arm rotation the butt
of the weapon could be the
impact zone
• with arm rotation the lower
edge of the weapon could
be the impact zone
• with arm rotation the middle to tip of the weapon can
be the impact zone
• with rotation, the angle of
the strike while still downward diagonal changes at
full rotation from the open
side to the closed side. This
rotation brings with it a forward downward whipping
action to the plane of the
weapon itself.
All of this is without
swinging the arm or body
movement. It is one small part
of the available movement to
actual striking. If rotation of
the body is added, then power from the hips goes into the
strike. Not only is there added
power, but the arc of the strike,
the plane of motion itself is
changed into a shortened arc.
The motion of the hips rotating in a horizontal plane,
(inward toward the target)
moves the forward motion of
the arm into a shortening diagonal response. This is with
no arm rotation but it could
be done with arm rotation as
well. With or without rotation of the arm, the point of
impact on the weapon moves
outward towards the tip of
the stick. The greatest force in
a rotational motion is the outside edge where the object
must move faster to keep up
with the speed of the center
mass. Remember the hips are
rotating horizontally in a small
plane of action. Attached at
the far end is the weapon itself.
With only rotation of the hips
the weapon has increased its
impact force. If the feet pivot
on the balls of the feet, at the
same time the hips rotate (a
6 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
very natural motion) an even
greater force is transmitted to
the weapon for there is now a
whipping effect. When the hips
reach a final point in space, the
weapon hand tries to catch up
to that point. This generates
a great deal of energy that is
applied to the strike. Now, if
one bends ones’ knees slightly
while rotating ones’ hips, dropping ones’ mass as it rotates,
the weapon cuts a downward
rotational shortened whipping
arc into the target. The weapon
is now in a position to catch up
with several rotational forces
that cover a small rotation area
while it must cover a large rotational area. Within that rotation
its’ arc is shortened even more,
causing even greater speed.
The impact of the weapon is
now many times stronger than
if struck by arm strength or hip
rotation alone.
The strike could be swung
outward in an arcing motion:
with or without arm rotation
The image of striking
with a weapon is one of an arcing blow. That is that the weapon itself traces an arc through
the air into and through the
opponent. This arcing strike
comes from a natural position.
Somehow one just reaches out
and the strike finds a way to
cut a circular plane of motion
through the air. The strike is a
downward diagonal strike no
less. This is a fantasy, a conjured
image by those who would ignore “form follows function”.
To enact a downward diagonal
SWINGING strike several things
MUST take place:
• From a natural stance, Striking Key #1, the weapon hand
would have to use a small
downward diagonal circular
motion to get the weapon
into a larger downward diagonal plane of motion. A
forward cocking motion.
• The elbow and the hand
must be raised away from the
body, in a cocked position, allowing the strike to descend
into a downward diagonal
strike. The cocked and ready
position can range from in
front of the body to the side
of the body. Holding ones’
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 7
elbow up, the forearm and
hand up, (perpendicular
to the ground) palm inward, the elbow shoulder
height (upper arm parallel
to the ground), one can
trace an arc from in front
of the body to the side of
the body. Any point in this
zone of arm rotation can
become a downward diagonal swinging strike.
This downward strike
could be done with arm
strength alone. Without arm
rotation causing a cutting
action at the tip of the weapons strike, holding a weapon
out at arms reach by arm
strength alone and swinging
it to cause damage would
take a VERY strong person.
Or one could take a very light
weapon and swing it with
greater speed to try to cause
damage. The weapon itself
mitigates this striking action.
If the weapon is a percussive
weapon such as a stick, there
needs to be great speed and
little weight. If the weapon is
an edged weapon, any contact with the moving edge
will cause damage. Either
way, striking with just the
arm needs strength to insure
good striking. By adding the
same hip rotation as in the
“punching” method of striking, one can increase the
power of the swinging strike.
Arm strength will mean a
great deal less if the hips are
used to generate power. A
swinging strike is definitely designed for an edged
weapon where the circular striking motion would
bring into play the whole
edge of the weapon. An
edge designed to cut flesh.
This circular swinging
motion or stroking, works
fine with an edged weapon
and only causes superficial
damage with a percussive
weapon especially if the
strike is on the middle portion of the percussive weapon. Note: if one strikes with
the very tip of a percussive
weapon in a stroking motion
a great amount of energy
will be transferred to the ob-
ject struck and the movement
of the tip may cause a cutting
action.
Types of strikes
• Punching motion, hand
punches out and doesn’t
return all the way
• Jabbing motion, the hand
punches out and retracts
immediately
• Swinging motion, with
follow through, the hand
completes a swinging arc
• Swinging motion, without
follow through, the hand
swings in an arc and upon
contact retracts
• Swinging motion, with
shortened arc, the hand
swings in an arc and just
before contact pulls the arc
short
• Fanning, the turning or
snapping of the wrist causes
the striking action
• Long Fanning, the turning
of arm at the elbow causes
the striking action
• Thrusting, hitting or cutting with the tip of the
weapon can be used with
punching, jabbing, swinging or fanning.
Note: These strikes are effected
by combative range: how far
away is the opponent?
A full swinging blow for
example will not work in close
range. It is better suited for
long or medium range. Punching strikes are good medium
to close range but lack crispness in long range. Jabbing
motions are best in long to
medium range. This is not arbitrarily decided. Functionality
of ones arms within a certain
range determines what type
of strike will be used. There is
no set distance for everyone
has different length arms. The
idea of range is a conceptual
one and its usage varies with
each individual as needed by
combative realities.
Using the proper tool at
the correct time works
in combative reality. The
most natural response, the
one of combative simplicity usually is the correct one.
Striking is the sum total of the actual strike, stepping, and body rotation. All
work with each other to generate power in a simple way.
A natural way to generate
power in combat that is not
based on fine motor skills.
Stepping, balance, body
rotation are things all humans
have done since they learned
how to walk. These skills are
used daily. Add to these normal skills some knowledge of
striking, again based on natural gross movement and one
has the base of combative
principles for striking. Combative skills that when stress
levels rise and fine motor skills
abandon one, the combative skills remain, gross motor
skills available to save ones’
life.
Counterstriking:
body
torque or hip rotation is
important. Block, Evade, &
Counter
Counterstriking
involves a facet of combat that
striking doesn’t even consider. The biggest variable
in striking is trying to hit the
target. In counterstriking, the
most important variable is
that first, one must survive
the preemptive strike, then
counter the attack, therefore
evasion is paramount. Evasion is the defenders variable.
Evasion is not only body motions but also the stopping of
the incoming attack: blocking.
Blocking in a combative sense
is striking the strike. The strike
might be to the weapon of
the attacker or to the weapons’ hand. There is a big difference between the two and
most teach that one defensive
strike is better than another
is. This is not the case. They
involve different variables;
variables that are mitigated
by the type of weapon itself.
Striking to the weapons’
hand is commonly called “Defanging the snake”. As a strike
is executed, the defender
strikes the attackers’ weapons’
hand ending the confrontation. Depending on the circumstances this is in concept
a great idea. If executed properly this is also a good way to
disarm an attacker. In a spontaneous attack, a true com-
bative situation, one might
not be able to just “reach out
and defang the snake” on the
first motion. Again another
mitigating factor is the weapon itself. If the attacker has a
large edged weapon and the
defender has a blunt weapon,
trying to defang the snake has
the potential for trouble. The
attacker could strike a violent #1 strike at the defender.
As the blunt weapon strikes
the attackers’ weapons’ hand
the momentum might carry
the edged weapon INTO the
defender. The momentum
and the velocity might be
unimpaired. The final result?
The defender hurts the attacker’s weapons’ hand and
after passing through the defenders counter hit, the attacker’s weapon splits open
the defender, sending blood
and guts everywhere. GREAT!
The checking hand, the ultimate safety valve everyone
is silently yelling about was
cut off trying to stop an unimpeded blade. The Art asks
one to do deflection blocks
with an immediate checking
hand. Combative reality asks
that one STOP / block the incoming attack cold, THEN
counter attack. In combat one
CANNOT look up and say, “oh
that’s not supposed to happen! My check hand is supposed to have stopped you!”
If the defender AS
WELL AS the attacker has an
edged weapon the variables
change drastically. The attacker launches a violent #1 strike
at the defender. The defender
immediately counters with a
blocking strike #1 to the attacker’s weapons’ hand. Minimally the attacker loses all of
the flexors in the weapons arm
and control of the weapon:
without working flexors, the
weapon CANNOT stay in the
attacker’s hand. If the weapon
is not lost immediately, then
upon contact with the checking hand the weapon will be
dislodged. Due to blood loss
the attacker is going into
acute shock. Maximum stoppage would be as the defender executes the blocking
strike; the attackers weapons
hand is cut off completely. If
the check hand cannot stop
it, the arm without a hand
can continue with its momentum into the defender safely.
Blocking the strike is
the best combative solution.
Force to force. Stop the action immediately. If the force
becomes too great the block
turns from a force to force
block into a meet the force.
With a meet the force, when
the pressure is too great, one
yields to the force allowing it
to pass but redirecting it as it
goes. Both force to force and
meet the force need evasion
and counterstriking to end
the engagement. Evasion in
combat is moving to the point
of least force: least force within the attackers striking motion. There are many forms of
evasion and in Filipino martial
arts the foundation of evasion
starts with the female triangle.
The female triangle’s point is
into the defender and flares
out from the defender. The
base of the female triangle is
where the attack originates. It
is a leading arrow of the attack
INTO the defender. Basic stepping is stepping along one
of the sides of the triangle to
the point of least pressure: the
best being away from the attack, the other is jamming the
attack as it initiates. Evasion
makes blocking the attack
much easier. It is much harder
to hit what isn’t there.
Counterattacking
is
enhanced by evasion and
blocking
the
attack.
The attacker has a blunt
weapon, a stick and strikes a
#1 strike at the defender who
also has a blunt weapon, a
stick. The defender moves
the weapons’ hand first, and
uses a blocking strike #1 to
stop the attacking strike #1.
As the defender’s hand
moves to block, the defender
steps away from the force yet
closes the gap, by stepping up
right, 45 degrees, up the outside of a female triangle. Using
a force to force block the defender stops the attack while
body shifting inward toward
the attacker and uses the left
hand to check the sticks. Moving the checking hand from
the sticks to the attacker’s
weapons’ hand the defender
prepares to counterstrike.
Variation #1
The defender, whiles holding attacker’s weapons’ hand;
starts to rotate his hips counterclockwise on the balls of
the feet. The defender counterstrikes under the attacker’s
arm with an opening motion,
#4 horizontal strike from the
close side. The defender finishes the rotation of his hips.
The impact of the strike and
the full rotation of the hips coincide. The counterclockwise
torque supplied by the motion of the rotating hips ads
power to the counterstrike.
Variation #2
The defender, whiles holding attacker’s weapons’ hand;
starts to rotate his hips counterclockwise on the balls of
the feet. The defender starts
to counterstrike under the attacker’s arm with an opening
motion, #4 horizontal strike
from the close side. As the
counterstrike is delivered the
defender now rotates on the
balls of his feet clockwise in
the direction of the strike. The
rotation -counter rotation of
the defender’s hips ad power
and speed to the defenders
counterstrike.
Both of these variations could have the defender
counterstrike with just arm
power. It is taught that way in
a lot of schools. To have combat reality one needs to have
hip rotation so that the counterstrike stops the opponent.
Bumping, bruising, or tagging
the opponent in a combative
situation is unacceptable. The
counter must have the potential to stop the opponent and
end the encounter. In attacking or counterattacking the
way one strikes is of vital importance. Striking and counterstriking in a combative
situation must be done with
proper presentation, frame
of mind and power. Ones’ life
could depend on it.
Cutting: using the edge:
Cutting is very different than
striking. Cutting needs to
make use of an edge, a wedge
(double incline plane) shape
that parts the object that the
edge intersects. There are several ways to make use of the
edge AFTER or WITHIN the
striking motion itself. The conceptual motions are the same
but the conceptual usage
changes. Percussive striking
is the culmination of the striking motion whereas cutting
involves another variable for
the striking motion itself may
not make maximum use of
the principle of the edge.
Cutting motions:
Sawing: back and forth slicing
within a spot using the primary
edge:
Sawing is done upon contact
with the opponent’s body.
Adhesion is necessary for contact is NEVER lost between
the knife-edge and the opponent throughout the sawing
motion. Each sawing motion
forward and back has a penetrating angle to it, forcing
the edge to bite deeper with
each stroke. This is no different in concept than using an
actual saw where one tends to
let the blade move back and
forth while pushing forward
through the object being
sawed. Here the blade rocks
its way through the sawing
motion.
Slicing: toe to heel or heel to
toe using the primary edge::
Slicing with a knife is, as it
seems, drawing the edge
along an object to be cut. It is
the most common and natural
of the entire range of cutting
motions and is used with all
edged weapons from swords
to knives. Within the stroking
motion of using a knife, the
heel of the knife, the part of
the blade closest to the guard,
makes contact with the opponent. The force of the striking
motion pulls the knife-edge
from that point of contact, all
along the edge the knife, up to
the toe or the tip of the knife.
A foreshortened arc is generally used to enact this type of
cut.
8 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 9
The reverse of this is Kitchen
cutting or cutting from toe to
heel. Kitchen cutting works
as well to bring the primary
edge into play within the flow
of combat. The slicing motion
of Kitchen cutting is generally
seen with a chef’s knife as one
of a rocking-slicing from the
toe of the knife down to the
heel in a forward motion. It is
an arcing cut that can be used
from point of contact within
the motion of “thrusting”.
Hacking: chopping with the
edge:
Hacking is a short, percussive
chopping motion. It is jab like
in the sense that the blade
makes impact on the opponent and withdraws immediately. It is not chopping like
using an axe where the chop
is used to imbed the blade
into an object and then wiggle it free for the next blow.
However like the effect of a
chopping axe, pieces may be
dislodged from the opponent.
Thrusting: cutting with the tip:
Thrusting with an edged
weapon is commonly mistaken to be the same as stabbing.
Thrusting is the art of engaging the tip or toe of the knife
in a ripping motion. Usually
the motion is an arcing strike
or a direct straight entry that
upon contact rotates into a tip
ripping slice. Deep penetration with the blade is not the
object.
Picking: tip ripping:
Picking is a very specialized
type of cutting where one
combines the act of ripping
with the tip and the hacking
motion. Usually this is done
close range in the reverse grip
position. The point and secondary edge make contact
and the primary edge barely
makes contact before the
blade is with-drawn in preparation for the next strike. Picking is most effective in the reverse grip position.
Stabbing: blade insertions:
Stabbing is the most commonly perceived way of using
an edged weapon. While this
can be deadly, organs feel no
pain and humans are capable
of sustaining multiple stab
wounds and maintaining a
combative ability. One needs
to pierce an organ and cease
its function to be effective.
In stabbing the entry, depth
and size of the weapon matter. No two stabs are the same
in effectiveness. Stabbing can
cause immediate shock when
done or the stabbed victim
might not even know that
stabbing has occurred. Note:
the number one stabbing implement in the world is a common screwdriver. Any sharp
pointed object can become a
‘stabbing’ implement. Any inmate in today’s correction institution can verify this fact!
Back cuts: hacking or slicing
with the secondary edge:
The type of cutting needs a
sharpened back edge. It can
be done with a false edge but
the damage is not as great and
it becomes a percussive blow
rather than a cutting strike.
The secondary edge or clip
can cause considerable damage and its usage peaked with
the American Bowie Knife
Fighters. Bowie fighting’s secret technique was the “Backcut”. The actual usage comes
from swordplay such as the
saber. The motion is a turning or rotating of the wrist to
bring into play the back edge
at the tip of the knife, the clip.
This is a very fast slicing motion. It can become repeating slices very easily. These
repeating slices of a back cut
are generally coming from a
circular motion.
Any of these motions
can be used separately or
strung together. In Conceptual Striking Paterns and Basic
Strikings of Arnis one can see
how to apply these strikes and
cutting motions.
Grandmaster Bram Frank’s Knives and Tools
Grandmaster Bram Frank the Founder
of Common Sense Self Defense/Street
Combat, Inc. (CSSDSC) is not just an empty
hand art. In all ages of mankind warriors
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king. At CSSD-SC they teach conceptual
weapons usage. Unlike traditional empty
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stick teaches empty hand, a one way
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Grandmaster Bram Frank is known
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design of tactical folding knives and lesslethal control tools.
Grandmaster Bram Frank has been
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and service has also won him numerous
awards as a martial arts instructor. For his
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Head of the Soke Councilship has called it the “Most Innovative Weapon of the Millennium.”
Visit the following websites to witness for yourself the excellent: Bram Frank’s Knives, Bram Frank’s
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The Bladed Hand
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This is a documentary about the global impact and current state of Eskrima/Kali/Arnis, otherwise known as
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About ...
Malacañan Palace
Presidential Museum & Library - www.malacanang.gov.ph
The official residence of the President of the Philippines is Malacañan Palace. Situated in the old Manila district of San Miguel, over the 175 odd years that
government has owned the place, the buildings have been remodeled, expanded, demolished and rebuilt, and adjoining lands bought. Most recently, in
1978 to 1979 the Palace itself was drastically remodeled and extensively rebuilt by then First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.
Spanish Colonial Era
The first recorded owner
of the property is Luis Rocha, a
Spaniard in the Galleon trade. The
Rocha property was built of stone,
described as being a relatively
modest country house (although
modern day Rochas say it was not
small and in fact had a ballroom)
with a bath house on the river and
gardens, all enclosed by a stone
fence. The latter was probably a
nipa-roofed and bamboo-enclosed
structure built on the water, where
away from the gaze of passing
boats, the Rochas and their
guests could enjoy the rushing
water while clinging to a rope –
a favorite pastime of the era. It
was one among many weekend
homes of the elite, located in San
Miguel, Paco, and Sta. Ana along
the Pasig river and its tributaries,
easily accessible from Intramuros
and Binondo by boat or carriage
or on horseback. The still standing
“Carriedo House” within the Sta.
Mesa campus of the Polytechnic
University of the Philippines, may
have been one of these weekend
homes.
Palace River front 1890
Luis Rocha sold the
property in 1802 to Colonel
Jose Miguel Fomento of the
Spanish Army. Fomento’s
testamentary executors
in turn sold it to the
government upon his death
in 1825.
The Spanish
Governors General had
lived grandly in Intramuros
since the 17th century in
the Palacio del Gobernador
on the Plaza Mayor (now
Plaza Roma). The “Posesion de
Malacañang” as it was called, was
a country home and temporary
residence of outgoing Governors
General awaiting the next ship to
Spain.
The great earthquake of
June 3, 1863 felled the Palacio in
Intramuros. The Governor General
had to move to Malacañan Palace.
Finding the place too small, a
wooden two-storey building was
added at the back of the original
structure, as well as smaller
buildings for aides, guards and
porters, as well as stables, carriage
sheds and a boat landing for river
borne visitors.
The newly closed Colegio
de Sta. Potenciana was remodelled
into the Palacio Provisional de Sta.
Potenciana, located at the site
where now stands the Philippine
National Red Cross and possibly
the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts Buildings
on General Luna Street. With Sta.
Potenciana ready, the Governor
General moved back to Intramuros
in 1865. Meanwhile, repairs
continued at Malacañan
Palace. Work must have
been just completed when
another earthquake struck,
badly damaging both Sta.
Potenciana and Malacañan
Palace. The Governor
General moved to an office
building on Calle Cabildo in
Intramuros.
Malacañan Palace
was once again repaired and
improved. Its posts
were strengthened,
roof tiles replaced with
corrugated iron sheets,
balconies repaired and
both exterior and interior
beautified. As luck would
have it, no sooner were
these completed when
fresh calamities struck:
a typhoon in October
1872, an earthquake in
December 1872, a fire
buildings, built of wood, with
sliding capiz windows, patios and
azoteas.
Under American Rule
The American Governors
General abandoned the plan
to reconstruct the old Palacio
at Intramuros. Instead, they
continued to improve and enlarge
Malacañan Palace, buying up
more land, reclaiming more of
the Pasig River, raising the ground
level (to keep above flood waters),
changing wood to concrete,
and beautifying the interiors
with hardwood panelling and
magnificent chandeliers.
Palace Facade 1910
In 1920, the Executive
Building was constructed by
Governor General Francis Burton
Harrison. Till then, the Governor
General had to commute daily
to his office at the Ayuntamiento
Building, now still a ruin at one
side of Plaza Roma, by the Manila
Cathedral. Gov. Gen. Leonard
Wood was the last chief executive
to hold office in Intramuros and
the first in Malacañan Palace.
Gov. Gen. Dwight Davis (192932) notably extensively rebuilt
the Palace itself.
Malacañan Palace
during the Commonwealth
Beginning 1935, when
Malacañan Palace 1890s
in February 1873, another fire in
1873 after repairs were completed,
and a bad storm in May 1873.
After that, rebuilding resumed in
earnest, with new wings, azoteas,
rooms, and galleries, over the next
four years (1875-79).
By the time the Americans
took over in 1898, Malacañan
Palace was a rambling Spanish
colonial period complex of
Palace Facade 1940
Manuel L. Quezon moved to
Malacañan Palace as the President
of the Commonwealth, Palace
improvements were continued,
including the construction of the
Social Hall (now Heroes Hall on the
ground floor, intended for dining
and dancing and non-official social
affairs), State Dining Room and
the famous Pasig River facade. It
was then First Lady Doña Aurora
who saw to the construction of a
Palace chapel, which is at the left
of the main entrance, on time for
the 33rd International Eucharistic
Congress in 1937.
Malacañan Palace survived
the Second World War, the only
survivor among the major
government buildings of
Manila. The southwest side of
the Palace, which would have
been the State Dining Room
and its service area, was
damaged by shelling, but the
rest was unscathed.
Malacañan continued
to be the jewel of the still
fashionable district of San
Miguel, spared by the war,
unlike Ermita, Malate and
Paco across the river which
were devastated.
Palace Renovations
In 1972, the Executive
Building was cleared of employees.
Many transferred to the recently
enlarged Administration Building
(now called Mabini Hall). J.P. Laurel
Street (formerly Aviles Street) was
closed to traffic and the Pasig
River dredged. The entire second
floor of the Executive Building was
converted into the large Maharlika
Hall, used for social functions and
official gatherings.
The former servants’
quarters at the West end of the
Palace grounds, abutting the
old San Miguel Brewery which
has since transferred elsewhere,
was remodeled in 1975 into the
Premier Guest House, in time for
the IMF-World Bank Boards of
Governors meeting. The nearby
Arlegui Guest House was built
at the same time.
In 1978-79, the Palace
was expanded, its facades on
all four sides moved forward.
The Presidential quarters were
enlarged on the J.P. Laurel
front, eliminating the small
garden and driveway leading
to the private entrance. A new
dining room and expanded
guest suites were built on the
main entrance front. On the
riverside, a large Ceremonial
10 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Hall was built in place of the
azoteas, veranda and pavilion. A
larger Presidential bedroom was
constructed on the remaining
side, with a disco above, at roof
level. The layout of the old rooms
was retained, although the rooms
themselves were enlarged and
new bedroom suites inserted in
what had been part of the garden.
The old Palace was gutted
almost entirely, not only to meet
the needs of the Presidential family
but also because the buildings
had been weakened by patch up
renovation and repair jobs for a
century.
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 11
The building is now made
of poured concrete, concrete
slabs, steel girders and trusses, all
concealed by elegant hardwood
floors, panels and ceilings. It is fully
bullet proofed and air-conditioned
and has an independent power
supply. Reconstruction was
overseen by Architect Jorge
Ramos and closely supervised by
Mrs. Marcos. It was inaugurated
on May 1, 1979, the Marcos silver
wedding anniversary.
During a fire in 1982 many
irreplaceable mementos in a small
museum located at the ground
floor were lost. Air purification
equipment was installed in 1983.
In both instances, the First Family
lived in the Premiere Guest House.
Modern day Malacañan Palace
The Marcos family bid
Malacañan Palace goodbye in the
evening of February 25, 1986, a
few hours after President Marcos
took his oath for a six-year term
before Chief Justice Ramon
Aquino. Fulfilling a campaign
promise, President Corazon C.
Aquino decided to live in what had
been the Arlegui Guest House and
held office in the Premier Guest
House. Her successor, President
Fidel V. Ramos, also decided to live
in the Arlegui Guest House but
held office in the Palace. President
Joseph Ejercito Estrada remodelled
the Premier Guest House into a
combination residence and office.
In January 2001, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo returned to
the Palace and made it both her
residence and office. President
Benigno S. Aquino III, in 2010,
chose not to reside in the Palace
but in Bahay Pangarap, located
within Malacañang Park, and
holds office in Bonifacio Hall of
Malacañan Palace.
and the pillars removed. The balconies each have seven chandeliers, seven being the lucky number of the Marcoses.
Easily the most outstanding feature of the Reception Hall are the three large Czechoslovakian chandeliers bought in 1937. These have always
been treasured and during the Second World War, were carefully disassembled prism by prism and hidden for safekeeping. They were taken out
and reassembled after the war. Beneath the chandeliers is a massive table made of the finest Philippine hardwoods, a gift to President Quezon from
convicts in gratitude for their Presidential Pardons. The table was a fixture of the Reception Hall from the Quezon to Marcos administrations, when
it became the dining table for the presidential residence used by presidents Aquino and Ramos. It was restored to its traditional place in 2002 and
again in 2011. The Reception Hall also features the official portraits of the Presidents of the Philippines.)
Aguinaldo State Dining Room - This site was where the Americans confined President Emilio Aguinaldo upon his capture in 1901. It was made
into a state dining room in 1935 during the Presidency of Manuel L. Quezon. (This room was the ballroom of the Palace from Spanish times until the
Commonwealth. President Quezon turned it into the State Dining Room in 1935.
The Boix House
Bautista St. (Barbosa) Quiapo, Manila.
Erected: 1895
Rooms inside Malacañan Palace
The palace has two types of rooms of note; there are rooms used for state and ritual functions which are known as state rooms. And there are rooms of
historical significance that have been proclaimed as such. For more information click on the following links:
Historic Rooms in Malacañan Palace, that have significant value to former Presidents
Magsaysay Dining Room - During the Magsaysay Presidency, from 1953-1957, this room was the center of Cabinet activity. (Originally the State
Dining Room during the Spanish era, this became the family living and dining room at the time of the Commonwealth. A special set of furniture,
featuring a unique dining table and portraits of First Ladies, were commissioned for this room. During his presidency, this room was favored by
President Ramon Magsaysay as a location for his Cabinet meetings. The room was named after him in August 31, 2003 by virtue of Proclamation No.
451.)
Garcia Room - President Carlos P. Garcia spent his recreational time in this room; using it as his game room from 1957-1961. (The Garcia Room was
formerly a much smaller room, which led from the old Family Dining Room to the private apartments of the First Family in the North Wing. Enlarged
and enclosed in 1979, it was named after President Carlos P. Garcia in December 17, 2002 by virtue of Proclamation No. 518 in remembrance of the
President who used it as a Game Room during his term.)
Laurel Room - This room was the bedroom of President Jose P. Laurel when he briefly resided in Malacañan Palace before being evacuated to
Baguio towards the end of World War II. (During the years of the Japanese occupation, then President Jose P. Laurel held office in Malacañan Palace
while choosing to stay in his Paco residence. President Laurel used this room as his bedroom when he briefly stayed in the Palace prior to being
evacuated to Baguio. The room that served as the bedroom of President Manuel L. Quezon. Presidents Elpidio Quirino and Ramon Magsaysay both
also used this room as their bedrooms throughout their Presidential stints. American President Dwight D. Eisenhower, resided in this bedroom while
visiting the Philippines in 1960. President Ferdinand E. Marcos, converted this room into his private office.)
Marcos Room - Finished in 1979, these rooms were enlarged in order to serve as the bedroom of the President and Mrs. Marcos toward the end of
his presidency. (In 1965, President and Mrs. Marcos had new bedrooms constructed for themselves. In 1978-79, finding Malacañan Palace decayed
by time and in an advanced state of structural disrepair, the reconstruction of the Palace was ordered. Rebuilt under the supervision of Architect
Jorge Ramos, Malacañan Palace was rebuilt in time to be re-inaugurated for the silver wedding anniversary of President and Mrs. Ferdinand E.
Marcos on May 1, 1979. The renovations included the greatly enlarged bedrooms for President Marcos and a separate windowless suite for Mrs.
Marcos
President Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 464 on September 11, 2003 naming this room after President Marcos, citing its
historic value and connection to President Marcos.)
Macapagal Room - Heavily renovated, this room was the former bedroom of the Macapagal couple when they moved into Malacañan Palace on
January 16, 1962. (This room is located in the North Wing of Malacañan Palace, which was constructed in 1937 to provide additional bedrooms for
the First Family. It was first used by Mrs. Aurora A. Quezon. Then was later occupied by President and Mrs. Sergio Osmena, President and Mrs. Manuel
Roxas, President Elpidio Quirino during his first term, and President and Mrs. Carlos P. Garcia. On January 16, 1962, President and Mrs. Diosdado
Macapagal moved into this room, having spent the first few weeks of his administration commuting morning and afternoon between their private
residence at 108 Laura, San Juan and the Executive Office in Malacañan Palace.
However, during the reconstruction of the Palace from 1978 to 1979, this room was enlarged and greatly changed, although the
location of this room conforms roughly to the old bedroom.
In recognition of President Macapagal’s service to the nation, this room was named the Macapagal Room by virtue of Proclamation No. 478,
signed on September 28, 2003.)
State Rooms in Malacañan Palace, that serve specific state functions
Rizal Ceremonial Hall - This hall was where the death sentence of Dr. Jose Rizal was passed in 1896. It has seen many events and official state
functions throughout the different Philippine administrations. (This room, the largest in the Palace, is used for large dinners and large assemblies,
notably the mass oath takings of public officials and the annual Independence Day Vin d’Honour. Orchestras sometimes play from the minstrels’
galleries at the two ends of the hall.
Three large wood and glass chandeliers illuminate the hall. Carved and installed in 1979 by the famous Juan Flores of Betis, Pampanga, the
chandeliers are masterpieces of Philippine artistry in wood.
The Hall used to be much smaller, built in 1936 where there used to be a smaller courtyard dating back to Spanish times. The Hall was in
effect merely an extension of the Reception Hall. It had a coved ceiling similar to those to those of old Philippine homes, and glass doors opening
to verandas on three sides overlooking the Pasig River and Malacañang Park. The room at the time boasted the largest Czechoslovakian chandelier
in the Palace, purchased in 1937. (since 1979 this has been in Bonifacio Hall) Many an al fresco party was held here, with round tables set on the
azoteas and veranda for dinner and the Ceremonial Hall, doors thrown open, cleared for dancing. This is the hall where Presidents also lie-in-state
during state funerals. The azoteas, verandas and the intimate pavilion in the middle were combined in 1979 into the present enormous hall.
On June 19, 2003, Proclamation No. 407 named this room the Rizal Ceremonial hall in tribute to the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal, whose death
sentence was passed in Malacañan Palace.)
Reception Hall - Featuring the official portraits of Philippine Presidents, the Reception Hall was built during the American Period and underwent
many changes over the years until it was eventually restored in 2011. (This room was the largest of the Palace before the 1979 renovation. It was
created by Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison, who demolished bedrooms to create a spacious area. It was embellished with a vaulted
ceiling and three Czechoslovakian chandeliers by President Quezon and totally rebuilt in 1979. Old photographs show presidents receiving guests
close to the top of the Grand Staircase at New Year’s Day “at home” and other affairs. An elaborate ceiling was installed in the 1930s, carved by noted
sculptor Tampingco who depicted vases of flowers against a lattice background. The Tampingco woodwork, supported by concrete neoclassical
pillars, was curved and in some eyes gave the room a coffin shape. In the 1979 renovation, the Tampingcos were replaced with two facing balconies
Visit Philippines, My Philippines on FaceBook: Click Here
Manila Carnivals
Wallace Field, Manila - 1908-1939
The House of Boix, an architectural and heritage jewel
at the heart of Manila, was constructed 119 years ago by Don
Marciano Teotico. By August 21, 1895 Don Marciano, as what
was the law during those times, submitted to the government
a plan to build a house of strong materials on Barbosa—now
Bautista Street.
Indeed, the strength of the house is still evident, as
seen from the fact that the house, robed with all its neorenaissance majesty and unparalleled intricacy, still manages
to stand like an old monarch in the midst of all the tides of
decades of neglect and urban decadence.
Known for its Bulaklak sa Trellis (Flowers in the Trellis)
style, it is one of the few remaining structures of its kind - a
19th Century residue that continues to implant a sense of awe
on anyone who pass by it.
The house have undergone several renovations when
it was converted into a dormitory. Some say that the late
President Manuel L. Quezon used to be a boarder of this
dormitory during his time in Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
Inheritance issues has prevented the Jesuits in
claiming the house. Thus, it has come into disrepair and
neglect until in 2008 when the 2nd floor of the house was
abandoned. The ground floor is still occupied by more
than 30-40 families, most of them were Muslims. The house
celebrated its 119th year last Aug. 25, 2014.
In the contemporary times, a group of students, young
professionals, and veteran writers have joined together to
form the Kapitbahayan sa Kalye Bautista. The group, small as
it may seem, is engrossed in its conviction to uplift the urban
fabric of the street and revive the house to its former glory.
- simoun (image: Boix House Redux FB page / article excerpts:
John P. Arcilla; Allan Martinez of Kabitbahayan sa Kalye Bautista
(KKB) via axlppi.blogspot.com
The Manila Carnival was a rambunctious annual festival held in Manila
during the early American period up to the time before the Second World War. It
was organized by the American colonial administration to celebrate harmonious
US and Philippine relations. The Carnival also showcased the commerical, industrial
and agricultural progress of the Philippines.
The Manila Carnival season defined the gaiety of Manila during the early
years of the American occupation. Everyone was welcome in the carnival, if one
could pay the entrance fee. Prominent Philippine and American businessmen
served on its organizing committees. They also worked to fund the various aspects
of the Carnival.
The fabled Manila Carnival was first held on February 1908. The carnival’s
original organizer was an American colonial named Captain Langhorne who asked
the Philippine Assembly for 50,000 pesos to build a cockpit, exhibit “half-naked”
Igorot tribesmen and set up curiosities.
Horrified by the plan of the proposed carnival, Governor General James
Smith transformed the planned freak show into a ritual celebrating the PhilippineAmerican progress in the islands. Secretary of Commerce Cameron Forbes took
charge of the preparation and asked 15,000 instead of 50,000 from the Assembly.
He planned to raise another 15,000 by private subscription campaigns such as the
Carnival Queen contest.
The site of the Manila Carnival was the old Wallace Field that was just off the
present Luneta Park.
During those two weeks of carnival, Wallace Field was walled with sawali and given a decorative facade brilliant with lights and adornments.
A variety of shows were presented like circus, vaudevilles, slapstick comedies, and the grand theatrical presentation of Borromeo Lou, the
great impresario of the era. Such stars as Atang dele Rama, Katy dela Cruz, Canuplin, Dionisia Castro, often staged performances that audiences
loved.
The entrance fee range from 50 centavos and up and one can buy at the gate a mask, a horn and a bag of confetti. The children wore a
harlequin, a clown’s costume, or a dunce cap, while the elder ones wore dominoes or similar attractive attires.
The scene was like New Year’s Eve with all the gaiety, laughter and gossips in old Manila circling around. Everyone seemed to be tooting
horns or throwing confettis.
There were five parades during the carnival season:
1. The opening day parade, which was mostly clown and circus.
2. The military parade, mostly Americans and Scouts.
3. The civic educational parade in which the public schools of Manila participated, and wherein each school compete for the best and most original
floats.
4. The business and industrial parade in which the international community participated.
5. The floral parade, which is the highlight parade of the carnival. The parade featured the the competing carnival beauties as well as the newlycrowned Carnival Queen, her consort, and her court.
- simoun (image: 1924 Manila Carnival Entrance; Alex R. Castro via Manila Nostalgia
12 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 13
Past Events
Knife Fighting 101 Workshop
W / Alexander “Guro Alex” Librando
November 16, 2014
2nd Level, Metrolane Complex, 20th Ave. - P.Tuazon Blvd.
Quezon City, Philippines
The one-day workshop was a three-hour intensive
course that concentrated on the famous knife of the
Philippines called ‘Balisong’ (Filipino fan knife or butterfly
knife).
Guro Alex taught the workshop attendees about
familiarization of their weapon, the ‘Balisong’, with
discussion and hands-on demonstration of common knife
grips and their advantages, traditional knife strikes, knife
attack drills, knife vs. knife counter-attack methods, practical
applications, with unarmed defense tactics and scenarios.
Those who attended were awarded workshop
certificates, and were given a palm-sized self-defense tool
called ‘Tuklaw’: a 3-in-1 keychain
(made from recycled materials)
that closely resembled the
beak/ talon of a hawk. The
term ‘Tuklaw’ came from two Filipino words namely ‘TUKa’ (Beak) + ‘LAWin’ (Hawk). The ‘Tuklaw’ is highly useful for CQC
(close-quarter combat) and the user must be familiar with any type of combat boxing. The ‘Tuklaw’ is an innovation of
Guro Alex.
Alexander “Guro Alex” Librando is the current Supreme Chief Instructor, Founder and Master of his own Filipino
martial art (Filipino combat system) called Suntumog Kali.
His martial arts gym is currently located at 2nd Level, Metrolane Complex, 20th Avenue, corner P.Tuazon Blvd.,
Quezon City, Philippines. - Alexander Librando
To request a seminar/ workshop kindly view contact details at: www.suntumogkali.bravesites.com or email us at
selfdefense05@yahoo.com
For Information Contact: Jayson Vicente (+63) (917) 589-4576
Email: jaysonscorpio@yahoo.com.ph
Garitony Nicolas (+63) (921) 499-91499 or (+63) [922] 870-1975 Landline: (+632) 225-2185
Reynaldo Samson (+63) (925) 333-5580
Contact: philippinemartialartshalloffame@yahoo.com.ph
Website: www.facebook.com/PhMAHoF
Sonny Umpad’s Eskrima: The Life and Teachings of a Filipino Martial Arts Master
By George M. Yore
Born with the soul of a warrior, the intellect of a scholar, and a zealot’s devotion to his art,
Maestro Santiago “Sonny” Umpad forged an enduring contribution to the rich and colorful
history of Filipino martial culture. In 1976, after immigrating to the United States, Sonny founded
the school of Visayan Style Corto Kadena & Larga Mano Eskrima—rooted in his training in the
Philippines and tested by a hard and dangerous life on the streets, Sonny’s system was above all
else practical. As Sonny’s reputation as a talented fighter became well-known, he began to crosstrain with masters of other martial arts, including Jesse Glover (Bruce Lee’s first student) and Wally
Jay (founder of Small Circle Jujitsu). One of the most innovative and visionary exponents of the
Filipino arts, Sonny pioneered the concept of “mixed martial arts” long before the term was in use.
Sonny Umpad’s Visayan Eskrima provides an insightful portrayal of Sonny Umpad’s life,
philosophy, and teaching methods, as well as the structural underpinnings of his system.
Instructor George Yore has assembled the writings of six of Sonny’s students (including Wade
Williams, 2012 nominee for the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame) to create a biographic homage
to this remarkable martial artist; basic techniques and applications are also demonstrated,
accompanied by 130 step-by-step photos. Practitioners of Filipino martial arts—as well as
mixed martial artists and security specialists—will find valuable instruction in techniques and
applications, while the thousands of people touched by Sonny’s teachings will gain a new
understanding of this notoriously reclusive master’s life—and how his experiences informed
the development of his system.
Paperback: $12.89
Kindle Edition: $10.48
To Order Throught Amazon - Click Here
Fundraiser Benefiting K9s for Warriors
Sheepdog Kombatives partnered with Spartan Training Armour
December 13, 2014
ROCK Martial Arts
Gainesville, Virginia
All proceeds
raised by the event
were donated to K9s
for Warriors to help
support their mission
to train and partner
service canines with
veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress and/or traumatic brain injury as a result of military service
post 9/11.
The fundraiser attendees participated in a morning session of combative drills followed by an
afternoon of two Reality Based Scenarios utilizing Spartan Training Gear. The Grand Prize raffle winner of a
Spartan Training Armour 3.0 was Tom Saysithideth of Gainesville, Virginia.
A huge thank you goes out to Sheepdog Kombatives, Spartan Training Gear, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dave
Grossman, Kelly McCann a.k.a Jim Grover, Tom “The Blind Dragon” Corboy and Guro Chad Dulin for their
donations to the Fundraiser Raffle. Lastly, thank you to Instructor Heather Judd of ROCK Martial Arts in
Gainesville, Virginia for offering the use of her studio for the fundraising event.
Tom and Matt
For more info on Sheepdog Kombatives
and their course offerings, visit:
sheepdogkombatives.com
For more info on Spartan Training
Gear and their market leading
training equipment, visit: www.
spartantraininggear.com
14 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 15
Karambit Knife and its Applications in Serrada
w/ Master Jon Escudero - LSAIsrael
January 2, 2015
18 Shderot Hahaskala, Tel Aviv Solodoch, Isreal
LSAIsrael conducted its first Kerambit
Seminar to present this highly popular and exotic
blade that has found its way into the arsenal
of the Filipino Martial arts. The event was well
attended with practioners from other groups and martial arts and was very well received.
This seminar is part of LSAIsrael and Jon Escudero - Lightning Combatives, to promote the
Filipino martial arts in this region of the world through a series of seminars featuring different
weapons of the Filipino martial arts. - Jon Escudero
Progressive Arnis Winter Camp 2015!
w/ Guro Chad Bailey
January 16 - 18, 2015
Lake Placid, FLorida
Where to start, where to start…. Wow, just an incredible
weekend of immersion in the arts. Absolutely beautiful Florida
winter weather and pristine view of Lake Placid! First day started
with Ba Duan Gin Qi Gong and Four Direction Tai Ji drawing
energy from nature.
Opened Progressive Arnis with the core foundations of
footwork, strikes zones and counters. This promotes solo training
and a solid framework for progression. Continued with double
stick partner drills exploring single/double Sinawali, Cadena
Sinawali, Abaniko Sinawali, Quintada 8, Updegrove 28, Lacoste
12, Inayan 6, Villabrille 18 and Cacoy 4-12. Lots to remember but
shows the flexibility and creative ways to practice the Sinawali concept. Shifted to classsical Arnis strikes with Ocho ocho, Banda y banda, Rompida,
Abaniko, Redondo, Wetik, Florette and Sungkiti. Added Espada y Daga Crossada and Palis Palis.
The group ended Saturday morning with Tui Na Chinese manual therapy, a welcome break to a grueling episode of training. Resumed
practice with combat Arnis progression emphasizing dynamic fight simulation with Disarm Flow, Sombrada, Laban Laro, Tapi Tapi, De Cadena and
Dekit Surikbut then linking them together for a spontaneous and fun transition of fight sequence.
Guest instructor Jason May showed some Japanese Jiu Jitsu joint lock flow from a one arm push/punch/grab. Whew, what a day. Saturday
night party with a huge bonfire, drum circle and some Push Hands! Sunday morning warm up with Master Dong’s Seven Set Qi Gong and Tai Ji Push
Hand variations. Transitioned into innovative Arnis creating one’s own variations of foundation forms, Entries, Contradas, Carenza and Anyos.
This forces the mindset to break out of that established framework and not get stuck to structure elevating your skill to enhance adaptability
and preparedness to any given situation. Punong Guro Chad Bailey encouraged everybody to come up with their own addition and flavor.
Guest instructor Green Beret Guy Clark briefed the group in trauma and bladed weapons first aid. An important skill for practitioners trained
in inflicting such damages or in emergency situations.
Last but not least, guest instructor Bob Austin shared his knowledge in de Thouars Kuntao Silat with destructive combo strikes breaking
down parts of Djuru Satu. Closed the camp with Returning to the World of Red Dust Circle. Thank you to the guest instructors for spending time
with us and great meeting some new faces as much as seeing old ones. Much gratitude to Tuhon Chad Bailey for systematically laying down the
foundations, guiding us to slow progression and letting us fly to limitless innovation. Until next time Progressive Arnis Family. Pugay!
Wendell
Diamal
Filipino
Martial Arts of Clermont - www.facebook.com/warriorfma
Karambit Orientation Seminar
Punong Lakan Garitony Nicolas with guest resource person Guro Federic Beleno
January 6, 2015
Modern Arnis Mano-Mano Filipino Martial Arts
Unit 204 CK Sy Diamond Building,
156 Libertad St., Pasay City, Philippines
The orientation for the Karambit is applying the
Filipino martial arts system base direct counter attack and
slashing techniques.
The attendees are: Mark Henry de Paz, Clark Henry
de Paz, Earl Ceasar Cuevas, Carlo Duterte, Andre Rainier
Fuggan, Garry Catolico, Christian Joshua Cumal, Rodolfo
Bautista,Margareth Zipagan, Phoebe Digno, Rogelio
Vasquez, Jayme Francisco and Arnold Ramos.
16 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 17
Year 3, #1 - Phoenix FMA Training “Monthly Share”
January 17, 2015
Margaret T. Hance Park
1134 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ.
A slightly cool morning and as the day went it got warmer, good to be in Arizona and not back on the
eastern coast at this time. Anyway a good size group was in attendance and all were ready to learn and train in
something new to add to their knowledge.
First up was Patty Peace who joined in the monthly share while visiting Alessandro Ashanti Bovoso of the
Full Circle ( everythingcomesfullcircle.com ) a regular at the event. She opened the monthly share with a warmup of tonic self-body beating with sticks from the base of the skull to the lower legs.
Next up was Jay Sowell of DTE
( www.dteskrima.com ). He decided
not to start the year off with a
technique but instead he had the
participants pull from their own
tool boxes in an exercise meant to
make one adapt to their situation
as needed. (Example the opponent
attacks using the same attack
multiple times as you the defender
deals with the attack using a weapon
from multiple distances, then deals
with the same attack using a knife or palm stick and finally with no
weapon at all. “Life isn’t fair so it’s prudent to work any attack from
multiple points of distance and weaponization” says DTE Coach Sowell.
Ending the day was Chester D.
Brown Jr. of NavaSticks
(www.navasticks.com ). Chester
discussed and demonstrated on the
concepts of the stick arm which never goes away straight, it stays in a natural posture position for energy transfer
using structure, body shifting and the sit to strike with. The downward forehand strike, Modern Arnis calls a # 1.
The concept is to use our body structure with shifting and sitting at the same time to have explosive power from
a defensive posture and stick position. The idea is not raise and swing the stick arm back to strike a # 1. The idea
is shift your torso up slightly which opens the hip for the downward strike. This technique can be used at long
range, medium range and close range. It’s an easy way to disrupt your opponent’s stance and structure. The other
idea I shared was the stick hand never crosses the belly button or conception line. It weakens the left arm and
right leg. The position of the stick for downward backhand strike or #2 is two inches from the conception line. The
same concept is used for energy transfer - using structure, body shifting and the sit with the strike.
Well for the first get together and share of the year everything went well, of course the regular
participants had a good time seeing others and catching up on how 2014 ended and what was hoped for 2015.
New participants once introduced joined in and became a part of the Arizona monthly share.
nstructors in attendance at the Year3/#1 Phoenix FMA Training session, Jan 17, 2015. - Michael
Butz (organizer), Jeff Latorre, Alessandro Ashanti Bovoso, Patty Peace, Chester D. Brown Jr., Steven
K. Dowd, Russell T. Mackler, Martin Torres and Jay Sowell
If someone would like to share and participate
in an enjoyable session of training and a pot
luck afterwards - check the Facebook group or
Google + community “Phoenix FMA Training”.
Kali Majapahit Workshop
w/ Lila Evrard
January 17, 2015
Martial Art America
120 Front St.
Beaver Dam WI.
Kali Majapahit Seminar with Guro Lila Evrard in USA Wisconsin, great energy and amazing participants with Doble
Baston, Serrada concepts leading to empty hands and Panuntukan in the program of the day. - Lila Evrard
www.kali-majapahit.com
Sayoc Kali Seminar with Tuhon Jimmie Sayoc
January 17, 2015
RiSu Martial Arts Academy, LLC
515 Broad St, Bristol, Connecticut
RiSu Martial Arts Sayoc/AK Training Group at the Sayoc Kali Estela Wilderness Education Fund Charity Seminar.
Thank you for coming and supporting the Estela Wilderness Education Fund at the Sayoc Kali seminar. This event pushed us over the initial
fundraising goal. - Kevin Estela
Coming Soon...all-wood sword & scabbard trainers for Filipino martial arts practitioners
from Talim Trainers.
If you train the bladed aspects of Fthe Filipino martial arts, you need blade trainers, not just
sticks, for your practice. However, if you neglect scabbard use, you’re missing out on an important
part of your training.
Visit: www.TalimTrainers.com
18 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 19
Health and Safety
Just Do It!
By Zena Sultana Babao
Partner Stretches
For Neck And Shoulder Pain
Dr. Mark Wiley
Pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders trouble millions of people
worldwide. These chronic conditions can be caused by traumatic injury, as well as
poor posture while sitting and sleeping. When the head slumps forward, a position
known as forward head posture, or when the head is turned to the side all night
while sleeping, imbalances in the spine and muscles manifest.
When the head is forward of the shoulders, the muscles connecting the
shoulder blade and cervical vertebra, known as the levator scapulae, contract to
keep your head from falling forward too much and pulling you off balance. When the head is kept in a forward
head posture for prolonged periods, the levator develops trigger points (locations of chronic stiffness); it thinks it must always remain tight to
keep you in balance.
When you sleep on your belly or back with your head turned to one side, one side of your neck is being stretched all night, while the
other is held in prolonged contraction. This causes imbalances in the neck and shoulder muscles, leading to irritated nerves and triggered
point pain.
These are things you want to avoid. Chronic pain of any kind undermines your health and takes its toll on quality of life your general
outlook.
To remedy the acute onset of pain or ease a constant nagging discomfort,
many people get massages, see chiropractors and take pain-relieving medications
or anti-inflammatory drugs. In the proper circumstances, these measures are
all good and serve particular needs. However, there is a no-cost, do-it-yourself
approach that does wonders for halting and reducing pain and tightness. Partner
stretching is a great way to bring people together, especially loved ones, while
helping someone in pain feel better.
In today’s video I would like to share with you two simple partner stretches
for neck and shoulder pain. The first comes from Chinese tui-na therapy and is
a method for releasing shoulder trigger points. The second is from thai yoga
massage and is used to stretch the side of the neck and shoulders.
Grab a partner and have fun together to seek relief from pain and stiffness.
Each
stretch only takes 30 seconds and is done a few times. Natural time-saving,
Video - Click Here
pain-relieving fun!
ABANICO Modern Arnis Apps
We have worked hard, but now they are there and available:
The first ABANICO Apps for smartphones and tablets, available for apple products through the Apple Appstore and through the Google store for
Android.
The first apps covers the new Modern Arnis grading program.
The apps are free of charge and you can buy the videos in-app and watch them on your device. The videos in the apps are cheaper than the DVDs.
You can download the videos to your device or you can stream them, whatever you prefer.
This way you have the videos there on your smartphone or tablet during your training. The videos in the app do have menus, so that you can jump
directly to the topics you want to train.
For the future I plan to issue more
apps of my ABANICO videos.
Here re the links to the appstores:
The apps will always be free and
you can buy then the videos you are
Modern Arnis App
interested in.
Apple for IPhone and IPads (IOS7 ist required): Click Here
Also, they will be theme orientated. Like a
Google for Android Smartphones and Tablets: Click Here
JKD app or an Inayan app or a selfdefense
app.
I would be glad if you download
the apps and give me a good rating in the
stores. But I am also happy, if you would
give me a direct feedback, whether you like
them or if you think we can improve the
app.Modern Arnis App?
Dieter KnütteI
Email: dk@abanico.de
Knife and Gun Defense app:
Apple for IPhone and IPads (IOS7 ist required): Click Here
Google for Android Smartphones and Tablets: Click Here
Imagine yourself riding a roller
coaster. There’s that moment of
suspended anticipation while you are at
the very top. Time stops and the heart
races – then comes the thrilling terror
of the drop. Terror and acceleration
collide, and you feel a sense of fear and
uncertainty, followed by exhilaration and joy.
Riding the roller coaster is like joining a speech contest or
speaking in front of a large audience. There is terror before it starts, but
joy often lies at the other side of terror. After you have made it, you are
filled with joy because you have faced one of your greatest fears and
won.
There was a time in my life when I was afraid of public speaking.
The fear I felt is best expressed by Roscoe Drummond, when he said,
“The mind is a wonderful thing – it starts working the minute you
were born, and never stops until you get up to speak in public.” I never
had any fear when speaking one-on-one with anybody because I like
talking to people. But speaking before an audience was a different
matter. My stomach would start acting up as the butterflies inside
struggle to fly out.
One day in 1995, I asked Zig Ziglar, one of my favorite
motivational speakers, how I could make the butterflies fly in
formation. “How can I lose my fear? Or maybe minimize it?” Zig
advised me to join Toastmasters. I took his advice. Off and on, I have
been a member of Toastmasters International for 15 years, and have
achieved the highest rank as a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster).
Competing in speech contests is different. Not only are you
competing with others, you are competing with yourself. When I
compete at the Club level, I think I am good. But when I go to the Area
level, then the Division, and then the District level, I know I’m not good
enough. I feel like I’m out of my element, because English is my second
language. I am harder on myself because I am my own worst critic. In
a speech contest – you win some, you lose some! It’s all part of the
game.
To improve, I started attending seminars, especially the ones
presented by the World Champions of Public Speaking. And I also
attended the International Speech Competitions with contestants from
all over the world. At these seminars and International competitions,
you could pick up and gather great ideas that you could be use. But
you are disqualified from competitions if your speech is not original –
you have to write and deliver your own speech.
I am a dreamer, but I’m also a realist, so I know that although
I want to keep on improving, I will not become a World Champion.
What’s important to me is to improve! It’s a lot easier to do something
if it’s important to you. The book “The Secret” says: “You attract what
you want most.”
I did some inward personal searching to find out what I wanted
to do most. I have done a lot of things in my life: teaching fourth
year high school at my Alma Mater, the University of Nueva Caceres,
in Naga City, Philippines; reporter for the Naga Times newspaper in
Naga City; correspondent for the PNS/PNA (Philippine News Service/
Philippine News Agency) in the Philippines; talk show host and
commentator for an award-winning talk show in the Philippines; Editor
of several Philippine newspapers here in San Diego; Diamond Director
for an MLM corporation; award-winning sales person in Real Estate and
Insurance; and Media Specialist for the Educational Design Group in
Rancho Bernardo.
I enjoyed all the jobs I did! But my passion lies in
communications, which is writing and speaking. That is why at my age
I still write a regular column for both the Asian Journal and the Filipino
martial arts News as well as feature articles and special editions for
the FMA Informative Magazine and two other top-rated International
magazines. Understanding that improvement is 90% of the game, I
continue to read a lot, learn a lot, and travel a lot. You cannot write
something you don’t know about.
Some people think it’s stressful to keep busy by constantly
accepting new mountains to climb, but I believe that if you are not up
to the challenge, life will pass you by! If you don’t keep on climbing or
riding those proverbial mountains and roller coasters, there would be
nothing to reach for. Nothing to stretch to! Age does not matter, and
dreams are without limits. Since it’s never too late to do anything – the
best thing is to just do it!
“Olisi-Baraw” (Stick & Dagger)
Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Cañete
To all Eskrimadors and Stick-fighters,
At last! The Cacoy Doce Pares Headquarters in Cebu City, Philippines is very happy to announce
the release of my father Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Cañete’s long-awaited 5th Book, “Olisi-Baraw”
(Stick & Dagger), a combative form of the old Doce Pares classic form “Espada y Daga”.
The 95 year-old Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Cañete, President and Founder of Cacoy Doce Pares
Eskrima-Eskrido-Pangamot is the last surviving founder of the oldest Eskrima organization “Doce Pares”
founded by his late brothers in Cebu, Philippines in1932.
Furthermore Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Cañete was the first mixed-martial artist in his time
since his training at age 6 under the tutelage of his older brother Supreme Grandmaster Momoy
Canete who trained him in the classic form of Doce Pares Eskrima, Espada y Daga and San Miguel. He
became an amateur boxer in his teens who then pursued further training in various Japanese Martial
Arts such as: Jui-Jitsu, Kodokan Judo, Aikido, Wrestling, Shotokan Karate, Shorin Ryu Karate and lastly
the Chinese Kung Fu.
As a result of his training in various martial arts since age 6 he invented “Eskrido” a combination of
Eskrima, Jui Jitsu and Kodokan Judo among others.
Thank you for your continued support of Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Cañete and his Cacoy
Doce Pares Eskrima-Eskrido-Pangamot system.
Very respectfully yours,
Grandmaster Catherine-Kitty Cañete-Knight
Vice-President for International Affairs
Cacoy Doce Pares World Federation
If interested to purchase it is advisable to find friends who are interested in buying the “Olisi-Baraw” books the cost of the book with Shipping
included, is cheaper. Here are the Prices Per Book (Shipping already included):
Note: Shipping from the Philipines is expensive. Price adjusted for shipping.
1 Book = $95.00 (this includes shipping)
2 Books = $60.00 per Book
5 Books = $43.00 per Book
8 to 25 Books = $35.00 per Book
To place an order to purchase a copy or copies of the book contact:
Catherine-Kitty Canete-Knight through private message on Face Book - Click Here
www.fmatalklive.com
20 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 21
The Goat Locker
Discovering the Filipino Matial Arts
5 Life Lessons I Learned From My Burnout
Papa Goat
By Joy Lim
January 3, 2015 marked my second year in the Filipino martial arts. Unlike the “I breathe-think-talk-doFMA-all- day-long” first anniversary, this one was quiet and reflective. As some of you may know, I got tired of the
Filipino martial arts. Some months back, I burned out bad and needed a time away.
And so, rest from the Filipino martial arts I did.
And you know what? Along the way I realized that, just like in everything else in life, taking a break is not
bad at all. In fact, it has numerous benefits and I learned some valuable life lessons:
1. The world will continue to revolve even without you.
I’m embarrassed to admit it even to myself, but I had that secret pride in my heart and thought that my group wouldn’t be the same
without me: They’d be lonely when I don’t show up for practice. For sure they’ll miss me.
Who was I kidding? They continued to train and enjoy their sessions!
Aside from training, I was also supportive in tournaments. I was active in the behind the scenes work like documentation,
housekeeping, and food preparation. But since I was taking a break, I didn’t help during the latest tournament our group organized. I did go
just to watch. And you know what? They still did well and the tournament was a success.
Note to self: Nobody’s indispensable.
2. Sometimes it takes the insight of others to make you realize a truth
As a substitute for my Filipino martial arts training, I signed up for a full marathon and joined a running group. I’m deep into training
now and I can honestly say that I do like running. But last night, as hubby and I were having our usual after dinner tea, I was a bit surprised
when he said “After your marathon, you should go back to FMA. It’s what you love. You were happier when you were in it.” I was a bit taken
aback because he said it so bluntly. Really? Did it really show?
After some speechless moments, and feeling sort of weird and relieved at the same time, I finally declared, “You’re right, I was happier
when I was in the Filipino martial arts.”
Sometimes you just need to hear it from others.
3. The saying “different strokes for different folks” is true
I met and talked with different athletes – runners, bikers, triathletes, judokas, fencers, archers, and even a few from other Filipino martial
arts styles. All of them are passionate about their sport. One simple question like “Why do you like your sport?” will lead to a long enumeration
of all the good things about it. Sure, FMA is good, and I think it is one of the best martial arts/sports in the world. But that’s for me. What I like
at this point in my life, is the best sport for me. That goes for the others also. We cannot be smug and declare that ours is the best and nothing
else.
4. The right words, said at the right time soothe.
When I told my friends that I was tired of the Filipino martial arts, they did not shake their heads and say, “I knew that would happen…”
Instead they were encouraging and kind:
• It’s ok. Music has intervals between notes
• Life is a constant flow
• Taking physical and mental breaks is good
• Take your time
• Fall in love with the long walk
• Come and spend a few days at my family’s place
• Rest
• I also felt the same way, many times in the past
5. Rest gives you the opportunity to go back to the drawing board
Burning out is a harsh way to learn, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. But sometimes changes in behavior can only happen with
strong shocks to the system. Stepping back gives the opportunity to evaluate habits and attitudes and correct what needs correcting. What
comes out will be clearer and better.
And that, my friends, is a good thing.
Visit: The Blog - The Deadly Dance, By Joy Lim - thedeadlydance.wordpress.com
Way of the Ancient Healer: Sacred Teachings from the Philippine Ancestral Traditions By Virgil Mayor Apostol
After Hollywood screenwriter and script analyst, the late John Sherlock, took the author’s earlier manuscript copy back to his home in Ireland and pored over it, he wrote to the author commenting that he
read the pages with “great interest” but thought the book should take the form of a personal odyssey.
Taking Sherlock’s advise, the author interweaved his captivating healing and spiritual experiences, years
of historical research and collection of photographs, along with information on the roots of healing
from their cultural, shamanic, and spiritual origins. What manifested was his unique magnum opus, Way
of the Ancient Healer, a book that intermeshes esoteric and metaphysical beliefs with scientific explanations of healing practices, based on an indigenous science and culture.
Way of the Ancient Healer provides an overview of the rich tradition of Filipino healing practices, discussing their world influences and role in daily life. Enhanced with over 300 photographs and illustrations, the book gives readers a rare look at modern-day Filipino healing rituals, including personal
examples from author Virgil Apostol’s own experiences with shamanic healing and dream interpretation.
The book begins with an explanation of Apostol’s Filipino lineage and legacy as a healer. After a brief
history of the Philippine archipelago he describes the roots of traditional Filipino healing and spirituality,
and discusses the Indian, Islamic, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and American influences that have impacted the Filipino culture. He presents a thorough description of Filipino shamanic and spiritual practices that have developed from the concept that everything in nature contains a spirit (animism) and
that living in the presence of spirits demands certain protocols and rituals for interacting with them. The
book’s final chapter thoughtfully explores the spiritual tools used in Filipino healing - talismans, amulets,
stones, textiles, and other natural symbols of power.
Published by North Atlantic Books: www.NorthAtlanticBooks.com
Distributed by Random House Distribution Services, to order: www.RandomHouse.com or call (800) 733-3000
Underground Battle - Underground might mean a lot of things; going below ground level or into hiding or
secrecy. It connotes something concealed; clandestine or relating to an organization involved in illegal activity. One
might think that there is something mysterious or negative about the name. In reality, it is an experimental and
outside the contemporary amateur fight event organized by The Goat Locker Gym to promote contact sports. It is
also used a stepping stone or a launch-pad for no-experience amateur prospects or the final training ground for
potential professional, career-fighters.
The Underground Battle was conceptualized after the launch event of The Goat Cage in April of 2013. UGB
1, as it will be popularly known, was held at the premises of the Goat Locker Gym and was an invitation only event
for teams and fighters on May 25, 2013. It was held under closed doors with at least 500 SRO audience with hoots,
shouts and shrieks to exciting fights inside the cage. UGB initially featured Boxing, Muay Thai and MMA and will evolve to something more in the
future. UGB 1 will also be the template for more UGB’s to be held in the future. All UGB’s will have exciting fights, honorariums, meals, medical
support, sexy and amiable round girls and properly documented events.
After a successful holding of UGB 1, fighters and teams couldn’t believe that there was such an event organized for them. Previously,
most amateur events were just held inside a boxing ring and with not much fanfare. No prize money or medical assistance with just a medal
and certificate for the winners and runner-ups. With UGB in the scenario, the fighters were brought to the limelight and at the forefront. Cage
fights were the norm and nothing less was accepted with keeping up with the times. With the motto of ÚGB being here “For The Fighters, By
The Fighters” and to prevent the “Use, Abuse And Exploitation” of the fighters, they were brought to the next level.
During the post-event evaluation of UGB 1, the core at the time, comprised of The Goat Locker Gym’s Head Coach Jefe Ferdie Munsayac
and Dennis Guevara, were inspired to hold another UGB. It was agreed that we have to move to a bigger, more spacious venue. But since it was
already the monsoon season, we were to go out but in for the next one. “Out” meaning to a different venue but “In” meaning it should also be
held indoors. With this in mind, on July 28, 2013, UGB 2 was born. Underground Battle was held inside a multi-level mall with 16 fights
comprised of Boxing, Muay Thai and MMA. The main event happened at 11:30 PM and the video went viral over the net and it was picked up by
Tap.Nap and Snap, TYT Sports, The Fight Nation and Asia MMA. The success of UGB 2 and the clamor for more fights from the fighters
encouraged The Goat Locker Gym to produce more events. We were also established to be a One-Stop-Shop for MMA events.
5 days after Typhoon Haiyan hit central Philippines in November 2013, we felt we were obliged to help in the relief efforts since Metro
Manila was spared from the devastation. In 5 days we were able to secure the venue, the production, fighter match-ups, food and beverages and
everything concerned with the fights. This event, though not an Underground Battle, was dubbed “Fight for Help”. All fighters decided to take a
cut off their honorarium and some even donated the whole amount to the cause. The paying spectators brought loot bags for donation, which
filled up a whole room, and everything else, together with the gate receipts were donated to The Philippine Red Cross. This is part of the CSR of
the gym and the fight promotion.
February 1, 2014 was the date for UGB 3 ”Head-on Collision” and this was held at the Dapitan Sports Complex. Again, the fighters
were able to showcase their skills in Boxing, Muay Thai and MMA to at least a thousand screaming fans. This UGB also featured a fight wherein a
lighter opponent knocked-out a heavier opponent. With fighters coming from Baguio and Bicol, the reach has widened to accommodate more
fighters.
UGB 4 “Beach Battle” will be another first for TGLG as it was the “1st ever Beach Fight in a cage in the whole world”. After tedious search
and beachfront visits, it was decided that it will be held at Skipper’s Beach, Subic on May 9, 2014. The cage was positioned in such a way that
it was 10 feet away from the water’s edge. It was the 1st time for all the fighters to be enjoying and fighting in the same day. An tourist bus was
chartered exclusively to transport most of the fighters from Manila but with some fighters coming also from the north and south of Luzon. In the
morning, the fighters played in the sun, sea and sand of the resort, weighed-in, ate to their hearts content, had their medical checks and went
down to serious business for the fight night once the sun went down. In all, we delivered to the fighters what we promised from the start, a
summer beach fight and everyone went home happy with wide grins on their faces.
UGB 5 “ The Comeback” was a reunion of sorts as it was the anniversary of the mall fight and we returned to Sta. Lucia Mall with a
vengeance to provide quality fights to the fans. This happened July 27, 2014 and by now, we already have a reputation that preceded us. We
had to up the ante and by sure we did. UGB still had the Boxing, Muay Thai and MMA events but we gave the spectators a teaser of what to
expect in the coming events. This was the Filipino martial arts at its finest and this was “Juego Todo Hybrid Fighting System”. JTHFS is
weaponized MMA. Fighters get to choose the weapon of their choice and they will do MMA once they drop their weapons or once they get
disarmed. Most fighters preferred to use sticks but more weapons will be made available to the fighters in succeeding UGB events. We believe
that JTHFS has the potential and the possibility to be an event all on its own. In this particular UGB, we also launched “Pick Your Poison” or “PYP”
for short. This is a brief intermission wherein the round girls will have some interaction with the audience. For P500 or at least $12, the audience
gets to pick the girl of his choice, have his picture taken with him and the round girl performs a submission move on him which is the poison.
Once the fan taps out, there goes his money. This will be for the benefit of the scholars of the gym.
After the successful anniversary fights, we now turned our sights to another first. UGB 6, “Red Light District Mayhem”, was held,
September 27, 2014, Walking District, Angeles, Pampanga. Entertainment was provided to the entertainers. This will be the very 1st fight
event at the red-light district; certainly will not be the last. All around the cage, by the fans, bars with blaring music and neon lights
supplemented the excitement that they were witnessing live. Opening the night was Jefe Ferdie being welcomed by a swarm of UGB round girls
prior to his welcome remarks. 3 Juego Todo fights awed the fans and this was followed by 7 more MMA fights. Boxing and Muay Thai took to the
side to give way for JTHFS. Fighters were billeted in hotels and 2 large tourist buses transported the fighters and their corner back and forth to
Manila.
2 consecutive successful events after, we now have our sights for the next month which was October and our brains started churning to
think of a theme for the next event. So Halloween it was, UGB 7, “Graveyard Battle, 6 Feet Under”, October 24, 2014, by Loyola Memorial
Park, Marikina. Another 1st ever with the horror theme, complete with a zombies, casket, hearse, costumes and deadly fighters. Another 3
JTHFS fights opened the night, followed by the semis of a mini-tournament for the flyweight MMA. This made the crowd wonder if it was over
but another round of MMA was presented. The culmination of the night was the finals of the mini-tournament which stirred the crowd more
into frenzy since the ultimate winner of the finals was a Goat Locker scholar.
The final event for 2014 for The Goat Locker Gym and UGB will be UGB 8, “MMA by the Bay” at the MOA Concert Grounds, Mall of Asia on
November 30, 2014. Again, this is another first for UGB since this was an MMA fight within a car show in cooperation with Ladder Events. What
made it more exciting aside from the explosive Juego Todo and MMA fights
were the hot cars and hot girls. No less than 10 round girls were present
alternating on the chores of holding up the round card and giving the
audience more dose of adrenalin in their system. One FC, Asia’s MMA giant
also had a part in the event since they were our marketing partners and they
sold their tickets in our event and we had some merchandising materials to
share and give-away to the fans courtesy of One FC.
With the fight calendar done and the year almost over, we look back
and enjoy our achievements for 2014. We all step back and give each other a
well-deserved pat on the back for a job well-done. Looking forward to more
1sts and more challenges for UGB in 2015 !
22 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 23
Tid-Bits (Fact, Fiction, Fantasy or Gossip?)
A Karambit for a Neck Knife?
By Darrin
Big Stick Combat (bigstickcombat.com)
Your Childhood May Have Been a Lie: Mayon Volcano Didn’t Bury Cagsawa Church
By Bea Montenegro, GMA News (www.gmanetwork.com)
Contrary to what we learned as school kids, Albay’s famous Cagsawa Church wasn’t buried when Mayon Volcano erupted in 1814, asserts one
Albayanon. And he has the photographs to prove it.
Albayanon novelist Abdon M. Balde, Jr. recently shared photos of Cagsawa church on his timeline, some supposedly dating as far back as
1928.
The photos clearly show the facade of Cagsawa Church still intact in the early 1900’s, despite the widely-held notion that the structure had
been buried under pyroclastic debris a century before.
Balde says that these photos, if authentic, are proof that the
popular notion that Cagsawa church was buried during the 1814
eruption of Mayon volcano is completely false.
He argues that the church may have been destroyed, but it
was not buried.
Facebook user Kurt Zepeda agreed with Balde, pointing out
that eyewitness accounts on the 1814 eruption did not mention
anything about the church being buried.
“The pictures of Cagsawa Church in the 1930s and the intact
bell tower are incontrovertible proofs that the church was not buried
during the 1814 eruption of Mayon Volcano,” Balde said.
Balde also points out that practical photography was
only invented in 1827—well over a decade after Cagsawa Church
was supposedly buried.
Furthermore, Balde notes that Cagsawa Church is over
10km away from Mayon’s crater, far away from the volcano’s 6kmdiameter “danger zone.”
The incontrovertible proofs are before our very eyes.
“Lava never went beyond (the 6km danger zone) and pyroclastic
materials also did not exceed (the zone) except in 1987, when (they) broke into Sto. Domingo,” he said.
Scientists versus Historians? If
Cagsawa was indeed buried by
lava or pyroclastic materials as
described, portrayed and written
in most historical accounts and ...
“Rather than persist in the myth of a buried church we
should tell stories about the town and its people who rose from
these ruins and taught us, Albayanos how to survive and prosper
in the midst of a harsh environment,” Balde asserts.
According to Phivolcs, the “most destructive eruption” of
Mayon on record was on February 1, 1814, when it erupted with
“plinian, pyroclastic flows” and “volcanic lightning and lahar.”
Some 1,200 casualties were reported, and Camalig, Cagsawa,
Budiao, Guinobatan and half of Albay were damaged. - TJD, GMA
News
Video: Click Here
In the video above, Doug
Marcaida –as always– looks deadly
using the karambit in the role of
neck knife. I’m just not convinced
that a concealed karambit is the
way to go for a neck knife.
First off, Doug recognizes
that it is possible to keep the
unique strength of the karambit,
its hook, yet still place the point
in a straight line with th e handle.
Doug designed this feature in his
Fox Dart folding karambit. I really
like this feature, and I believe it’s
an advance in the karambit design.
This straightline point enables the
bearer to execute very powerful
thrusts, using the ring feature of
the karambit to drive the point
home.
But my first problem
is in wearing the neck knife
concealed. I live in Idaho, which
has very permissive weapons
laws, but even in Idaho, carrying
a concealed blade longer than
2 1/2 inches is a crime. If you’re
going to get the permit to carry a
concealed knife, you might as well
carry a concealed gun.
The concealed neck knife
is very slow to draw, because
you must dig it out from
under clothing, perhaps
while under attack. While
you can discreetly check to
see that the knife is under
your shirt, you cannot
discreetly grip the knife in
preparation for an attack,
which would require you
to reach up underneath
your shirt. As Doug shows,
the hand on the chest is a
natural, non-threatening
gesture, which can be used to
surreptitiously grip an openly
carried knife.
Not only is the openly
carried neck knife legal and easy
to draw, but it doesn’t draw the
attention that you think it would.
I’ve committed to openly carrying
a neck knife for at least a year now,
and have never drawn any hostile
comments or looks. The few times
anyone has mentioned it has been
to ask about it or compliment it,
like the bank teller whose husband
was into knives. So, yes, there are
places such as a bank or a public
school (where I work) where it
would not be permissible for you
as an employee to openly carry
a neck knife, but there are many
other situations in which it’s
perfectly okay.
bsc
There are several
advantages to the neck knife,
especially the openly-carried neck
knife that Doug didn’t mention.
1. A Neck Knife Is Accessible to
Either Hand.
If your right hand gets held
or is busy fending off an attacker,
you can still draw with the left
hand.
2. A Neck Knife Is Accessible While
Seated
You may have difficulty
drawing a knife out of
your pocket or from
your hip when seated,
either at a booth or
while driving.
3. A Neck Knife Is More
Direct
A neck knife is
positioned at the high
centerline, meaning
that it travels a very
short distance to
intercept a punch
aimed at your head.
It’s also a very short distance from
my chest to his chest, throat, or
chin. From an openly carried knife
at my chest, I can draw and cut in
the same motion. Couple this with
the short distance, and you have a
very economical, quick response.
For me, another important
criterion for a neck knife is that I
must be able to instantly access
a secure grip with either hand.
While the ring feature of the
karambit allows for more secure
retention and a stronger grip, the
tradeoff is a longer time needed
to secure that grip. Doug can be
seen gripping a ring, pulling down,
rotating the knife down into the
palm, and securing the grip. For
me, there are too many fine motor
movements following lifting up
the shirt, to get to the knife under
stress.
Another layer of complexity
resides in the orientation of the
blade, so I might be able to draw it
with the right hand, but not with
the left.
If you go to the product
page, the DMax Karambit is
available as a pre-order for
$169.00. Although it’s cool and
added value that they’re including
a free aluminum trainer, 169
dollars is a little too steep for me,
especially when I could get several
knives for that price.
Fox DART Folding KarambitI
think the better purchase would
be Doug Marcaida’s Fox DART
folding karambit. Although I’m not
fond of folding knives, I really like
the impact options of the knife in
the folded position. Remember,
you don’t want your only options
to be cutting or stabbing someone
who starts to get pushy over a
dispute about a parking space, or
the drunk guy at the party who
gets too unruly. At $129, it’s also
less expensive. And while I’m not
suggesting you should cut corners
when investing in your protection,
for many of us cost is a necessary
consideration.
I would much rather
discreetly get a hand on the
folding Fox DART in my pocket for
rapid deployment than try to dig
under my shirt to get a grip on a
karambit.
Applied Eskrima Balintawak (Saavedra System)
Module 1: Lessons A - N
Module 1: Lessons O - Z
By Master Virgil Orlanes Cavada
MARPPIO Instructional Video’s and Live Seminar Video’s
Grandmaster Remy A. Presas
Single video’s and sets
To Buy - Click Here
The Applied Eskrima System is part if the larger family of arts that developed
in the Balintawak club in Cebu City during the 1950’s. The Founder of the
Balintawak club Venancio Bacon sought to create better fighters than anywhere
else in Cebu and focused his training and teaching on perfection of the single
weapon fighting methods, (stick, sword and knife) in close quarters.
The Applied Eskrima – Saavedra System is a highly sophisticated, close combat
art which implements impact weapons.
Master Virgil Orlanes Cavada, explains and demonstrates in these DVD’s
starting with the most basic and working up. In learning from these DVD’s one
will overall most definitely improve reflexes, coordination of hand/eye abilities.
Both Modules available in NTSC and PAL formats.
DVD’s can be purchased through the Official Applied Eskrima Global website
store: Click Here
24 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 25
‘Bonifacio’ ‘English Only’ Win Big at 40th MMFF
December 27, 2014
ABS-CBNnews.com
Manila - A biopic that chronicles the life of Andres Bonifacio and a romantic comedy
starring Derek Ramsay and Jennylyn Mercado were the runaway winners at the 40th Metro
Manila Film Festival (MMFF) awards ceremony held on Saturday.
“Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo” took home the Best Picture award, along with
several other awards such as Best Musical Scorer, Best Theme Song, Best Cinematographer,
and Best Sound Engineer.
It was also honored with three special awards, namely Youth’s Choice, Best Float,
and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award.
Meanwhile, Dan Villegas, the director of “English Only, Please,” was named Best
Director. Both the film’s lead stars, Ramsay and Mercado, bagged the top acting honors.
In addition, the film also won 2nd Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Original Story,
and Best Editor.
“Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2” was named 3rd Best Picture. It also won six other
awards, which included Best Supporting roles for Lotlot de Leon and Joey Marquez.
The ER Ejercito-starrer “Magnum Muslim .357” and other entries such “Feng Shui,”
“Shake, Rattle & Roll 14,” and “The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin” also failed to bag a single
award.
“My Big Bossing,” which was said to be one of the top four grossing films of this
year’s MMFF, only managed to score Best Child Performer.
Beyond the Stick and Blade
By Perry Gil S. Mallari - Fight Times Editor
Manila Times - December 27, 2014
and spirituality, medicine and
healing, ancient technologies
(metallurgy, weapons making,
navigation, sea warfare), art
(tattooing, ritual dances), physical
culture, philosophy and of course
history.
Filipino fighting sticks
Contributed Photo
“Danny [Inosanto] came to Parker
[Edmund K. Parker] as a kicking
specialist and by the time he
earned a black belt under the
Kenpo Founder, Parker had infused
his own brand of deceptive hand
work to Danny’s movement
to round him out. One day, he
touched a special cord in Danny
with just a few words: ‘Have you
seen the art of escrima?’
‘Stick fighting,’ Danny replied.
‘No, there’s more.”
(From Dan Inosanto’s book The
Filipino Martial Arts)”
I started my study of the
Filipino martial arts (FMA) in 1989
with the sole aim of learning
how to fight—with weapons and
against weapons. I eventually
got what I wanted but as I delved
deeper into the Filipino martial
arts I learned that there’s so much
more to know.
Looking back, I now see
the Filipino martial arts as a portal
to other fields of knowledge.
Through the Filipino martial arts, I
realized the richness of the history
and culture of the Philippines.
Unlike other martial arts that focus
mainly on combat, the study of
Filipino martial arts offers more to
students who want to learn more
than just fighting skills.|
My exposure to the Filipino
martial arts led me to other areas
of learning among them religion
Kris dagger and balisong knife
Contributed Photo
It has been said that the
Philippines was 400 years in a
convent, or under Spain and 40
years in Hollywood, or under
the United States. Growing up,
I am not unlike most Pinoy kids
afflicted with colonial mentality.
It was always easier for me to
appreciate anything that is foreign
and that was the case even in
my choice of martial arts. Truth
be told, I started my martial arts
journey not with Filipino martial
arts but with traditional Chinese
and Japanese martial arts. But an
internal transformation was bound
to happen the moment I was
introduced to the Filipino martial
arts. I remember browsing
through an old martial arts
magazine and being astonished
to learn that one of Bruce Lee’s
opponent in the movie Game of
Death; Dan Inosanto is a FilipinoAmerican and the art he featured
in the film is Filipino stick
fighting. That article inspired me
to begin my research into the
Filipino martial arts.
Someone somewhere
said that the skills of Arnis,
Escrima and Kali are genetically
ingrained among Filipinos. It’s a
tall claim but seemingly true to
me for I took my study of Filipino
weaponry like a duck to water. The
body mechanics, mentality and
techniques of the art perfectly
matched my physique and psyche.
The art is for me and I am for the
art—it’s claiming my birthright.
The physical training
was just an entry point. I would
discover later on things that would
make me proud of my identity and
heritage as a Filipino.
Contrary to what its
conquerors wanted to portray,
the early inhabitants of the
Philippines were not savages but
were warriors with a sophisticated
civilization.
By ethnicity, I am a
Tagalog-Pampango and I never
felt so proud to discover that
my ancestors were so skilled
in fighting that they fought in
overseas wars as mercenaries.
Tagalog mercenaries participated
in overseas conflicts among them
the local wars initiated by the
exiled Sultan of Malacca against
the Portuguese in 1525. The
Pampangos on the other hand,
the Macabebes in particular were
employed by Spain to fight against
the Chinese pirate Limahong, the
Moros, the Dutch and the British.
But a real standout was
Panday Pira (1483 to 1576).
This Filipino blacksmith and
metallurgist who was credited
for inventing the lantaka (a small
cannon that could be rotated
Hilot is Filipino manual therapy
Contributed Photo
and maneuvered at any angle)
was said to be a resident of Barrio
Capalangan in Pampanga. So
skilled was this Pampango that he
was later hired by the Spaniards to
make cannons for them.
I grew up with an uncle
who practiced hilot, which is
Filipino manual therapy. My
study of the Filipino martial arts
gave me a renewed appreciation
and respect of this healing
art. Examining it through the
perspective of modern mind-body
medicine, I realized that there is
solid science behind hilot and
other Filipino healing arts. But
what is more amazing is that the
early Filipinos knew the dark side
of this skill. Their deep knowledge
of herbology for instance could
be used either to heal or kill. I
discussed this in detail in my
article A Lost Art: Ancient Filipino
Methods of Concocting Poisons.
But the greatest thing
that transpired out of my study
of the Filipino martial arts is
that it gave me a solid sense of
identity. It made me realize that
I came from an honorable race
and that we have something
worthwhile to offer to the world.
Through the Filipino martial
arts I have made a lot of friends
in other countries. It is indeed
heart warming to see how the
study of the humble martial arts
of my country forged friendship
and brotherhood among men of
different races. Despite its brutal
nature, the Filipino martial arts
can indeed be harnessed for
the betterment of the world as
expressed by the following words
of Inosanto: “Hopefully, if people
can appreciate the Filipino
martial arts, they can appreciate
other aspects of Filipino culture.
If they can appreciate the
Filipino culture, it is my hope
that they will appreciate things
in other cultures as well. This
understanding may help to bring
the people of the world closer
and, hopefully someday, they can
live in harmony and peace.”
Cebuano Eskrima
Beyond the Myth
By Ned R. Nepangue, M.D. and Celestino C. Macachor
Cebuano Eskrima: Beyond the Myth boldly unravels with compelling and provocative hypothesis on the
Hispanic origins of the Filipino Martial Arts known as eskrima, arnis and estokada
The authors present prima facie evidence on the fraud of the supposedly precursor art called kali.
A more plausible theory on the origins of eskrima are presented in startling detail from its early beginnings
as a defense against Moro pirates and slave traders and its later fusion with Spanish fencing through the
Jesuit warrior priests during the pivotal years 1635-1644, the height of Spanish rapier fencing in Europe
during the Renaissance.
It also presents a comprehensive chronology on the development of eskrima in Cebu, a meticulous
commentary of Cebuano pioneers and innovators of eskrima and elucidates the pre-eminence of Visayans in
the art of eskrima / arnis / estokada.
As both authors are practitioners of this martial art, technicalities in eskrima never before detailed in other
materials on the subject are carefully discussed in the book.
To Order Visit - Amazon.com
MMFF 2014 Best Picture goes to Bonifacio!
Senkotiros Arnis Videos
(Collectors Editions)
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Lost Years
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Here’s the full list of winners:
Main Competition :
• Best Picture: “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
• 2nd Best Picture: “English Only, Please”
• 3rd Best Picture: “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”
• Best Actor: Derek Ramsay, “English Only, Please”
• Best Actress: Jennylyn Mercado, “English Only, Please”
• Best Director: Dan Villegas, “English Only, Please”
• Best Screenplay: “English Only, Please”
• Best Original Story: “English Only, Please”
• Best Supporting Actress: Lotlot de Leon, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”
• Best Supporting Actor: Joey Marquez, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”
• Best Cinematographer: Carlo Mendoza, “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Best Editor: Marya Ignacio, “English Only, Please”
• Best Sound Engineer: “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Best Child Performer: Ryzza Mae Dizon, “My Big Bossing”
• Best Musical Scorer: “Von de Guzman, “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Best Theme Song: Von de Guzman, “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Best Make-Up Artist: “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”
• Best Visual Effects: “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”
• Best Production Designer: Ericson Navarro, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”
Special Awards:
• FPJ Memorial Award for Excellence: “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Face of the Night: Nadine Lustre
• Youth Choice Film Award: “Bonifacio, Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Best Float: “Bonifacio, Ang Unang Pangulo”
• Special MMFF 40th Year Award: MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino
• Special Commemorative Award: Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada
• Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award: “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”
New Wave:
• New Wave Best Director: Jason Paul Laxamana, “Magkakabaung”
• New Wave Best Picture: “Magkakabaung”
• New Wave Jury Prize: “M: Mother’s Maiden Name”
• New Wave Best Actress: Zsa Zsa Padilla, “M: Mother’s Maiden Name”
• New Wave Best Actor: Allen Dizon, “Magkakabaung”
• New Wave Best Supporting Actress: Gloria Sevilla, “M: Mother’s Maiden Name”
• New Wave Best Supporting Actor: Kristoffer King, “Maratabat”
Filipino Tattoos: Ancient to Modern
By: Lane Wilcken
Tattooing is a very old and spiritually respected art form that has existed in many different cultures around
the world. After many centuries of not being practiced in Europe, tattooing was re-introduced to the
Western world through the inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean. Beginnning in the 16th century, European
explorers came across many people who practiced tattooing as an integral part of their cultures. This is the
first serious study of Filipino tattoos, and it considers early accounts from explorers and Spanish-speaking
writers. The text presents Filipino cultural practices connected with ancestral and spiritual aspects of
tattoo markings, and how they relate to the process and tools used to make the marks. In the Philippine
Islands, tatoos were applied to men and women for many different reasons. It became a form of clothing.
Certain designs recognized manhood and personal accomplishments as well as attractiveness, fertility, and
continuity of the family or village. Facial tattoos occurred on the bravest warriors with names that denoted
particular honor. Through the fascinating text and over 200 images, including color photographs and design
drawings, the deep meanings and importance of these markings becomes apparent.
Available at: Schifferbooks.com and Amazon.com.
26 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 27
My Way to Living a Better Life Through the Martial Arts
Original Title: Guro 2 / 4th Technician - Promotion paper
By Guro Girnie Brown II
Latosa Escrima Concepts / Long Shadow Martial Arts
How
A major part of the how
I teach involves a level of fitness
that I expect of anyone, and
also a level that most people are
currently far below in their daily
lives for their own reasons. Part
of my job is to help them see
the value of achieving even a
minimum level of fitness required
to perform any application in life
and get and stay healthy into old
age.
This is accomplished by
stressing proper structure first
based around my own injuries
/ abilities as students begin to
build their own foundation. The
message transmitted to any
present / future students is simple,
these actions are possible at a high
level of skill with serious injury
present when done in this specific
manner. They are continuously
reminded that by following this
outline of structure they will
be capable of farther reaching
potential with continuous training
and they will begin to move more
like themselves and less like myself
around this foundational concept.
Specifically students do /
will use sticks in the air at various
levels of effort, they are required
to strike stationary heavy bags
for create focused power from
the feet thru the tip of the stick.
Students then are guided in the
use of the Extreme Trainer tools
with sticks & open hands solo and
with another directly opposite of
them to further shorten response
times between strikes and force
rapid balanced footwork. I then
have my people use the Chinese
wall bag, my experience thus
far has shown this to be a most
useful tool in concert with the free
rotation inherent in the Extreme
Trainer with heavy bags thus
developing short power from an
isometric perspective to enable
those with less range of motion
develop stable power and a sense
of confidence only born from
sound application.
The core theme of course
is to condition the students
physically / mentally to be able to
apply even at the beginning levels,
so the information is usable
and not confusing as seems
to be common for many lower
level people. Mind requires
understanding, body requires
repetition.
Why
The why I choose to teach
is certainly very personal to me
as an American, a man, and a
man with physical disabilities. I
was born in 1972 and that time
period was certainly far
different from today, it was just
post Viet Nam and a nation
trying to repair itself from being
torn apart from the inside out.
Men spoke of brotherhood and
seemed at least to mean it,
families actually sat down and ate
with each other. People did things
together and for each other not
because they had something to
gain but because they enjoyed
spending time together rather
than staring at a screen of printed
words. There was an ideal even if it
many cases it was just an idea on
the surface, it was a thing that I as
a young boy clung to desperately.
My very first bit of exposure
to Filipino Martial Arts was an old
man of the Aquino family, my
parents had split up and my
mother was dating Mr. Aquino’s
adopted son. He was a small kind
old man with an old ford truck of
the 30’s era, he lived in a little
trailer park and would let me ride
on the running boards and
squeeze the baffle on the manual
horn mounted at the base of the
wind shield. His son was a hard
man much like my father in many
ways, one night he said something
to his son who told me to follow
him. We went back into the old
man’s bedroom and his son began
carefully taking down folded
clothes off of a box on the upper
shelf in the closet, then he took
the box down more carefully and
almost with a reverence and told
me to follow him again. I followed
him back into the dining room
where again with an air of respect I
had never witnessed from this
man, he set the box down in from
of his father and stepped back
away from the box. The old man
waved me over and then opened
the box that had 2 of the most
stunning blades I had ever seen,
mind you I was maybe 6 at the
time so anything new and cool
was stunning. I asked him what
they were, I knew nothing of
swords or daggers I knew my
mother had kitchen knives I dared
not touch and it stopped there. He
gently set me up in his lap and
told me these where part of the
Martial Art of his home, traditional
Filipino Martial Arts he said. I
already like most every boy of the
time instantly thought and said
like Bruce Lee, he raised an eye
brow and said “in a way”. My
mother of course and his son
where not long for each other and
I do not remember much beyond
that of him as it was an exciting
time in my life for many reasons,
however I have always clung to the
memory kind little old Filipino
Man and his beautiful Kris Blades
he would not let me touch with
my fingers. It was a thing that
became a part of my idea of how
people should interact, his son was
considered dangerous by many
yet spoke to this old man with
respect and it was almost a mirror
my father & Grand-Father’s
relationship. These 2 old men
where tough, dangerous, quiet,
and most of all kind. Their sons
where tough, dangerous, loud
about it, and probably cared in
their own way. Both types where
examples to me I tried to follow at
various times in life for different
reasons, yet it always came back to
wanting what these 2 quiet tough
old men had.
They had respect not born
of fear and it was clear as the sun
on a summer day, I wanted that
kind of presence. This idea first an
foremost has been an ideal I not
only strive for still but also hope to
instill even if a small bit into those
who wish to learn from me.
In present these idea’s or
precepts I address previously tie
into an almost dead concept of
being proud to be an American,
and working to help people willing
to do the work to achieve and thus
creating a tighter weave with in
communities. I truly do wish to try
to make some sort of a difference
in the quality of American the
world sees us, I do not believe as a
general rule people are as unique
over all as we all like to believe.
Human beings inherently are pack
/ herd creatures, and more often
than not people will take on the
behaviors of the social
demographic they are immersed
with in. That being said if certain
actions / behaviors can become
more attractive to emulate than
others a change may begin to
happen. That is after all what
people like to pretend they begin
learning Martial Arts for in the first
place more often than not, thru
the physical work it helps people
to be in that moment and not
allow the mind to wonder with the
various troubles life can present
daily. I have personally found of bit
of genuine personal perspective
can be very enlightening to
people if they are willing to face
the person in the mirror, this of
course includes myself first and
foremost.
My personal present day
life has been one of great personal
sacrifice on many levels. In 2003
my spine was operated on, this
procedure failed horribly leaving
me barely able to move about
without the use of heavy
medication in large doses and a
cane. It was thru through the
Martial path and thoroughly
immersing myself into it that I
found answers, they were and are
not easy answers. They are
however much healthier
physically, mentally, emotionally
than the answers the Doctors
where telling me was to be my
fate. I have a firm understanding of
what it feels like to have
everything you once defined
yourself with swept out from
underneath and feeling as if there
is no hope. I was forced for years to
exist in a state of oblivion, so when
I thought back to my childhood
about these 2 old men of different
back grounds, yet a very similar
presence I realized it was because
of WHO they were not what they
were. I set myself back onto the
Martial Path and began to seek
answers not commonly sought or
offered much in today’s age of
Doctors and Pills. My answers
came from a couple different
things. First was a realization that I
had a few hard choices and
sacrificing to try to find a way out
of the emotional hell of despair
had to be first on my list, which
clearly I have done. Decision made
& action taken. Second was finding
others who would be willing to
take the time to help me and
guide me thru the struggle of my
permanent condition, done &
done. Third was and is the
continuous work even if at a snail’s
crawl to maintain or improve as I
should. This arduous process
showed me that I could if I did it
correctly, and that there were / are
good people in the world willing
to help others willing to work.
Finally having reached this place
thru hard work and dedication, I
can help others who may be in the
same type of emotional / physical
place so that they can as well if
they do the work and stay the
course. Along the way as I show
people the how’s, why’s, and
when’s of Escrima I can work with
who they are and show them how
Martial Principles apply in our daily
lives thru application of principles
/ concepts of perseverance,
patience, focus, mixed in with
some good ol fashion never give in
attitude. I do not believe anyone of
us has all of the answers. I do
however believe the mark of a
good instructor is a person who
can help others to see things
about themselves, and in turn be
more than just an instructor. I
believe such people are TEACHERS
and those are 2 things as similar as
they are vastly different, I work
every day to be the best teacher I
can be for them and in doing so I
am also helping me every day as
well.
I was raised with the idea
that a leader will lead by virtue of
example, the example of course
that I have chosen to be by virtue
of being a teacher is not only of
physical application but of
emotional / spiritual stability. It is
in my mind not as much about
formality, but rather about doing
things for the right and moral
reasons. When I was in my early
years I always thought I was mostly
just learning kicks & punches, etc. I
have found as I passed that and
began leading people myself that I
have an incredible responsibility to
my teachers / teachers, my
Country, my Community, Myself,
and finally but certainly not least
to my Students who watch my
every move and seek to emulate
those actions. Knowing this helps
to keep me focused past the
blockage / problem on the end
goal / solution. By recognizing a
blockage for what it is, it is then
possible to navigate past it. I am
no longer allowed by virtue of my
own choices to be short sighted
and focused only on the
immediate difficulties. This creates
an economy of energy thus
helping me maintain a certain
type of mental longevity, this
comes directly from the
requirements of the position I
currently hold and the approval for
my teacher GM Latosa to move
onto the next level of learning /
understanding. In closing the
message always comes back to the
simple fact that my students are
not only my legacy and in some
ways my responsibility. They are
my countrymen, community
members, and my mirror. Keeping
these concepts in mind daily has
become a good reminder than I
am accountable on many levels to
far more than just myself.
5 concepts of Latosa Escrima
Balance
This is the core concept
around which the other 4 revolve,
in the beginning a student will
only focus on the physical aspect
of balance trying to stay upright
and mobile under duress. This is
not entirely wrong given at the
end of the day falling off of a curb
and getting run over does no one
any good.
Physical Balance and how it
is affected by emotional Balance
Balance is a thing I often
equate directly with emotional
coping skills, and thus is a thing
we all can and should continue
developing unless independently
wealthy and can live in complete
isolation. Physical balance is
required to be able to move fluidly,
apply power while in motion,
and smoothly transition between
giving and receiving pressure with
another under duress.
This is achieved thru
pressure awareness first of oneself
under strict guidance with a
great deal of attention place on
Structure / Geometry / Proper
muscle activation. Teaching
balance in this way also helps the
student slow down their mind and
be in the moment, when a person
can compartmentalize events /
thought processes they tend to be
less affected / over stressed. The
calmer a person is the more able
to make clear decisions, this lack
of stress / tension tend to translate
from the mind to the body
allowing a more even, smooth
capability to transition thus
providing mental and physical
balance we all need not only
Martially but in our everyday lives.
Power
This is a very important
element of Application and
achieved by virtue of proper
structure / body mechanics.
When these elements are applied
diligently it is possible for even the
newest of students to generate
“short power”, it is often thought
that distance is needed to gain
acceleration / speed is required
to generate devastating power
and often this is far from the case.
The use of the correct muscles /
angles at the right time in the right
way focuses the energy not in a
mystical way that is unbelievable,
but in a scientific way that is
PROVABLE by virtue
of results. The idea
of the baseball bat
swing to generate
power is opposite of
controlled “zoning”
used for combat
applications. Zoning
itself is “short power”
in action, this allows
for 100% of the
power to be exerted
to a specific place /
range. This removes
over swinging and
a need to recover
inertia and redirect
energy, this concept
falls into the category of
economical use of energy thus
also creating the ability for
prolonged movement under
duress. Part of the way a student
learns to do this is the use of the
legs to expand / generate power
outward, and to compress / absorb
energy thus controlling the inertia
and maintaining stability / balance
from start to finish. This concept
far exceeds martial Application
for self- defense, in everyday
life things can and sometimes
do happen in the blink of an
eye and we all in that moment
must respond accordingly or risk
possible harm. The variables are as
endless as ones possible exposure
to the world is, it could be as
simple as recovering from tripping
on something to avoid a sprained
ankle to dodging an object
dropped over you. No matter
what scenario is used, a rapid fluid
ability to respond at various levels
is a useful tool / skill for even the
most average of people.
Focus (Offensively / Defensively)
The type of focus
addressed for the Escrima student
is 2 fold. First the chances typically
of facing off with another in
mortal combat is slim unless said
student has a history of poor
decision making, they are Law
Enforcement, a Professional Body
Guard, or Military. With this in
mind first they learn to be in the
moment whatever that moment
may be so that they can give 100%
of their attention to the task at
hand. They learn this obviously
in a safe controlled environment
meant to shield them in that
time from outside distractions,
so they only have the training
to be concerned with. When the
element of combat is introduced
the goal is the person / people
attacking them with intent to do
serious harm. With this concept
in mind the student is guided
carefully to an understanding that
any weapon not powered by gun
powder or a bow string is nothing
more than an extension / range
of the person wielding it. Once a
person begins to understand the
mechanics behind how people
can / do move the weapon takes
on a different emotional affect.
The fear is untrained to remove
the impulse to freeze up, and
is turned into a logical respect
for the potential and the ability
to think clearly in real time. Any
weapon in itself is but another
object that requires the human
body to direct it, that body is the
end goal for every person learning
Escrima. Remove the General’s (the
person attacking) ability to call
out orders to the solders (these
being arms / legs) and direct them
and threat is nullified. Hesitation
and half measures are often at
the root of every failed attempt
of self-defense, thru continuous
training and slowly ramping up
intensity as the student gains skill
the Escrima student can expect
to gain the mental coping skills to
be able to clearly and smoothly
apply what they have learned.
Environmental awareness is
another fundamental aspect of a
person’s ability to remain focused
in real time. The escrima student
is again at a pace they are able
to process taught how to asses
people and the surrounding
environment to better navigate a
given situation to further reduce
chances of injury and increase
the chances of success. Sadly the
world is not a perfectly carpeted
school or smooth hard wood floors
everywhere any of us go. The
world and people are random and
unpredictable at best and we must
make decisions often on the spot
correctly so we can move onto the
next thing without incident. The
best defense is a superior offense,
if you are always ready you never
have to get ready.
Speed / Distance / Timing
Speed is a thing that
many people often think of as
the maximum, this is not nor
should it be the only way speed
is considered. Speed is simply a
way for us to measure how long
it take to get from point A to
point B without incident. So when
speed / distance / timing are to
be considered as a tool to asses
ourselves and an opponent in
unison. Proper timing between a
defensive person and an offensive
person is a matter of navigating
the situation thru proper use of
energy while gauging / calculating
the other person in an instant.
It sounds horribly difficult when
broken down so simply but the
human mind is capable of far more
than most people tend to give
themselves credit for. We all do this
already on a daily bases driving
down the road, it is less about full
speed and more about the proper
use of speed to intercept, deflect,
absorb, etc. incoming pressure
to render our own pressure
successful. The subtle details
95% of the time are the defining
details of the most importance,
students are carefully taught
how to read this in others while
working to hide their own “signals”
to the opponent thru economy
of motion. Using this concept the
risk of overreaching and creating
either a hole to be attacked thru
or a need to redirect to close a
potential hole is greatly reduced.
Intent / emotion is one of the
key factors in calculating speed /
distance/ timing, people will tend
to tense up if even slightly before
striking. Understanding how to
read these signs is priceless
information, the smallest
movement could be entire
paragraph of information about
what is coming next. This concept
will allow the Escrima student to
move correctly even if it is not first
to find / use the proper angle to
exploit a weakness in another’s
defense.
Transition
(Universal Weapons Use)
Latosa Escrima does not
use a large amount of complicated
information, but rather focuses
on ranges and concept of motion
and reading how a person moves.
This reduces the chances of
hesitation as a person tried to
figure out which technique they
are going to use, rather than think
about it the Latosa student learns
to respond to what is coming to
them with a clear mind and fluid
28 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
balanced body. This concept is
the beginning to becoming an
Escrimador in more than name,
the purpose for any Escrimador
is to effectively use whatever is
readily available in the pursuit
of self-defense thru a superior
offense in that moment.
Attitude
Much regarding attitude
and ways of thinking have been
addressed thus far in regards to
being in the moment. The less
mentally tense an Escrimador is,
the less physically tense and easy
to read they will become. Rage,
Fear for instance can create a lack
of control leading to either over
use of force or not enough, both of
which can create large openings
to be attacked thru. As the Latosa
student is taught how to be still
like a calm body of water on the
surface, they are also taught
how to bring the intensity to the
breaking point just beneath it
waiting for the right moment to
release it. This is one of the areas
where many, myself included on
more than a few occasions in life
fail. A single ill-timed release can
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 29
reap devastating effect for the
good or bad depending on when
and how that energy / intent is
released. All of the above topics
are bottomless pools of concept,
at the end of the day it is as much
up to the student as the instructor
to decide just how deeply they
wish to continue going. If there
is 1 thing above all else I have
discovered in regards to guiding
others along the Martial Path it
is this. My job as an Instructor /
Teacher depending on how each
student views me in relation to
themselves is not to force my
expectations of myself on them.
My job is to push them to improve
and seek to improve their own
expectations of themselves so the
change is a lasting one, this will
serve them far better and in doing
so my school and the system that I
work to pass onto them.
When people find a way
to better themselves it is often
their take on that way that they
share with others thus spreading
Escrima like the ripples in a pond
from a single stone.
Group Honors Cacoy
Sun.Star Cebu - December 29, 2014
Supreme Grandmaster Ciriaco
“Cacoy” Cañete, founder and
president of the Cacoy Doce
Pares Eskrima World Federation
(CDPEWF), will be honored by
the Philippine Martial Arts Hall of
Fame in April in Baguio City for his
achievements in the promotion of
Filipino martial arts (FMA) locally
and internationally.
The event will feature the
Modern Arnis Mano-Mano Filipino
Martial Arts.
This would be Cacoy’s
19th induction into the Hall of
Fame since he was first inducted
in 1977. Cacoy also expressed his
excitement about his recently
published fifth book on Filipino
martial arts entitled “The Art
of Olisi-Baraw”, which will be
launched on January 8, 2015.
The 95-year-old Eskrima
legend will also lead the general
membership meeting of the Cacoy
Doce Pares at their headquarters
on C. Padilla St. at 5 p.m. today.
The group will discuss
plans for 2015 and 2016 in their
annual meeting.
Other topics to be
discussed in today’s gathering
will be the 83rd foundation
anniversary of Doce Pares on
January 10, 2015; and the possible
participation of CDP Eskrimadors
in the stick fighting challenge in
Bali, Indonesia. (PR)
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Modern Practice of the Filipino Martial Arts
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The Book contains technical pictures on the
Filipino martial arts of striking, blocking, Sinawali,
Redonda, locking, trapping, Empty hand, knife disarm, Bangkaw, Tying, Espada Y Daga, Drills such as
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Conceptual Modern
Arnis
By Bram Frank
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Some history of Modern
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Escrima – The Filipino Martial Art
By Oniyuri
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Escrima is a popular Filipino
martial art dating back to the
1500s, during the colonization
of the Philippine Islands by
the Spanish. Escrima is a very
simplified but practical form of
combat technique originally
designed as a self-defense tool.
Escrima is also known by many
other names such as Eskrima,
Arnis, Arnis de Mano, Kali and FMA
(Filipino Martial Art). Because of
its effectiveness, Escrima is also
taught extensively in many Special
Forces including the Navy Seals
and Army Special Forces.
Brief History:
Many believe that Escrima
or Filipino martial art originated
from Chinese influenced
Indonesian fighting tactics such
as Kun Tao, Chuan Fa and Tai Chi
double stick forms. Others believe
the Escrima art form to be wholly
developed by the Filipino people.
However, the most plausible
explanation seems to be rooted
in the history of the Spanish
colonization.
When the Spanish
occupied the Philippine Islands,
a form of art similar to Escrima
had already existed but was only
recreational. However, this art
began to develop into a more
martial discipline when the
Spanish prohibited indigenous
Filipino weapons such as the Bolo
(machete), daggers and fighting
sticks in the 1700s. It remained a
clandestine art until the Americans
took over in 1898. From then on,
the Filipino martial art started to
gain recognition and popularity.
In the West, Escrima was
introduced and popularized by
Filipino immigrants after the
Second World War, particularly in
the American states of Hawaii and
California.
Weapons and Footwork
in Escrima:
Unlike other forms of
martial arts, the primary tool
to learn the basic concepts of
Escrima is focus on weaponry,
which is followed by empty-hand
techniques. The Rattan stick is the
most common weapon used in
Escrima training, which includes
hand and head protection when
sparring. Other weapons include
burned and hardened stick made
of hardwood, such as Molave
or Kamagong (ebony). Modern
versions may be made out of
aluminum, other metals, or highimpact plastics. The Nunchaku
(also known as Kung Fu sticks
or Double sticks) weapon was
popularized by actor Bruce Lee, an
avid practitioner of Escrima.
Each range – the distance
between opponents – in Escrima
has its own characteristics and
footwork techniques. Good
footwork enables efficient control
of these ranges. The footwork
is demonstrated in terms of
triangles with two feet occupying
two corners of the triangle and
the step to the third corner. The
shape and size of the triangle
is dependant on the particular
situation.
Escrima Facts:
1. Escrima is mixture of hard (like Karate) and soft (like Tai Chi Ch’uan)
styles.
2. Escrima is taught on ideal street-fighting settings without the need for
uniforms.
3. Restraining techniques are not focused on but rather on offensive,
combat styles.
4. There are no official rankings in Escrima except for titles to recognize
seniority of instructors.
5. Most of the power in Escrima is derived from body movement and
economy of motion, rather than strength.
6. Escrima is a complete martial art, focusing on weaponry and emptyhand techniques.
7. Escrima provides effective training in sparring against multiple
opponents.
30 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 31
Lameco Eskrima; Tried, Tested and Proven...
By: David E. Gould
One of the things that
really distinguishes Lameco
Eskrima from a lot of the other
systems out there is that Punong
Guro Sulite demanded that his
students not only learn, develop,
instill, hone and refine combative
effect based on actual experience,
more importantly he wanted his
students to gain confidence in
our ability to fight by testing and
proving our skills in countless
chaotic sparring sessions and
fighting against both lone and
multiple opponents in random
exchange where we were held
fully accountable for our actions
while fighting and if mistakes were
made then consequences were
attached to those mistakes in the
form of pain and defeat.
He wanted everything
which we trained to be tried,
tested and proven in sparring or
actual fighting as this was the
only way that we knew for a fact
, based not upon speculation
but rather on actual experience,
that what we had trained, our
combative attributes and our over
all capability worked for us when
engaging against random violence
in the streets when we were left
with no other option but to fight
for our lives or possibly die should
we fail in our best attempt to
prevent our opponent from killing
us. Punong Guro Sulite would
often say: “you are your first line
of defense and your last line of
defense and if you can not keep
your opponent from killing you
no one else will”. He would then
comment with: “the last place that
you want to be when you discover
that what you do does not work for
you in your time of need is when
you are on your back looking up
at your opponent in defeat and it
is then up to him whether you will
live or die, as your best attempt
was not good enough to prevent
him from killing you and now it is
his decision and his alone if you
will ever see your family alive again
or not, no one can ever afford to
be found in this position at any
time”. Truer words have never been
spoken as that is a horrific position
in which to be found when it is
not just your life which hangs in
the balance of “what you think
that you can do” and “what you are
actually able to do”, but rather the
lives of your family members and
close friends who may be relying
on you to protect them.
The Martial Arts are
a perishable skill and unless
practiced daily, tested frequently
against resistive training partners
and proven often in sparring or
fighting ones skill will diminish at
worse, maintain at current levels
at best, but it will not increase.
Even in the training phase of your
development it is important to
always push your ability to the
very edge of your potential and
be left there consistently in order
to gauge realistic response
and combative effect, not so
much regarding the things
that you feel comfortable
with but rather regarding
the things that you do
not feel comfortable with.
You are not in a fight until
you want to quit but are
denied that option by your
opponent and are then
forced to continue fighting
against your will and win
or possibly perish. Anytime
that you have a “choice”
to quit it is not a fight but
rather only an altercation, it
only becomes a fight when
you no longer have the choice to
quit but are forced against your
will to continue or be killed as your
opponent imposes his will and
deadly intent on you.
When Punong Guro Sulite
was training me he would often
bring me to the point of total
exhaustion and then he would say
that this was the point where my
training began as it did not matter
how I responded when I was fresh
and full of energy but rather when
I was exhausted and felt that I
could not continue for it would
be at that point that I would be
required to reach down deep and
find the courage and will to live
or give up and allow myself to be
killed. He would often tell me that
when I would be attacked in the
street that it would always be at
my attackers advantage as “he” will
attack “me” when I was least able
to defend myself and when I was
most vulnerable, not when I was at
my strongest and everything was
favorable to me. I will fight on my
attackers schedule, he will not be
fighting on mine, so I was required
to prepare myself to fight when
I was at a disadvantage and to
hone and refine my skills to where
I could turn those disadvantages
into advantages under duress and
pressure of an unexpected attack.
In the words of Grandmaster
Antonio “Tatang” Ilustrisimo:
“there are no surprise attacks only
unaware and unprepared warriors”.
By bringing me to total
exhaustion and failure in my
training Punong Guro Sulite
could then properly evaluate my
combative capability as well as
my resolve, my will to continue
and my combative mindset as we
do not truly know ourselves until
we are faced with total failure and
feel that we can not continue, only
then will we be introduced to who
we are as warriors and what we do
at that point will determine if we
will find the strength to live or give
up and allow ourselves to be killed.
The Hero and the coward face the
same fear, it is what each decides
to do in the face of that fear which
separates one from the other. The
coward will turn and run or find
excuses to justify his reluctant
inability to perform, the hero will
continue forging his way forward
never giving up until he draws
his last breath and fight to the
very end knowing that he may be
facing certain death if he should
fail but others lives may be placed
in peril if he does not continue and
succeed.
As I trained under Punong
Guro Sulite I discovered who I truly
was and in those initial instances
back in 1992 when I first began
my training under his very astute
tutelage I was not proud of what
I discovered as I allowed myself
to give up and accept defeat
without much effort or persuasion
to any degree. As time went by
and I was pushed to failure again
and again I began to realize who
I was as a warrior and I was then
able to transform from Martial
Artist to the Warrior mindset. It
was always about the function
with Punong Guro Sulite and
the result that mattered most to
him, he would often tell me that
if I did not like the result then I
should change the result, not to
make excuses and justify failure.
It took a little time but I did come
to his way of thinking and when
I did I saw a huge improvement
in my combative capability. Now
I could not imagine myself doing
anything different. Under the
tutelage of Punong Guro Sulite I
was totally transformed and the
person who I became and am now
is not the same person who first
entered his home when I initially
became a student of the Lameco
Eskrima System on October 20,
1992.
I have some students today
that remind me so much of myself
when I first began training with PG
Sulite who instead of accepting
the results of their actions will
always look for an excuse to
justify their failures as opposed
to recognizing the root cause
and change the things which
needs to be changed in order to
get a better result. It hurts to be
found inadequate but eventually
we have to look deep inside of
ourselves and change those things
which are holding us back, pride
and ego are solely responsible for
this and once you conquer those
things and yield to combative
truth the transformation can
begin and combative effect can
be instilled and allowed to grow
being verified by your actions. In
the words of Punong Guro Sulite:
“Results matter not excuses. If you
do not like the results that you
get then change the result, do not
accommodate failure by finding
an excuse which falsely justifies
our greatest inadequacies and
nourishes them to grow”.
When I train my students
I allow them to learn but I then
place them in an environment
where they do not feel
comfortable, then I introduce
various degrees of adversity and
challenge them to deal with
uncertainty as much as what is
expected, as the way that they
respond to the “unexpected”
attack is as important if not more
so than how they deal with the
“expected” attack. This places them
at a disadvantage and during this
process they are always expecting
a counter attack and resistance
from their opponent as opposed
to 100% success against every
strike or counter strike which
may be thrown at them from a
very compliant training partner.
As Punong Guro Sulite used to
say: “there are no guarantees in
combat, only opportunities and
either you will perceive and take
advantage of those opportunities
when they reveal themselves to
you at real time speed and power
or you will not and possibly be left
for dead due to your hesitation or
inability to act”.
When I first began to train
under Punong Guro Sulite back in
1992 I already had high ranks in
a few very popular FMA systems
and had trained under some of
the most famous and capable
Masters in the FMA, both in the
States as well as in the Philippines.
At that point you could not tell me
anything about the Filipino Warrior
Arts that I did not think that I had
already known. This all changed
on October 20, 1992 when I first
began my training with Punong
Guro Sulite at his home in Los
Angeles. Without trying he made
me look like a mere beginner and
made me feel like the biggest fool
as for the first time my Instructor did not comply
with everything that I did and he did not extend
his hand out and leave it there for 30 seconds
at a time for me to perform magic, he put me
in gear and threw strikes at me with real time
power and speed and countered everything that
I did allowing me to do absolutely nothing in my
defense. I then realized that for all of the years
that I had trained in the Filipino Warrior Arts
from 1983 until then I had been guilty of living a
life of over confidence and false ego. In less than
5 minutes I literally went from what I considered
to be a “Master” to less than a beginner which
allowed me to make the best decision of my
life in joining the Lameco Eskrima International
Association and becoming a private student of
Punong Guro Edgar G. Sulite. My years following
under his very astute tutelage became an
education and life changing process unto itself
which I had not experienced before then or
since then.
Learning is just the beginning you then
have to try, test and prove your skills against
uncertainty while trying to problem solve
the energy, timing and aggression of an uncooperative opponent in sparring and fighting
in order to best hone and refine your combative
prowess. This process allowed me to become
not a master of mere techniques and redundant
drills but rather a master of the combative
equation itself and more importantly a master
over the darkest recesses of myself and my
emotions. This is why I have dedicated myself
to propagating solely the Lameco Eskrima
System since 1992 and all of its mother arts and
the Masters under whom PG Sulite trained and
credited with its creation. Results matter, not
excuses... Learn... train...fight... teach.... refine...
this is the formula to success regarding what
ever discipline that you train.
Lameco Eskrima (The Legacy of Edgar Sulite)
By David E. Gould
In the art of Eskrima, few names stand out
like the late Edgar Salute’s. He dedicated his life to
mastering the art of Eskrima and put his reputation
on the line, taking challenges for money and honor.
He earned the confidence of a collection of legendary
grandmasters of the day, and earned the mutual
respect of his era’s newest masters. When Sulite came
to the United States he took the country—and then
the world—by storm. In this unique book, Guro David
E. Gould recounts the life, the art and the legacy of
Punong Guro Edgar G. Sulite and his Lameco Eskrima
system. Broken down into 10 distinct chapters, Lameco
Eskrima: The Legacy of Edgar Sulite, presents the
evolution of a fighter and his art, from his early days
in Tacloban City and Ozamis City, through his middle
period in Manila, and finally his later years in the
United States.
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The Use of Licks in Escrima
By Perry Gil S. Mallari - Fight Times Editor
Manila Times - January 3, 2015
In Escrima, Arnis and Kali weapons
fighting, every limb is used in
addition to the stick or knife
that the fighter is wielding. A
description of juego todo (full
contact escrima match using
live sticks and without armor,
practiced in the Philippines as well
as in Filipino farming communities
in Hawaii and California during
the first half of the last century, is
included in Dan Inosanto’s book
The Filipino martial arts, and
it reads, “Escrima stick fighting
matches were full-contact bouts
without the aid of armor, which
resulted in death or permanent
injury to the participants. They
usually used the stick in the right
hand and punched with the left
hand. The use of the elbow, knee
and head were common at close
range combat. Combat grapplinglike techniques [standing or on
the ground] were applied. These
included throws, trips, sweeps,
take downs, chokes, strangulation,
dislocations and locks on the
fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders,
ankles and knees. The feet were
used for kicking at the low level.”
Because of their locations,
it is but logical that hands are used
for hitting the high line area while
the feet are utilized for striking the
low line area. This article will just
focus on the use of kicks in Filipino
The universality of the concept of using kicks in weapons combat is
evident in this illustration from an ancient fencing manual showing the
use of a kicking technique in sword fighting. From the Book “The Martial
Arts Of Renaissance Europe” By Dr. Sydney Anglo..
martial arts weapons fighting.
Sipa, sikad and tadyak are Filipino
words for kick.
The rationale behind
the use of kicks or punches or
whatever other weapon you have
at your disposal in addition to
your stick or knife is simple: the
more weapons you have, the more
advantage you have over your
opponent provided you know how
to use them. In the case of using
kicks, that means your opponent
has an extra pair weapons to worry
about attacking his low line.
Escrima, Arnis and Kali
possess a particular structure and
a kick or any other technique will
only work effectively if they fit
well into that structure. Simple
low kicks blend naturally with
Filipino weapons fighting than
high flamboyant kicks. I have seen
some practitioners integrate high
kicks into their weapons fighting
and while they are impressive
to behold, they may not be very
practical to use in real combat.
My opinion is based on
the fact that in Filipino weapons
fighting, the stick or the knife
is the primary implement for
inflicting damage and everything
else is but an auxiliary tool. In
weapons fighting, it is easy to
understand that human limbs
can rarely compete against the
hardness of wood and steel.
High kicks are longrange tools and are often used
for bridging the gap in empty
hand combat. But if you employ
the same technique in Filipino
weapons fighting, you would be in
32 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
for serious trouble because even
the most mediocre of escrimadors
know that all he has to do is to
meet your kick with the edge or
point of his knife to neutralize
your attack. This is also the reason
why kicking the attacker’s hand
holding the knife, taught in some
martial arts style as practical selfdefense technique, is not at all
practical.
In Filipino weapons
fighting, kicks come into play
when the high line was closed
because the two fighters were in
a clinch or within medium range.
In the clinch range, the best leg
techniques to employ are foot
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 33
stomp to the instep, oblique kick
to the knee (the motion for this
kick is more like stepping on the
knee joint rather than simply
pushing outward), low side kick to
the shin or knee, as well as knee
strike to the sciatic nerve on the
outer thigh or to the groin.
The Thai martial art of
Krabi Krabong blended weapons
fighting and kicking techniques
perfectly. If you’re going to adopt
the Krabi Krabong paradigm, then
you can add the front kick and the
infamous Thai round kick (best
aimed at the sciatic nerve on the
outer thigh or at the rib cage) to
your repertoire. I have observed
that in krabi krabong, the kicks
were inserted in between the
engagements of weapons often at
medium range. The Dog Brothers
produced an instructional material
on the merging of Kali and Krabi
Krabong structures which they
dubbed Los Triques (meaning “the
three Ks,” the initials of the words
Kali and Krabi Krabong would
produce KKK).
Just like in other
techniques of Escrima, Arnis and
Kali, learning kicks should begin
with the achievement of proper
form. Next is the attainment
of the attributes that make a
technique work like power, speed,
accuracy and timing. With these
accomplished, you can proceed on
inserting kicks when training with
your weapons whether solo or
with a partner.
Always bear in mind that
within the context of Filipino
weapons fighting, kicks are just
auxiliary tools used to achieve
the following objectives: to inflict
additional damage, as a distraction
so you can score a hit or as a way
to disengage and create distance.
They are a means to an end rather
than the end in itself.
Women Warriors of FMAs: Karen Callahan
By: Brian Johns
There amre actually 2 parts however the FMA Informative has combined them to make it one whole article.
If you wish to see each part separately:
Karen Callahan, part 1: Click Here
Karen Callahan, part 2: Clcik Here
In looking at YouTube videos of Filipino Martial Arts or a cursory look at Filipino martial
arts events, it is evident, like many martial arts, that males far outnumber females. This is
unfortunate as I have seen a number of incredible female FMA players, both known and
unknown. In this series, I will be writing about a number of them.
Karen Callahan, a phenomenal Modern Arnis player and friend. She was beloved by
many in the Modern Arnis community and has been missed since her untimely death from brain
cancer in February of 2013.
Thank you to Maire Dempsey and John Doreck for their contributions to both part 1 and 2 of this
post.
Karen’s Biography
Karen was born on October
15, 1954. She was the 4th of 5
kids and grew up in the south
suburbs of Chicago. Her interest
in martial arts started as a senior
in college when she was a student
at Florida State University, where
she joined a karate program. When
she graduated from college, she
moved back to the Chicago area.
After exploring a few different
martial arts, she found her first
martial arts home as a student
at Miyuki Miura Kyokushin
Karate dojo. She earned her
2nd degree black belt under
Miyuka Miura. After having two
children, Karen moved back to
the south suburbs of Chicago.
She started to study TKD and
earned a first degree black belt.
She started Modern
Arnis when she was at Ken
Smith’s school. She started in
his Isshinryu Karate classes and
earned a black belt. Sometime
in the mid 1990’s, she started
training in Modern Arnis. She
fell in love with the art and would
follow, along with Master Ken,
Professor Presas around and train
with him as much as possible. If
you have Professor’s Victoria DVDs,
produced in 1998, you can see
Karen in the first couple of DVDs
training with Master Ken and
Professor.
In April of 2006, she took
on teaching her own Modern
Arnis class. While Karen eventually
earned her 4th degree black belt
(Lakan Apat) in Modern Arnis,
she most loved teaching and
spreading Professor’s art. She truly
believed that the highest honor
and achievement any martial
artist can achieve is to pass along
the knowledge and skills to her
students so that they can succeed
in the art.
Karen passed away
February 11, 2013, after a brave
battle against brain cancer. She
fought to the end in true Warrior
fashion.
Maire Dempsey’s
Recollection of Karen
Karen took the most pride
in martial arts as an instructor, and
I was lucky enough to have been
one of the first students in her
Modern Arnis class. When she first
started teaching we would have
“marathon” classes that would
regularly last over three hours. We
would be training hard and having
so much fun that we lost track of
time. She absolutely loved to pass
on the art and she worked so hard
to find effective ways to challenge
her students individually and
collectively to improve skills not
only in martial arts, but also in
life. She wanted each
of her students to be
successful both on and
off the mat, and to be
confident in their skills.
She would remind
her students that a belt test, even
if it was at a camp in front of
Masters and instructors we were
not as familiar with, was just an
opportunity to show what we had
learned. She loved watching her
students show their skills.
As an instructor, Karen created
a family atmosphere. Many
martial artist talk about
friendship and family, but with
Karen it was not just talk. She
emphasized the importance
of everyone in the class
supporting and helping each
other both in class and in life.
All of her students were friends
and truly care about each other.
Karen also loved teaching
because she learned so much
from doing it. As skilled and
knowledgeable as she was in
martial arts, she was always
learning and refining her skills.
Always wanting to expand her
knowledge, Karen started training
in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu just months
before she got sick, at the age of
57. She decided that she wanted
to hone her ground fighting skills.
I actually started the class about
a month before she did and was
telling her how much fun it was.
Karen was sold, as she was never
wanting to miss out on great
training or fun times. By the time
Karen got sick, the two of us were
training in different martial arts
Video: Click Here
together 4 nights a week.
Although Karen was always the
“student” longing to learn, she
was also confident in her skills as
an instructor. She never felt the
need to show off in front a class.
She hated the formalities of titles
like “Sensei” or “Guru” and actually
forbid her students from calling
her by a title. It was her refusal
to respond to such titles that
eventually led to her nickname,
“Coach”. The nickname was quickly
used by everyone at the dojo,
including other instructors.
Despite her lack of formalities,
Karen commanded respect on the
mat. She just did not use words or
rules to do so. She loved teaching
and it showed. Her students saw
her skills as an instructor in the
manner she so easily passed
along her knowledge. She was so
dedicated to each of her students.
As a result, her students were
honored to be learning from her,
and would have done anything
for “Coach”. Her classes were full of
hard training, mixed in with a lot of
laughter and fun.
On occasion, someone in
the class, often a new student,
would act “bucky” as she called
it. It would start with a subtle
challenge to Karen’s authority
or her skills. Sometimes this was
done intentionally, but often it
was subconscious. Those of us
that had been in the class for a
while would watch what was
going on and start to panic a bit,
as we would know where it was
heading….center locks!! Karen
would take command of the class
by cranking the hell out of our
wrists, especially whoever foolishly
challenged Karen.
As a woman in martial arts,
Karen had to deal with a lot to be
taken seriously. She trained hard
and hated it whenever she felt a
male training partner was “taking
it easy on her”. She was well aware
that women in martial arts have
to work hard and be tough to be
taken seriously. Karen demanded
the same amount of physical and
mental toughness from other
females. At the same time, she was
the biggest supporters of females
in martial arts. She would not
tolerate anyone underestimating
or disrespecting any female
martial artist’s skills.
Helping women realize
their own potential was very
important to Karen. Therefore, in
addition to teaching Modern Arnis,
Karen also taught women’s selfdefense classes. She held classes at
various schools in the Chicagoland
area. She also was a founding
member of a charity called “One
Light”, and with that charity she
traveled to Kenya to teach young
girls self-defense.
With Coach’s passing,
we lost not only our instructor
and leader, but our dear friend.
She is in our hearts always, and
continues to inspire us all to
continue training hard and to
remember to find the humor in
life.
John Doreck’s
Memories of Karen
The first story to come
to mind was the first time I met
Karen. We were at a Winter Modern
Arnis camp at Rice University in
Houston. I had heard about the
girl from Chicago and was told she
was pretty talented. We had been
training in Arnis for about the
same amount of time. You could
see from meeting her that she
carried herself with confidence,
and watching her train, she
moved really well. So, after our
introductions, she and I decided to
train together.
I have always considered
women martial artist to be equal
to men, all things considered.
Nonetheless, I consider myself a
southern gentleman. So, when we
started to train, we were working
the 1, 2, 5,12 drill. I decided that
I wouldn’t push real hard. That
was a BIG mistake. She started
pushing harder each time and I
got to thinking that I better drive
harder. You could see the writing
on the wall and the training just
continued to escalate. Now I
consider myself relatively strong,
but unless I was on my game she
was able to push me around, so I
had to go faster and harder and
really use footwork. My Modern
Arnis friends including Mark
Koehler, Earl Tullis, D.J. Wallace,
and a few others were there. In
my mind I couldn’t let them see
this girl from Chicago push me
around, so I had to go harder! We
trained most of the day together
and afterwards I was talking to her
and she said she thought I was
challenging her! The crazy thing
was that she started the escalation
and the whole time thought I was
the one doing it. Even with that
miscommunication, she and I hit
it off very well and never missed
an opportunity to train together
throughout the years. We laughed
about that day for many years
afterward.
One of the many
things about Karen that I
always admired was her
love and dedication to
her students. Karen was
an excellent instructor
and her students were her
first priority. I saw many
times where she put her
students needs above her
own. She would have her
students backs and was a
wonderful role model for
them. I was lucky enough
to come up and train with them
and taught a few seminars, Her
students are very proficient and
have her love for the art. Karen
would make sure they could flow,
which was one of Karen’s many
talents.
When I first started training in
Arnis it was under Professor Presas
at camps around the country. We
were fortunate enough to have
him come down and stay with my
instructor Al Garza for a couple
weeks at a time.
But we needed someone to train
with when he wasn’t around, so
we started training with Dr. Randi
Schea. Dr. Schea focused on locks
and strikes and finishing the fight
quickly. Master Ken Smith was
Karen’s instructor at the time and
they had beautiful flow and strong
Tapi-Tapi techniques. I wanted to
be able to flow like they did and
Karen liked our striking and locks.
Since she and I trained together
as much as we could we shared
techniques, but, in all honesty, I
benefited much more than she
did. She could already strike
and she knew the locks, but she
more than anyone else taught
me to flow. My Tapi-Tapi became
much better with her patience
and instruction. I will tell anyone
that Karen is the reason I feel
comfortable with Tapi-tapi.
The Arnis world lost an
amazing Martial Artist when we
lost Karen, but her legacy will live
on in her students.
My Recollection of Karen
I first met Karen at the
1999 Michigan Camp and was
struck by her confidence and her
knowledge of the art. I thought to
myself “Wow, look at that Amazon
Woman!” Little did I know until
years later, that she hated that
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nickname but it fit her perfectly.
She was tall (5’11”), was very fit,
moved aggressively and had great
footwork. Like John Doreck, I took
advantage of any opportunity
to train with her. I learned very
quickly that you had better be on
your game when training with
Karen or I would be pushed all
over the place. She would tell me
and others “if you go hard, I’ll go
hard.” Some didn’t listen and paid
for it. Often we would spend time
trying to figure out and work our
way through techniques we had
not seen before. One such time led
to an embarrassing moment for
me. She never let me forget it, just
loving watch my face turn beet
red.
We were at a Michigan
camp. One of the Masters of Tapi
Tapi was teaching a technique and
after demonstrating it, told us to
practice it. I paired up with Karen.
We were both somewhat confused
about the technique being taught.
So we worked our way through it,
not entirely sure if we had it right.
The instructor called the
group back as it was evident
that most of the attendees were
confused about this technique.
Karen was standing behind me
while the instructor broke down
the technique. To backtrack a bit,
Karen’s version of a “high five” was
polite and somewhat demure and
done at shoulder level. It was as if
she was almost embarrassed to be
high fiving.
When it became evident
that Karen and I had, indeed,
understood the technique
correctly, I was happy for both of
us. I turned around to “high five”
her, thinking that she was doing to
do the same. Instead I high five her
right on her chest. I stood there in
horror and with my face turning
beet red. Karen knew right away it
was an accident but exclaimed “Oh
my god, you grabbed my boob!”
laughing at the situation. My face
turned even more red. She never
let me live this down for a long
time afterwards, enjoying seeing
me blush big time. That sense of
humour as well as her martial skill
endeared her to many of us.
She was a phenomenal
martial artist as well as an
incredible human being. She’ll
be sorely missed by many of her
friends.
Bamboo Spirit Martial Arts
bamboospiritmartialarts.com
34 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 35
definitelyfilipino.com/blog
How to Identify a Filipino
Is it easy for others to
identify you as Filipino or Filipina
merely by name or physical
features? If you’re not Filipino and
you came to this page to get help
on how to spot one in a crowd,
then read on.
So many times, I’ve been
mistakenly recognized as Mexican
or Russian more than a Filipino.
I live in California, the state with
the largest population of Filipino
minority in the United States, yet
it doesn’t come easy for others
(even me) to spot a Filipino just by
looking at them alone.
Like many Filipinos, I have
Spanish first name and last name.
But when I married my husband,
I adopted his Russian last name.
When I migrated to California,
I didn’t think I will encounter
situations when people couldn’t
tell my correct ethnicity, unless
I specifically said it or wrote my
“race” into the forms I filled up.
By my name, others expect me to
be either Mexican or Russian, and
by looks they think I’m Mexican.
There are only few occasions
when someone was able to guess
correctly that I’m Filipina.
I asked myself “Why is that?
Is it really that hard to determine
I’m Filipino?” I’m short, have semiflat nose, dark hair, dark eyes,
light-brown skin…” And then I
realized “Wait, what on earth made
me think being short, with flat
nose, dark hair/eyes, and brown
skins alone qualify me as Filipino?”
Other people from Southeast
Asia share similar features, and
there are thousand Filipinas out
there who don’t even resemble
the description I mentioned. You
could mistake a Filipino-Chinese
as native from China or a Hispanic
Filipina from Mexico.
Photo by: lemuelinchrist
So how exactly can you
tell someone is of Filipino descent
by physical appearance? To me,
this question is hard to answer
because Filipinos have become
diversified over the years. The
Filipino race has become so mixed
that by looks alone, you’ll have
a hard time distinguishing them
from the rest.
However, I believe it is
much easier to identify a Filipino
by their habits and mannerisms,
for these usually stand out.
I once read an article about
a Filipina living in United States
who is uncomfortable around
Filipinos because of the way they
size people up—by staring. She
mentioned that she can tell them
apart from the crowd because
they always stare at someone they
suspect to be fellow Filipinos.
Below is a list of 20
qualities, habits, and mannerisms
that typically describe a Filipino.
I compiled this list based on my
personal observations. See if you
can identify to any of them. (Note:
This list applies only to Filipinos
who have lived in Philippines for
some years, were immersed in the
culture for some time, and decided
to move to another country. I’m
thinking that Filipinos who are
born and raised in countries other
than Philippines are less likely to
possess the qualities below).
You are a Filipino if:
1. You are devoted to your religion. Majority of Filipinos are Catholics
and they’re known as pious church-goers. Whatever country they’re in,
they’ll always find a church they can worship and continue to practice
their religion and rituals.
2. You have an accent even if you speak English. Your accent reflects
the intonation of your local dialect in Philippines. Of course there is
an exception to this (US-born Filipinos and those who studied and
succeeded on how to speak like an American). For example, you can
tell apart a Filipino from Manila versus one coming from Cebu by the
difference in the way they inflect the words.
3. You turn your head to the sound of “Psssst!” I am guilty of this one but
heck, I am proud to be Pinoy!
4. You love branded stuff thinking if you own them, it will elevate your
prestige. You strive to own Levi’s jeans, Nike shoes, Guess watches, etc.
For women, you want to own designer purses (if you can’t afford them
you resort buying cheaper imitation items but with the brand name
intact). You may also enjoy collecting Victoria Secret lingerie and body
care products, and show this off to friends.
5. You complain about how expensive stuff are in the States and always
make a lengthy monologue how you can get that same item for cheap in
Philippines. The same thing goes with services, such as getting a haircut
or pedicure in a beauty salon.
6. You eat your food with spoon and fork, but mostly eat with your
fingers.
7. You eat a generous serving of rice at least once a day.
8. You call soda as “soft drink”.
9. You oftentimes interchange the pronouns “he” and “she”, as well as
“her” and “his” in sentences.
10. You use the umbrella in the summer to ward off the sun.
11. You have a hard time fitting clothes and shoes in U.S. sizes. Most
Filipinos are petite and have difficulty shopping for apparel in the United
States.
12. You try not to get fat and get darker complexion because your
relatives in Philippines will criticize you for your weight and appearance.
Sadly, most of these comments are careless and hurtful.
13. You have an affinity for some Philippine products (such as bath and
beauty items, clothes, delicacies, etc.) that you try to buy them even if it’s
triple the price.
14. You cook or eat foods that are unappealing to non-Filipinos , the
ones that stink or look weird such as dried fish, bagoong, dinuguan,
balut, etc.
15. You tend to grocery shop more in Filipino or Asian stores than in
American supermarkets.
16. You don’t call older people by their first names because it feels
awkward. You try to be respectful by addressing them as Mr./Ms./
Mrs.____ , or the usual manner of calling fellow Filipinos who are older
(Ate, Kuya, Lolo, Lola, Manong, etc.)
17. You ask someone to “open” or “close” the light instead of asking to
turn it “on” or “off”. The same thing goes for computer or the faucet.
18. You use your lips to point at something instead of using your fingers.
19. You use “vetsin” (monosodium glutamate or MSG) as food seasoning.
20. You eat pancit with rice or bread with spaghetti. When asked why
you eat two sets of carbs in one meal, you just shrug your shoulders and
act like it’s no big deal.
If you find yourself agreeing to most of the statements above,
congratulations! You have just proven how very Filipino you are! Do you
know of other unique Filipino characteristics? Please share them on the
comments section below.
(This article originally published at Filipina In USA blog)
This is the Filipino Martial Arts Database service, provided to the
FMA community in support of its growth and advancement.
www.fmadatabase.com
The Right Kick for Cebu Taekwondo
By Mike T. Limpag
Sun.Star Cebu - January 7, 2015
In sports, the biggest factor in seeing some
improvements is getting the right man in
charge.
It may sound easy, but it’s actually hard
as most of the time, the right for the job are
those who don’t want the job, and the wrong
persons for the job are those who covet it.
I’m not talking about coaches or athletes,
as it is skills that determine whether they get
the job, I’m talking about the sports leaders,
Mike T. Limpag
whose leadership, or lack of it, can either sink a
sport or take it to new heights.
One of the success stories in Cebu sports is taekwondo, and it’s
not only the community’s achievement in the national or international
scene that is remarkable, but the attitude of those in the community.
Consider what was relayed to me when one mother, whose
daughter was taking up taekwondo, decided to pursue her child’s other
interest in gymnastics and enrolled her in a summer program.
They were in for a culture shock. While the taekwondo
community welcomes newcomers, the gymnastics community shunned
them, eager to keep a “them vs. us” stance. Heck, they were treated as if
talking to newcomers would break sacrosanct gymnastics secrets that
only the elite, or those who know the elite, should know.
Predictably, it’s in taekwondo the child stayed and they are
lucky. Taekwondo in Cebu has been in a boom for the past decade or so,
getting a couple of world titles in poomsae.
But for me, that’s not what makes Tony del Prado’s stint as
chairman productive. For me, sports is where you improve yourself, not
one where you collect medals.
For Tony, who got elected chairman anew as head of region 7
recently, skills isn’t the only thing.
One of his plans is to form an elite pool that will be sent for
national competitions and aside from training with elite coaches,
del Prado said, “They will also be mentored in values and character
formation, for these will be the future leaders of Cebu taekwondo.”
Values and character formation. That’s not something you read
every day.
If you want to check a successful leader in sports, one easy
check would be to determine if
he campaigned or called up his
friends’ uncle’s boyfriend to get the
job. The other step? Just check the
attitude of his or her athletes.
It’s great that these days,
reluctant leaders like Tony, who
said he took up the job a decade
ago to put some order in the
association, are slowly getting in
charge.
We need more guys like
him taking charge.
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the first two words produces ‘Barong,’ which literally means ‘dress of.’ So, if we want to be correct,
we wouldn’t say just ‘Barong.’ But, the slang way of referring to one of the beautiful formal shirts is
simply Barong. Yes, the Barong Tagalog is a dress, a garment, a coat in itself. It is not merely a ‘shirt’. If
it were, then it would need a coat or a jacket over it to qualify as formal wear and would have to be
worn tucked inside the trousers.
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36 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 37
Martial Arts Enthusiasts in Israel Try Hands at Arnis
ABS-CBNnews.com - January 7, 2015
Yawyan Ardigma Eyes MMA Event in Sogod
By Edri K. Aznar
Sun.Star Cebu - January 8, 2015
MMA is virtually unknown in
Sogod, Southern Leyte but that
is about to change as Yaw-Yan
Alakdan Leyte, with the help of
Yaw-Yan Ardigma, brings one of
the fastest rising sports today to
this part of the country.
“I was inspired by the URCC
here in Cebu. We will bring there
(Sogod) what they have seen only
on TV,” said Yaw-Yan Alakdan Leyte
Mr. Jon Escudero demonstrates the fighting techniques
of the Lightning Scientific Arnis Isreal
Manila - The Filipino martial
arts (FMA) or ‘Arnis’ is gaining a
following in Israel.
Just last month, over 80
Filipinos and Israelis participated
in the nationwide seminar on
fighting techniques by four
masters of different Filipino martial
arts schools in Israel held at the
Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv.
Four instructors -- Abi
Moriya of Caballes Serrada Escrima;
Guy Rafaeli of Arnis Israel; Jon
Escudero of Lightning Scientific
Arnis Israel; and Yaron Brill of FCS
Kali -- conducted the training
sessions.
Philippine Ambassador
to Israel Neal Imperial
encouraged both the organizers
and participants to continue
conducting and attending similar
activities in the future to further
promote Filipino martial arts in
Israel.
Guro Jerome Teague (aka The Professor)
“Martial Science Forum Culture - Philosophy - Traditions”
martialscienceforum.wordpress.com
founder Eric Albotra. “I want to
introduce MMA there so that it will
attract people into the sport.”
The event is dubbed
“Kumbati sa Sogod” and will be
staged at the Sogod Multi-Purpose
Gymnasium on Jan. 25.
The main event is between
URCC fighter MJ Abrillo of Yaw-Yan
Kampilan and Iloilo City’s Julius
Gonzaga.
Forums
fmaforum.org
The leading destination for Filipino Martial Arts discussion.
Established September 2005
www.fmatalk.com
What’s in a Name?
By: Guro Jerome Teague
I would like to start things
off by addressing the reason why
I have chosen to call this blog
Martial Science Forum. As some
of you who know me personally
or have trained with me, my
passion is the Filipino martial
arts – Balintawak in particular.
In Filipino martial arts circles,
some of my friends have taken
to calling me the Professor due
to my hyper analytical nature
and overall zeal for digging deep
into the history, tradition, and
mechanical theories of what we
do. However, my experience is
not limited to Filipino martial
art. I also hold instructor ranks in
Japanese and Chinese arts, have
done a good deal of training in
JKD and Wing Chun, and I hold
two bachelors degrees in History
and Anthropology. Over the years,
I have applied the same level of
academic focus and scrutiny to my
martial arts training and study; it
is this type of analysis that I will
attempt to convey in this blog.
One of the things that
I look for in a particular style
and instructor is how their art is
expressed and how effectively an
instructor can convey it to their
students. Throughout my time
training, I have arrived at one
major realization which informs
all of my continued training and
teaching: All martial arts can be
broken down and expressed in
terms of Geometry, Anatomy, and
Physics. In fact, I would almost
consider this an obsession. I always
attempt to figure out what is
“under the hood” of any technique
or style. Understanding how and
why something works greatly
facilitates learning and competent
performance.
The first and most apparent
concept is the importance of
Geometry in the study of the
Filipino martial art in particular.
Because the Filipino fighting arts
are primarily weapons based,
the student can see the interplay
between angles of attack and lines
of defense and how they intersect
creating entry/reference points
for techniques from day one. On
a fundamental level, there are
only a limited number of ways in
which someone can attack with a
weapon or empty-handed. These
are limited to horizontal, diagonal,
vertical, and straight lines. Once
a student arrives at an intrinsic
understanding of this, the thing
to understand is how to close off
the target lines. Additionally, the
patterns of footwork (linear, lateral,
triangular, etc.) and positions
(inside, outside, center, split) in
which the student may find him
or herself are also geometrically
rooted.
Anatomy, in its relationship
to the Filipino arts, can most
easily be expressed in the simple
axiom of stick seeks bone and
blade seeks flesh. A skilled
fighter should also be a student
of anatomy with a functional
understanding of operation of
the muscular, skeletal, nervous,
and circulatory systems to better
understand how to exploit
those in combative situations
– especially when weapons are
involved. In the Filipino martial art,
a basic application of anatomical
principles can be seen in the
core principle of defanging the
snake with either bladed or
impact weapons. Defanging
the snake is simply striking the
opponent’s attacking limb in
hopes of incapacitating it either
momentarily or permanently.
The mindset here is viewing the
opponent’s limbs not as weapons
that can harm, but rather targets
you get to hit.
In defanging the snake, the
targets for the blade will be flexor
tendons and muscles that allow
for the gripping of an object in
their hands as well as articulation
of the targeted limb, while an
impact weapon should be directed
to the fingers, wrist, elbow, and
knee joints. These principles are
also utilized with empty-handed
defensive applications of limb
destructions which I will likely
cover soon, as I have received
many questions on this topic.
Physics is probably where
there is the most diversity across
the gamut of martial arts systems.
The application of Physics in
most martial arts is applied to the
generation of power in striking.
Basic Newtonian physics states
that Force = Mass x Acceleration.
System-specific postures and
stances will greatly affect the
application of power-generating
principles. For example, a system
like Wing Chun uses a squared
off stance and therefore utilizes
a forward-driving action to deal
damage. Compare this to Western
Boxing, which utilizes a more
bladed stance and relies more
on hip rotation, primarily with
forward driving motions coming
in second. Even the more esoteric
systems that discuss metaphysical
concepts like “internal power” can
be “dummied-down” as analogies
for the empirical principles of
physics. Regardless of how it is
expressed, the faster and more
efficiently you can accelerate your
body’s mass will directly affect
the amount of force imparted to a
target. Additionally, understanding
how your own anatomy plays
into this is highly important to
developing fast, efficient, powerful
hits.
In the Filipino martial art,
all three of these concepts are
applied in unison to the proper
application of technique. Referring
back to the simple application
of defanging the snake, you
can see all three concepts in
motion. Below, I have provided
a brief video of this and other
applications of this concept with
the blade. The attacker presents
an angle to which I (the defender)
respond by targeting the attackers
flexor tendons with the correct
intersecting angle. My options
here are to fall back in a 45-degree
direction to place myself safely
outside the arc of the attacker’s
weapon, or at times, I move
forward to get inside the arc past
the “danger zone” of the edge
orientation while being mindful of
my opponent’s left hand.
The defensive strike is
delivered with proper body
mechanics to ensure the highest
degree of damage possible to the
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overweight, or in the cases of
military and law enforcement,
may be wearing body armor, the
only viable targets for attack are
the eyes and throat. The only time
you will see a torso attack in the
progression is on the 4 Count. It is
used as to harass the opponent to
allow for transition to the next cut.
The torso cut can also be delivered
to the thigh level.
Some may argue, quite
correctly, that there are many
other factors like timing, rhythm,
distancing, feinting, etc, which are
crucial in combative encounters.
But in my opinion, the principles
of geometry, anatomy, and
physics are the more important
to developing a student’s basic
functional understanding and
performance of any technique or
art. Without this understanding,
the student’s movements are
robotic and empty.
Johan Skalberg: Paving the Way with FMA
Written by Boon Mark Souphanh
Blitz “Australasian Martial Arts Magazine”
Tucked away in the chilly north-western corner of Europe, the Scandinavian giant of Sweden is perhaps best known for vikings, ice hockey and,
dare I say…ABBA. It’s safe to say that martial arts probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when ‘Sverige’ is mentioned — but Punong Guro
Johan Skalberg, a passionate student of the martial arts for over 40 years, might just change that. After getting his start in jujitsu in the early ’70s,
it was his serendipitous introduction to the fighting arts of the Philippines that would pave the way for his lifelong journey towards martial arts
mastery. Blitz caught up with world-renowned instructor of Kali Sikaran during his recent visit Down Under to chat about the early days of FMA, the
evolution of stick-fighting, and how martial arts has taught the Swede to teach, create and innovate.
Johan, where did your martial arts journey begin?
Johan Skalberg
Basic Blade to Blade Concepts
Video: Click Here
attacking limb. In this case, I am
using the left hand to assist in my
cut by passing the attacker’s limb
over the edge of my blade in a
“scissor” type motion.
The 2, 3-4, and 6 count
follow-ups that I demonstrate
are not Gospel. Rather, they are
designed to develop the student’s
ability to recognize options for
“follow up” attacks based on
their position in relation to the
attacker as well as the attacker’s
options based on how well
the student has applied their
anatomical, geometrical, and
physical principles. In actual
blade encounters, the likelihood
of pulling off any of the longer
follow-up counts is slim. This
training progression should
be seen as a series of physical
exercises to teach decisive
and fluid striking with proper
defense, accurate targeting, and
positioning.
One final note on targeting:
You may be wondering why I am
not performing any follow-on
attacks to my attacker’s torso.
This is because I have deliberately
designed this progression to be
performed with a short knife,
such as a tactical folder. In many
cases, a 3-4 inch blade lacks the
“stopping” power when utilized in
attacking the torso. If an opponent
is wearing thick clothing, is
Johan Skalberg - I’d tried all the
regular sports like soccer and
hockey but I never got caught up
in those.
When I started jujitsu [in
1973], I got hooked right away
and I never quit. I maintained my
jujitsu training for a long time,
even after I started training karate
and kickboxing later on — I never
quit my foundation. My instructor
in Sweden was Uno Feldthusen; he
doesn’t teach as much nowadays
but he taught me to have an open
mind and not judge anything
before I’d actually tried it. I really
appreciate that I got that lesson so
early in life.
What was the martial arts scene in
Sweden like back then?
Johan Skalberg - The club where
I used to train had both judo and
jujitsu classes. People had their
opinions, but many back then
thought that jujitsu was one of the
most ‘dangerous’ things you could
ever use or train. I guess it was
because of all the strangulation
and joint-lock techniques that
people hadn’t really been exposed
to. Over the years, new arts came
around and everybody was like
‘this is so deadly and crazy’. It
was really interesting to see how
everything evolved depending
on what people thought was the
most dangerous at the time. When
I started, there were a lot of people
doing jujitsu and judo but as soon
as something new was introduced,
everyone jumped on it.
By today’s standards, it
would all seem quite normal to see
these things; but in the beginning,
it was completely unacceptable in
Sweden to be teaching people to
defend themselves with or against
knives.
Was it difficult dealing with the
criticism and rejection from the local
martial arts community?
Johan Skalberg - I have too
many stories to tell of the times
I was rejected (laughs). My
jujitsu instructor and I started
learning the Filipino martial
arts together because we were
looking for something new —
Uno was always eager to try new
things. I remember a seminar we
presented to a big group of judo
guys, we used a real bayonet for
the training because we didn’t
have rubber ones back in the
day. In the demonstration, we
were throwing this knife at each
other to show the effectiveness of
the knife defence — we weren’t
really thinking about how people
would react to it. Let’s just say
there were a lot of open mouths
that day, and many people came
up to us afterward and asked us
why we would ever do that. We
tried to explain knife defence to
them but many of them could
not see any reason for it. I guess
that was an eye-opener for us,
because we realised how foreign
the concept of knife defence was
to these people and how they
didn’t believe that all these nasty
things they’d seen on TV and in
magazines could actually happen
to them. Things have obviously
changed a lot as this kind of stuff is
all over the place nowadays.
You’ve competed in stick-fighting
competitions around the world.
How did the competition in the
Philippines compare to those closer
to home in Europe? Were you one of
the only non-Filipinos making waves
in the art back in the early days?
Johan Skalberg - Competitionwise, I would say that the
European tournaments were
probably better organised and
had better structures in place. In
the Philippines, it was a little bit
chaotic because there were so
many fights and things going on
38 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
around you — you know, politics
and stuff like that. There were
times when the organisers would
tell you your next fight was in
an hour, you’d decide to have a
quick power nap, and next minute
they’d tell you your fight was in
two minutes. So to win over there,
you have to be able to cope with
all these things. You just have to
smile, deal with it and do your
best. The politics often made it
increasingly difficult because
sometimes they’d even change
rules halfway through a match.
With challenges in life, it’s not
whether it’s right or wrong — it’s
about how you deal with it. That’s
how we define winners.
When fighting in the
Philippines, my strategy was
generally always the same. I’ve
always loved being in good
physical condition and I had
superior physical conditioning to
many of the fighters over there.
During my time in the military,
I was constantly pushed to my
physical and mental limits and I
used this advantage during my
competition career. There were
a lot of very skilled Filipino guys
over there who were technically
better than I was, but I realised
that I could defeat them physically.
Against these guys with great
skills, I used to wear them out
physically and that would even out
our difference in technical ability.
There are so many variations of
Filipino martial arts out there, with
and without the use of weapons.
How would you describe FMA as a
whole to someone unfamiliar with
it? How does it differ from other
martial arts?
Johan Skalberg - The
beauty of Filipino martial arts is
that they are all principle-based,
meaning that the systems have
principles that can be applied to a
number of different situations. For
example, we can use any impact
weapon we can find to defend
ourselves. Even though we train
with sticks and knives, these are
just proxies for any bladed or
impact weapon. So our principles
can be applied to anything from
a tennis racquet, a baseball bat
or even a ballpoint pen — you
will be able to defend yourself
with all of these and more. Other
martial arts focus on teaching
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 39
techniques, with specific technical
aspects. Normally, when you
have a technical mindset, you
have fixed techniques to provide
solutions. When you deal with
principles, you can apply them in
order to solve as many problems
as possible. I believe this builds
a more flexible approach to selfdefence and allows you to work
your way through a wider variety
of problems you may encounter.
Here’s an example: if you
have two guys fighting in a boxing
match who are equal in weight
and skills, it comes down to who
is better at making their moves
on the ‘chess board’. Self-defence
is the opposite — you will never
see someone assaulting someone
who’s likely to kick their ass. The
attacker will always look for an
easy victim on the street. Normally,
you wouldn’t bet on a small, 60-kg
guy to be able to defend himself
against a 100-kg guy. However,
when you put a knife or pen in
the 60-kg guy’s hand, you may
be inclined to put your money on
him.
You revolutionised stick-fighting in
the ’90s by developing Suntukan.
What gave you the impetus to
develop this new competition
system?
Johan Skalberg - When I first
started competing, you could do
foot-sweeps, close-range attacks,
and you could attack with the
backside of the stick like hammerfirst — this was very powerful
close-range. These kinds of attacks
meant that you could play with
the distance in fights. You could
take the guy down with a footsweep if he got too close, or you
could attack with a close-range
strike before moving out of range.
After a while, people started
saying these attacks were too
dangerous, so they began to take
these elements away…they said
that the helmet couldn’t take the
punishment of the short-range
attacks. These were some of my
favourite moves in competition,
and when they got rid of them
it was very limiting. Instead of
developing the art, they made it
restrictive. Competitors weren’t
defending themselves because of
the excess padding; this really took
away from the element of reality.
So, when I retired from
competition in the ’90s, I wanted
to create a new system that
developed the art without
compromising the essence of it.
When I developed Suntukan, I
took away a lot of the protective
gear, which forced people to think
a lot more about defence and not
getting hit. Competitors wore
helmets, thin gloves, and padding
on the elbows and knees — we
also padded the top of the stick
so we didn’t get cut. I included
takedowns, striking with your free
hand, knees and kicks as legal
techniques. We actually travelled
around a lot and did Suntukan
stick-fighting at many of the local
shootfighting events in Sweden
and it was well received.
Sounds pretty rough. What kind
of injuries have you seen during
your time in stick-fighting? Do they
happen often?
Johan Skalberg - It’s not too
bad. In the Swedish national
championships a few years back,
two of my students had broken
fingers, so there are a few injuries
like with all martial arts.
You’ve had the honour of working
with some of the world’s most
famous martial artists — what
lessons have stuck with you the
most over the years?
Johan Skalberg - That’s a tough
question because it’s so hard for
me to pick out just a few — it
almost feels unfair. I’ve trained
a lot with aiki-jutsu master JK
Yamaue in Japan when I was
about 15 or 16 — we trained a lot
of Shaolin kung fu and jujitsu. I
remember he had a really funky
accent because he had spent a lot
of time in Denmark and had pretty
poor English skills back then. He
used to have this really funky
way of saying ‘never surrender’, I
can’t really translate it accurately
into English but he was basically
saying ‘never up give’. This really
stuck with me throughout my
life and aided me during my time
in the military. Whenever I faced
www.pmasupplies.com
challenges, I always thought of
that mantra ‘never up give’. That
phrase has been very valuable to
me, so I teach it to my students as
well.
Another standout was
training with Suro Mike Inay; he
had a lot of funny lessons. He had
a really great way of explaining
Filipino martial arts, structuring
things, and really built on what I
had already studied in terms of the
art’s principles — this ultimately
made me a better instructor
myself. In my opinion, you don’t
truly ‘know’ something until you
can teach others to ‘know’ it as
well as you. This is one of most
important things I learned from
him.
What do you hope to achieve in the
rest of your career in martial arts?
Johan Skalberg - My mission
in life is to create more ‘doers’
in society. When I say doers, I
mean people who take action
and work to make a difference
for themselves and others. A
lot of people talk a lot and have
opinions, but very few actually
take action and become doers.
When I was in school, we
visited an iron factory and that day
we visited there was an accident
where melted hot iron flew up in
the air and landed on one of the
workers there. The worker was
literally melting and burning, his
clothes had completely melted off
and he was screaming for help. No
one went to help him, not even his
colleagues. Two of my friends and I
were actually the first ones to rush
over to help him. That’s when I first
realised that some people choose
to take action while others do
nothing.
That’s one of the reasons
why my mission today is to create
more doers. Martial arts are one
of my most valuable tools to help
achieve this. One of my goals
is to bring up more world-class
instructors to share my passion
and help me fulfil my mission.
www.blitzmag.net
Another Record
By Rommel C. Manlosa
Sun.Star Cebu - January 9, 2015
With another world record in sight,
Cebu City Sports Commission
chairman Edward Hayco will
try to draw support from the
stakeholders of an ingenious
Filipino martial arts—Arnis.
CCSC will shoot for its
fourth Guinness World Record title
using the national sport of the
Philippines, arnis, starting in June.
And to jumpstart
this project, Hayco will try to
encourage the members of
the Cacoy Doce Pares Word
Federation in a speech tonight
at the Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima
World Federation 83nd Founding
Anniversary in their C. Padilla
World Headquarters.
“I’m inviting and
encouraging all the Arnis
community to work together in
one direction and to bring the
unique Cebu eskrima arnis to the
world of martial arts by setting
a Guinness World Record for the
largest martial arts class,” Hayco
told Sun.Star Cebu.
Hayco was invited to
become the guest of honor of the
CDP event, which is also an annual
gathering of the members of the
club and an occasion conferring
honors and inducting its new set
of officers.
But aside from inviting
the members of Cacoy Doce
Pares, Hayco will also challenge
them to help in the grassroots
development program, especially
among the kids in their area.
“My challenge to them is
to put up a genuine grassroots
program as a means to transform
the lives of the kids,” Hayco added.
CCSC has an ongoing
arnis program that is handled by
coach Jude Gelig, the founder of
the Guadalupe-based Hiniusang
Kaesug (Kalista Arnis Eskrima sa
Sugbo).
However, Hayco believes
that if Doce Pares will take part in
the undertaking, arnis will grow
even bigger than it is today.
The attempt to have
the world’s largest arnis class
is another joint project by the
CCSC, Arnis Philippines, Hiniusang
Kaesug, Department of EducationCebu City Division and the Arnis
Association of the Philippines Inc.
Cacoy Launches Fifth Book
By Edri K. Aznar
Sun.Star Cebu - January 9, 2015
Eskrima legend Ciriaco “Cacoy”
Cañate launched another book yet
again.
The 95-year-old Cañete
launched his fifth book, “The Art of
Olisi-Baraw”, last Thursday at the
Golden Prince Hotel.
“This is a very important
book for all eskrimadors of
the world. This is a book about
techniques of using the stick
and dagger. I have 22 years of
experience using stick and dagger
in this book and most eskrimadors
in Cebu practice stick and dagger.
This book should not be ignored;
there is no other book on stick and
dagger. This book is based on my
experience,” said the grandmaster.
The book is sold for P700 at
Cacoy’s residence on C. Padilla and
is also available for order through
telephone number 261-1352.
The books are also available for
shipping nationwide.
“The book is about the
traditional system, which was
used by the early eskrimadors,”
said Cacoy’s
grandson, grand
master Chuck
Cañete. “His
previous books
were focused on
single stick. He
didn’t want the
new generation
and the
generations to come to forget this
art that’s why he made this book.”
Cacoy launched his fourth
book, Eskrima-Arnis Techniques,
back in 2009. And nobody can stop
him from making his sixth book.
“I plan to publish next a
book on Counter to Counter. It is a
very interesting book,” said Cacoy,
who founded Cacoy Doce Pares
back in 1932.
The 83rd Founding
Celebration of Cacoy Doce Pares will
be on Saturday, wherein the
members of the arnis organization
will converge at the Cacoy Doce
Pares headquarters.
There will be demonstrations and exhibition numbers lined up for the celebration.
Andrea Wheatley Talks Filipino Martial Arts
Written by Boon Mark Souphanh
Blitz “Australasian Martial Arts Magazine”
Andrea Wheatley, stick-fighting world
champion, chats to Blitz about the lessons
she’s learned throughout her martial arts
journey in this exclusive January issue preview.
Andrea Wheatley on the martial arts
lessons best learned sooner rather than later:
One of the most important things I like
to teach my students right from the beginning
is to slow down and feel. Everyone seems to
walk into a martial arts class expecting to do
every move at full speed. There is a degree
of nervousness in many, a desire to prove
something in others. I am not interested in
ego in my class. One of the difficult things
about being an adult is that we don’t like to
feel awkward or new at something. Learning
a new skill, regardless of what it is, requires
patience, inevitable moments of awkwardness
and many hours of practice. As Robert Greene
says in his book Mastery, in many different
fields the ancient masters — for example,
Leonardo Da Vinci, the Wright brothers,
Thomas Edison and Mozart — are considered
to have done 10,000 hours of practice. Freddie
Roach is another example of someone who
has dedicated inordinate hours of practice and
proven his approach to be highly successful.
Rather than focusing on how quickly
we can move up through the levels, we should
be focusing on repetition of basics in order
to become accomplished. Students need to
learn to enjoy being simply in the present
without past or future. During a fight, this is
the only place to exist: moment by moment,
millisecond by millisecond. Once we establish
this as a routine way of being during training,
it starts to translate into other areas of our life.
Universal principles permeate in all aspects
and we benefit on a bigger scale.
On what prospective martial artists
Wheatley (centre) with her training partners
should look for in a teacher:
This could be different for each
individual. For me, it was important to find
someone who is truly accomplished in their
chosen field of martial arts; an instructor
who treats their students with respect and
who can make a class enjoyable for all while
maintaining the traditional codes of conduct
www.blitzmag.net
within a dojo.
Read the full article in the January issue of Blitz “Australasian Martial Arts Magazine”
40 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 41
The Importance of Ambidexterity in Weapons Fighting
By Perry Gil S. Mallari - Fight Times Editor
Manila Times - January 10, 2015
An illustration featuring the use of two swords from Camillo Agrippa’s
Treatise on the Science of Arms and Philosophy (1553)
Ambidexterity is the ability of
being equally skillful with each
hand. Attaining ambidexterity is
crucial to any individual who must
depend on a weapon for survival
because in real combat, you are
doomed if you can’t wield your
stick, knife or gun proficiently with
your other hand the moment your
dominant hand got injured.
The ancient Greek
physician Plato, considered the
father of Western medicine,
encouraged people to train for
ambidexterity, “Practice all the
operations, performing them
with each hand and with both
together—for they are both
alike—your object being ready
to attain ability, grace, speed,
painlessness, elegance and
readiness.”
On what defines
handedness, modern science has
this to say: “There tends to be no
real difference in the strength or
dexterity of the hands themselves.
The main reason for handedness
lies in hereditary factors that
determine which side of the
brain will be more developed
and therefore dominant. Typically
the left side of the brain controls
the left side of the head but the
right side of the body. Likewise,
the right side of the brain
predominantly controls the right
side of the head but the left side
of the body. This is because the
nerves crossover at the back of
the neck. Thus people with a
dominant left side of the brain
tend to be right handed, In fact, 97
percent of right handers are leftbrain dominant. Contrary to what
might be expected, 68 percent
of left handers are also left-brain
dominant. About 19 percent of
lefties and 3 percent of righties
are right-brain dominant. About
12 percent of lefties (close to 1
percent of the total population)
show about equal dominance on
both sides.” (from What’s Right Is
Right by David A. Gershaw, Ph.D.)
Being ambidextrous is an
esteemed quality among fighting
escrimadors. An excerpt from the
life story of the late Leo Giron in
Dan Inosanto’s The Filipino Martial
Arts reads, “One of his instructors,
a man the people called Mr.
Delgado, used to travel from
camp to camp to fight their best
escrimadors. He was good, Giron
remembers, and he could fight
with either hand.”
In arnis, escrima and kali,
the most fundamental way of
attaining ambidexterity is to
practice double stick drills like
sinawali. In these drills, the weak
hand is developed by teaching
it to borrow the movements of
Getting the Point --- Tactical Knife Training
By: John Honeyman
Martial Arts Digest - January 12, 2015
the dominant hand. There are
designated roles for the dominant
hand and the weak hand (often
called the “alive hand” because it’s
never idle) in the Filipino martial
arts. “If he were wielding a single
weapon, the alive hand would be
the one that didn’t have a weapon.
If he were wielding a long and
a short weapon, the alive hand
would be the one with the shorter
weapon. If he were empty-handed
or wielding two equal-sized
weapons, the alive hand would
generally be the one that come
to play second,” wrote Inosanto in
The Filipino Martial Arts. Training
your weak hand to become as
functional as your dominant hand
in combat means reversing these
roles during practice.
A good way to start is
by practicing the basic angles
of attack with your weak hand.
Begin by just achieving the proper
form then later on practice each
angle of attack separately with
speed and power. Having attained
proficiency in delivering individual
strikes, advance to practicing
techniques in combination. With
that achieved, the next stage
could be fine-tuning your form
and flow by doing carenza or
shadow fighting with your weak
hand. Finally, just like in training
the dominant hand, the final stage
should be to spar using your weak
hand.
It is good to take note
of the development of specific
attributes so you can fully gauge
if your weak hand is catching up
with the abilities of your dominant
hand. First of these is power. Can
you hit as hard or nearly as hard
as your dominant hand with
your weak hand? Is there a great
difference in gripping strength
between your left and right
hands? How about speed and
accuracy? How fast and accurately
can you hit a target with your
weak hand as compared to your
dominant hand?
Besides intentional training
in specific martial arts skills,
another way of increasing your
ambidexterity is by using your
weak hands more often in simple
everyday tasks like opening a jar,
pouring a drink or reaching for
things.
Not surprisingly, the quality
of ambidexterity was also given
importance by the old masters
of Western swordsmanship
(some aspects of arnis, escrima
are borrowed from Western
swordsmanship). A part of the
book The Sword Through the
Centuries by Alfred Hutton, reads,
“From its not being an article of
everyday wear, it [double sword]
and its practice escaped the
notice of most people, but it did
not escape that of the leading
professors of fence. They taught
it, they teach the cultivation of
it, and explained its method in
their published works, and they
earnestly advised their pupils to
take up its study, on account of the
advantage, which a knowledge of
its use would give them if engaged
in a serious affair. Regardless as
a game to be played in the sale
d’ armes, the case of rapiers is
more interesting than even the
picturesque fight of the rapier and
dagger, for in the latter the arms
consist of a very long sword and
a short dagger, and the player
is therefore obliged to fight all
through his bout as either a righthanded or as a left-handed man;
but when provided with the ‘case,’
owing to the two swords being of
moderate length and of equal size,
he is in a position to change from
right hand to left, or left to right, as
the need to do so may flash across
his mind, and that without the
necessity of shifting his weapons,
thereby altering instantaneously
and radically the scheme of his
play, and compelling a similar
though unintended change in that
of his adversary.”
Inayan System of Eskrima Flexible Weapons
By Jason Inay
In the Inayan System of Eskrima Flexible Weapons proficiency is a requirement to advance in the system.
This DVD is a presentation of skills and drills to enhance one’s familiarity and skill in the use of a flexible
weapon. Though this DVD specifically presents the use of the bandanna the principles can be adapted
to nearly any flexible weapon. Suro Jason Inay, the head of the Inayan System of Eskrima (I.S.E.), also
illustrates how training the use of flexible weapons is a metaphor for approaching martial arts with a
flexible and adaptable mind
Enjoy learning the use of the bandanna with drills and techniques adapted from the Inayan
Kadena De Mano styles of Eskrima. Inayan Kadena De Mano is one of the core styles within the I.S.E.
that emphasizes empty hand and knife skills. The I.S.E. DVD covers basic defenses to strikes, locks, and
entanglements.
Visit: www.Inayan-Eskrima.com to find out more about the I.S.E. a complete system of Filipino martial arts
founded by Mangisursuro Mike Inay.
This DVD may be purchased via PayPal: mestrella@sbcglobal.net $37 including ground USPS shipping in
the USA
Yesterday, I was honored
to receive an invite to a special
closed-door training session with
Ka Abner Anievas, Hong Kong
based founder of KEAT Tactical
Ops and frequent CQC instructor
to Chinese and Korean elite law
enforcement and special forces.
You can read more about him and
see videos here:
Despite having a long
background in the Filipino martial
arts, Ka Abner is now mainly
providing tactical training rather
than martial arts instruction. In his
words “this offers more freedom
to express. Martial arts tradition
is good, but I want to emphasize
what can actually be used.” Many
of his students have served in
active combat in places like
Afghanistan where his training has
made the life-saving difference.
The topic was tactical knife,
which included point up and point
down grips, single knife versus
double knife and empty hand
applications of the techniques.
It was an excellent seminar
from a clearly high-level, very
experienced instructor and I was
very glad to be able to attend with
a few of my senior students in tow.
It was also reassuring to
see that while some details and
subtleties always exist between
styles, a lot of what he teaches
looked familiar to us as students
of Kali Majapahit. In accordance
with the wishes of our founder,
Punong Guro Fred Evrard, we
rarely focus on lethal applications
of knife versus knife combat
(usually drilling knife defense
instead of knife versus knife), the
body positions and controls are
similar to those we would use
and designed to give us distance
and safety from an opponent’s
weapon, while at the same time
swiftly and decisively ending
the encounter - usually through
control of the head/neck.
Some takeaways:
“C Cutting”
While it is instinctive in
Filipino martial arts to cut in
sweeping motions using length
and reach of the wepon combined
with compactness of the body, Ka
Abner explains that he prefers the
“c cut”, where we seek to insert
the point of the knife for the stab,
and then rotate the wrist and cut
in a letter c movement. This gives
maximum blade contact and is the
cleanest way to ensure maximum
effectiveness of the stab and cut
combination.
Using the Whole Body
Very much akin to Tai Chi,
good Filipino martial arts skills
require us to use the force of the
entire body.
This means making best
use of the principles of extension
and rotation, starting with keeping
the spine straight and using it to
drive momentum through the
hip and shoulder axes. Of course
it is important to keep balance by
stepping to the balls of the feet
rather than the heel and to adjust
the body’s position in relation
to the opponent in order to take
away their angles of attack and
present our own.
Receiving with the Knife versus
the empty hand
Many, many Filipino martial
arts drills involve blocking or
parrying the incoming weapon
hand with the empty hand.
These are fine for developing
reactions, and of course when we
are unarmed. However, common
sense requires that when we
are armed we use the weapon
first. Our weapon should remain
between the opponent and
ourselves as much as possible, and
the most practical combat drills
involve receiving the incoming
weapon arm by contacting
(striking/cutting/stabbing) it with
our weapon arm. The Filipino
martial arts principles involved
are “defanging the snake” and
“attacking the attack”.
Keeping It Short and Simple
We have all seen complex
training patterns or “templates”
as part of the Filipino martial arts
curriculum, especially when knives
are involved. This usually means
a series of progressing stabs/cuts
at a variety of targets. Students
end up memorizing sequences
which sometimes have ten or
more attacks, and often drill to
execute these sequences in order
as fast as possible. However, in
practicality, professional operators
have no time or energy for such
memorization. Using the C cutting
principle above, nearly any line
can be lethal. Thus, Ka Abner
divides broadly into high line
(usually throat or brachial arterial
line) and low line (including liver/
spleen and femoral line).
Either target will
immediately render the victim
combat ineffective and there is
no need to draw complicated
diagrams or remember anything
except the entries.
EDC Kits
Ka Abner recommends
training with a variety of sims of
the everyday carry (EDC) weapon.
This should include rubber,
unsharpened plastic/carbon/nylon
and unsharpened steel. These
allow a variety of drills, and embed
the muscle memory with the
length and weight of our actual
carry kit.
He trains with three
deployment locations - front belt
(in front of the hip) right and left
sides, and small of the back. Front
belt sheaths are hidden by suit
jackets and make the weapon
available to standard or crossdraws in point up or reverse grips.
Small of the back offers optimal
concealment but fast access and
leverages the muscle memory for
the belt holstered pistol draw from
the rear hip position.
Efficient Drilling
Many drills involve feeder/
receiver with both partners
taking turns to practice. Rather,
Ka Abner’s drills involve attack
and defense for both partners,
which lets training time for each
be increased. Furthermore, he
encourages training with good
body mechanic for both partners
so that useful muscle memory can
be achieved in every drill.
In Summary
This was an excellent
seminar with a lot of useful and
practical information for those
interested in the type of training
elite law enforcement and special
forces troops receive in CQC.
Ka Abner’s seminars
are usually taught in a series of
6-hour sessions including knife
(two sessions), karambit, impact
weapons, tomahawk and machete.
He also teaches combat pistol and
shotgun. I recommend attending
his seminars whenever you
have the chance. You will not be
disappointed.
Pugay!
Martial Arts Digest
This Blog is created as a forum to discuss the martial arts as a way of
exploring the self, and as a vehicle for achieving personal life success.
martialartsdigest.blogspot.jp
The Desangut Fixed Blade Magnum
By TnT Blades
Now available!
To celebrate the 78th birth anniversary of our late Grandmaster, Professor Remy
Amador Presas, we are holding a special 3-month sale for all Desangut and Bram Frank
Knife fans. The sale started on December 19 (Prof. Remy’s 78th birthday) and will end on
March 18, 2015. Details:
•20% discount on a SET of the Fixed Blade Desangut Magnum plus Trainer. You pay
only €136 for a collector’s item (normal price is €170). The set comes in a numbered
series, with the following numbers still available to choose from: 15,16, 24, 29, 30, 31,
35, 36, 38, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 58, 64, 65, 67, 68, 72, 73, 79, 82, 83, 84, 89, 90,
91, 93, 95, 97, 98.
•The Trainer is on sale for €40 (normal price €50). The Trainer is made of the same steel
as the knife. It’s like training with the real blade, only safer!
•Shipping cost is only €7 euros regardless of where you are. We take over any
additional shipping and handling cost.
Hurry, before this limited offer runs out. Sale ends on midnight of March 18, 2015.
To Place your Order Click Here
42 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 43
Karambit Ring Placement: How not to stab your own forearm
By Lakan Guro Chris Caban - Karaambit.com
January 11, 2015
knuckle or closer towards the
second finger knuckle, the blade
has the ability to travel directly
into the forearm.This grip is
sometimes seen in flashy videos
where the ring is extending from
the line of the bent first knuckle.
Think about the proper technique
for holding brass knuckles. They
Karambit Ring Placement: How not to stab your own forearm
Video: Click Here
I was first exposed to the
exotic Indonesian karambit in
1998. My instructor had recently
trained with his teacher, the
legendary Guro Besar Herman
Suwanda, and he was taking me
through the movements of Mande
Muda Silat. Once the techniques
were in place, he added the use of
this awesome looking claw knife
which he called a grappling knife
or a karambit. Shortly afterwards,
another of Guro Besar Suwanda’s
students came to Atlanta to teach
a seminar on the karambit which
I found very enlightening and
informative. Needless to say, I was
“hooked”.
The karambit is a
wonderful training tool, and it
has devastating self-defense as
well as battle field applications.
From its beginnings in Sumatra,
the karambit has been used as a
weapon of surprise, often being
concealed within the folds of
a sarong for quick deployment
to engage an enemy. It is not,
however, a standard knife and
should not be treated as such.
Even Hollywood is catching the
karambit fever with the blade
popping up in several big name
media properties such as Dexter,
Taken, Judge Dredd, Counterstrike:
Global Operations (CS:GO) and
many more. The karambit is here
to stay.
The Atlanta Blade Show is
the southern Mecca for the knife
devotee, an immense gathering
of knife makers, collectors, and
dealers. In 2001, it was here that
the original Karambit.com first
launched. The original booth
offered sexy Karambit.com
models and karambits as well
as lots of promotional swag. My
students and I were on hand to
demonstrate the deadly and “cool
looking” techniques associated
with this new and exciting blade.
Crowds gathered every time
one of us would grab a training
karambit to assist an interested
potential customer to the
ground with the aid of its lethal
techniques.
From that first public
exhibition of this previously
unknown type of blade,
unforeseen problems started to
fit fine at the first knuckle, but you
cannot hit with any effect in that
position. However, if you slide
the brass knuckles to the base of
the fingers, then anything you hit
will be crushed.Being cut by your
own blade does not have to be
inevitable if you learn the proper
grip on the knife. One way to avoid
injury when embarking on this
educational quest is to get (and
use!) an identical training karambit
of your personal blade to practice
with until you have the proper ring
placement.
For the first timer: when
you first pick up a karambit, there
are two paths you can take. Use
a trainer for a short time that will
give you a chance to learn the
mechanics of a proper grip and
enable you to properly extend and
retract the blade, or jump right in
and start swinging it around like a
party favor and win painful prizes.
For the hardened martial artist,
check your grip and see if it lines
up with the scar on your arm or
not. If you follow my advice above,
you should be scar free.
However, if you still
manage to plant the blade in
your arm, we have a morale patch
available in our store just for you:
arise as more uninitiated folks
began to get their hands on these
knives. This first became apparent
to me the following year at a table
filled with knives and karambits. A
man who approached the booth,
picked up a karambit and slid his
finger into the ring. In his attempt
to poorly mimic one of the guys
working the table, extending and
retracting his own karambit, his
eyes lit up in pain as he donned
a helpless look when the blade
sunk directly into his forearm with
a solid *thunk*. He was quickly
Incorrect karambit ring placement
treated by one of the fast moving
karambit self injury
table workers who extracted the
blade from his forearm. As they
were doctoring the man, several
other guys at the table started to
chime in about similar wounds
they had also received from this
blade, a few even had a scar in the
exact same place. Correct karambit
ring placement
Take a minute to look at
the structure of the karambit
and the various ways that it can
be held. Grip the knife with your
index finger in the ring and the
blade protruding from the bottom
About the Author: Lakan Guro Chris Caban is the Chief Instructor of the
of your hand in a tip down grasp
Atlanta Kali Group. He has 16 years of training in the Filipino Martial Arts,
(reverse grip). When you slide
a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 9 years of Muay Thai, 7 years of Mande
your index finger into the ring
Muda Silat, 9 years Folk/Freestyle Wrestling, and over 5 years of Tactical
of the karambit, it needs to be
Training with Local Law Enforcement. Chris was also the head instructor
held as close as possible against
of Carlson Gracie Guatemala (2010-2011), and currently is the director of
your palm, ideally from the first
the Dojo American Karate Center in Dacula, Ga.
finger knuckle to the base of the
finger. This position will create an
www.karambit.com
arc away from the forearm. While
extending and retracting the
blade, your arm will be safely out
The Liar The Cheat and The Thief:
of the blade’s path. After all, the
Deception and the Art of Sword Play
goal is to harm your attacker, not
By Maija Soderholm
yourself.
You don’t fight bodies you fight
minds.
In this slender volume, Maija
Soderholm of Sonny Umpad’s
Visayan Style Corto Kadena and
Larga Mano system presents
the details of one of the most
important and least understood
aspects of personal combat. How
to control the opponent’s mind.
The Liar, The Cheat, and The
Thief explores the drills and the
mindset of one of the last modern
duelists. As Sun Tzu said “All warfare
is deception”
If the ring of the karambit
Amazon.com: Click Here
gravitates too close to the first
The Riddle of the Sticks
By: Jon Escudero
Lightning Combatives - January 13, 2015
Baston Serrada is a dance between the Line and the Circle.
Combat must be direct. But if you are blocked, go around.
The stick is a strange weapon. Simple, humble and unassuming in design and structure, but
potentially brutal and devastating. The many stories behind the evolution of stick fighting are
pretty interesting. From ideas of spontaneous indigenous development to the influence of foreign
swordsmanship. Very interesting, but we are still waiting on our scholars to help fill in the gaps in
these stories.
Grandmaster Ben Lema, Founder of Lightning
Scientific Arnis, doing Baston Serrada
Video: Click Here
Right now I’m more interested in
the different ways sticks are being
used in combat and the method
of training involved, particularly
a method called “Baston Serrada“.
In Lightning Scientific Arnis,Mang
Ben called it “working the stick“.
But what does he mean by that,
and why do we do it?
I’m going to break it down
into three aspects.
Goal, Method, Application
Goal
The goal of this drill is the
smooth flow of movement from
defense to attack and vice-versa
while fulfilling certain parameters.
In the case of “proper” serrada, that
would mean:
1. moving to the “outside” off the
opponents attack
2. neutralizing the opponents
weapon
3. “blanketing” your opponent with
your own barrage
4. repeat as necessary
Method
This drill is a blend of hard
and soft movements. The blocks
and “checks” are hard while the
flow from strike to strike is soft
but with enough stiffness that
the body recognizes the potential
to increase power later on in
application.
1. Use your short range strikes
to hit and your checking hand to
interrupt your opponents motion
alternating between them as
necessary.
2. Use your footwork to manage
the distance between you and
your opponent and stay outside
his center.
3. Move soft, slow and deliberate
in the begining of the drill to
develop your timing and accuracy.
4. From contact develop a “sense”
of where your targets are.
5. Learn to put your targets where
you can hit them.
6. As you progress in the drill,
increase the amount of power and
speed in your movements.
7. Develop your decision making
skills.
8. Develop your repertoire .
9. Develop your control.
10. After learning the template set,
learn how to substitute strikes and
techniques to see how it affects
your position, movement and
timing.
Application
The movements you
trained are basically action-sets on
“triggers”.
In close-combat situations,
there is simply no time “stop
& think” of the “best possible
counter-attack”. So we are
counting on “attacks-madeinstinct” in these stress situations.
This is also because the combat is
too close to be relying solely on
vison, so instead we are relying
on physical cues and hard-wired
reflexes.
When applying Baston
Serrada, it is a matter of Angle,
Position and Pressure.
1. Changing your angle of attack
in Baston Serrada makes you
unpredictable, because the strike
that connects, is the one that is
unseen.
2. Changing your position to be
always out of your opponents
reach makes you difficult to hit.
3. Constantly hitting and checking
your opponent puts him offbalance and on the defensive, so
when he is defending, he is not
attacking.
What I have not discussed
here is the Mechanics of Baston
Serrada as it deserves a separate
discussion of its own. So stayed
tuned for that one soon.
Lightning Combatives
A few thoughts on the training and practice of Filipino Martial Arts.
lightningcombatives.wordpress.com
Mustafa “Maurice” Gatdula is Filipino Martial Arts instructor based in Northern California, with
branches in the Washington, DC area. He teaches Jow Ga Kung Fu, Kuntaw, and Eskrima fulltime in his school in Sacramento, with satellite classes around Northern California. His school is
called the Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts. His specialty is fighting--stick and empty
hand.
Mustafa Gatdula’s How to Build a Dominant Fighter
The title makes this book self-explanatory: Mustafa Gatdula’s How to Build a Dominant
Fighter in 12 Months: Using Lesson from the Filipino Fighting Arts to Build Dominant Fighters.
Follow our lead and have your students running your city in 12 months
Teaching Philosophy
A collection of essays concerning the art of instructing the martial arts, from the point
of view of the Filipino martial artist.
Philosophy of the Martial Arts
This is a collection of essays about the theory, practice, and application of the martial
arts--through the eyes of a Filipino stylist
Cost . - $29.00 each
To Purchase Visit:: www.dominantfma.com
44 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 45
The Importance of Lineage in Martial Arts
By Sony P. Sy
MyFMA.net - www.myfma.net
Arnis Pro Course Starts Feb.1
Manila Times - January 16, 2015
The School of Arnis Professionals
Batch Amihan slated on February
1, 8, 15, 22 and March 1 is now
accepting applications.
Under the umbrella of
Professional Teachers of Sports,
Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance (PT-SPERD), Professor
Armando Soteco founded The
School of Arnis Professionals in
2003 at the Integrated College
of Physical Education and Sports
(former name of PT-SPERD) in
Intramuros, Manila. The goal
of the school is to prepare
professional arnis instructors and
Physical Education teachers, by
equipping them with scientific
methods of teaching, coaching
and skills in managing sport arnis
competitions.
Among the subjects taught
to students are sports science,
physiology of exercise and physical
fitness, traumatology, sports
psychology, nutrition and drugs
MARPPIO Instructional Video’s and Live Seminar Video’s
Grandmaster Remy A. Presas
Single video’s and sets
To Buy - Click Here
Professor Armando Soteco
Contributed Photo
as well as sports and recreation
management.
The aim of the school
is in line with the objectives of
Republic Act 9850 or the Arnis
Law that declares arnis as the
Philippines’ national sport and
martial art.
Soteco is a veteran
practitioner and a recognized
master of arnis. He trained
from 1971 to 1975 with the late
Grandmaster Remy Presas, the
father of Modern Arnis.
Soteco is also the recipient
of several awards in arnis that
include the Lapu-Lapu Award, the
highest award in Modern Arnis
(2006) and the Kampilan Award
(2008).
Soteco is among those who
have taught arnis in Philippine
schools for the longest time. He
was an arnis professor in San Beda
College from 1967 to 2002 and
in Centro Escolar University from
1971 to 2001.
For details of the Arnis Professional course contact
09153512520, 09334362090.
Integrating Throwing into weapons fighting
By Perry Gil S. Mallari - Fight Times Editor
Manila TImes - January 18, 2015
Throwing occurs in both empty
hand and weapons fighting.
Throwing happens when
the fight shifted to grappling
range and the bigger and stronger
combatant attempts to throw the
other to the ground. This combat
skill calls for destroying the
opponent’s balance, lifting him up
in the air and slamming him to the
ground. Besides understanding
leverage, one must also develop
kinesthetic sensitivity or the ability
to read the opponent’s intention
through body-feel to be able to
effectively execute throws. The
former is useful in destroying the
opponent’s balance while you will
rely on the latter to detect if your
foe is setting you up for a throw.
In a real fight where there
is no safety mat, throwing can
inflict serious or lethal injury. Not
all weapons-oriented martial arts,
Filipino or otherwise, incorporate
throwing techniques. The purpose
of this article is to offer general
guidelines on how to incorporate
throwing techniques into weapons
fighting.
In Escrima where the stick
is often the primary weapon,
throwing is incidental, meaning
you don’t look for it. If an
opportunity to throw an opponent
presents itself, you just grab the
chance. Hence, knowing how to
throw an opponent means you
have an additional tool at your
disposal and more fight options.
Integrating throwing skills
into weapons fighting entails
three components: learning how
to throw, learning how to survive
a throw, and knowing how to fit
in these skills into the structure
of weapons fighting. Some styles
of arnis, escrima and kali
teach throwing techniques
based on grappling
systems indigenous to the
Philippines like buno and
dumog. However, there is
considerable number of
Filipino Masters who’ve had
extensive background in
Man’s Oldest Sport A Greek relief sculpture depicting two nude wrestlers.
Japanese judo and jiu-jitsu
Photo from Wikipedia
and borrowed throwing
skills freely from these
power is an integral component
waza, the skill of breaking a fall
systems. The best example of
of an effective judo and jiu-jitsu
can be found in both Oriental and
the latter is Grandmaster Ciriaco
technique while Western wrestling Occidental forms of wrestling.
“Cacoy” Cañete of the famed Doce relies primarily on muscular
Lastly, you must integrate
Pares group who created Escrido,
strength to accomplish the same
throwing skills into the weapons
a combination of Escrima and
purpose.
fighting structure. The primary
Judo. In the same line of thought,
Also worthy of study are
consideration here is the presence
the Dog Brothers incorporated
silat and shuai chiao throwing
of a weapon. In a pure grappling
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into their
techniques. What I find impressive situation, both of your hands are
method of real contact stick
about silat is its deft ways of
free to grab and execute a throw
fighting.
destroying an opponent’s balance
but not so in weapons fight.
As a weapons man, even
resulting to effortless execution
Instead of being an
if your style already has throwing
of throws. Shuai chiao (Chinese
impediment to the execution of
techniques, it is still helpful to
fast wrestling) on the other hand
a throw, the weapon like a stick,
cross-train in other systems to
seamlessly combined striking and
can be used to facilitate throwing
deepen your understanding of
throwing.
techniques. In a stick fighting
throwing skills. Depending on
If you know how to throw
environment, the baston or the
your body built, temperament and an opponent, you must also
olisi can be employed as a lever
preferred movement dynamics,
know how to survive a throw. In
or hook to destroy an opponent’s
there are numerous Eastern and
fact, in formal judo and jiu-jitsu
balance to throw him to the
Western systems to choose from.
study, learning how to break a
ground. Throws are best applied
Judo and jiu-jitsu offer
fall (sutemi waza) precedes the
after you have already inflicted
excellent throwing techniques.
learning of throwing techniques
pain on your opponent.
In sport judo, you purposely
(nage waza). Breaking a fall as its
And lastly, it is best to
look for a throw since it is the
name implies means minimizing
distinguish the difference between
most impressive way to score a
the amount of impact that your
a sport throw and a combat
point. Jiu-jitsu depending on the
body absorbs as it hits the ground. throw. A sport throw done in a
style has differing emphasis on
The impact dissipates when
competition environment aims for
throwing. Judo evolved from Jiuspread to a larger surface area
points and domination. A combat
Jitsu.
of the body (flat falls). Another
throw on the other hand simply
Olympic wrestling
way of neutralizing impact is by
intends to injure, to completely
(Greco-Roman and Freestyle)
turning the body into a ball and
shut down an opponent, to
has similarities and differences
literally rolling on the ground after end the fight now, simply and
from judo and Jiu-Jitsu. The most
being thrown (rolling fall). While
unceremoniously.
salient difference perhaps is
the Japanese perfected sutemi
that the concept of ki or internal
Let me first tell you how I met
Grandmaster Dr. Guillermo Lengson
I was a high school student
then when I trained under
him at the gym of the Quirino
Grandstand (in Luneta, Manila).
To me, he was just an ordinary
man and the way I saw him was
he was not so impressive, like
the martial art actors in a movie.
He’s not tall; around 5’5 and had
a big belly. I even wondered if I
can learn something from this
guy. But through a matter of faith,
submissiveness, hard training and
humility, I had learned so much. He
even taught me for free. In return,
I do some chores like scrubbing
and sweeping the floor of our
gym to make it clean for us to use.
In other words, don’t just believe
what is said. You have first to try it
and experience it for yourself.
Now, about the term
lineage. A lineage for me is
something that is important
because it is a gesture of respect
and an honour that I trained
under this person. A lineage is like
family : you can’t exist without
it. It symbolizes that you learned
from somebody; a mentor that
you submitted to and humbled
yourself for the sake of learning.
I acknowledge my lineage with
pride because it adds credibility
to my ability to perform and teach
the craft for the simple reason
that there are many charlatans.
Pretenders. These are those who
claim to be self-taught. My pride
in my martial arts lineage is a
deep hearted gesture with which I
emulate and honour a person who
is of great influence and value to
my life. I am proud and humbled
at the same time to have been
one of his many first-generation
students. To mention his name is
to repay the man with honor and
gratitude. True, your martial arts
lineage will not assure anyone
that you are a good instructor as
well. A good instructor will always
depend upon the person who
learns the craft with passion and
dedication; discipline and humility.
Recognizing my martial art lineage
is a matter of acknowledging my
loyalty to the person who has
taught and treated me well.
The martial arts you had
learned will always depend upon
how you use it; not only in an
actual arena but in the way you
carry yourself in your everyday
life. Martial arts is not just about
defending yourself. It is about
the principles you have learned
in the craft. What you learned
and re-learned and continue to
propagate through teaching.
In our case, once you’re under
the tutelage of GM Dr. “Doc”
Lengson, we have what we called
a common denominator- a distinct
movement that he taught us;
principles on how to apply these
techniques. The terms like T, 9, 12
and Series (to mention a few), that
only a first generation student of
his will understand. A lineage is a
brotherhood with mutual respect
and aspiration. It is a pride and
honor for us to uphold. However,
the first thing that I learned from
“Doc” Lengson is to finish my
College course, for me to make life
easier. Teaching Martial arts as an
occupation in the Philippines is
not so financially rewarding and
will not consistently bring food
on the table. And that principle, I
continue to teach to my present
students. There is also the risk of
making martial arts as a “business
enterprise” which is something
that Doc Lengson (a dentist by
profession) detested. For him,
teaching and learning martial
arts should be primarily a passion
borne out of one’s desire to
learn and teach with dedication,
perseverance and humility. On its
own, it should not be used as a
stepping stone to enrich oneself at
the expense of the art and science
of it. Hence, the reason why our
technique is something that
was never commercially known.
Our Blackbanders Fraternity is
an organization Doc Lengson
created. During our heyday, our
group was met with trepidation
by the other competing teams.
They knew that once we entered
a tournament, we were there to
win. And we never failed to bring it
home. It was something that Doc
Lengson engrained in us. He never
allowed us to enter competitions
just for the sake of joining. And he
never let us join unless we were
absolutely ready. He instilled upon
us to carry our banner with honor.
And we always did.
A lineage is not a guarantee
for a person that he can be a
good or even the best instructor
but it is a basis to know where
he belongs and is proud enough
to say it. Some people are too
proud to admit that they learned
from somebody. For whatever
selfish reasons, who knows? In the
martial arts world there’s a saying
that “Somewhere, there’s a person
better than you so keep yourself
well prepared so that you won’t
meet him”.
In my martial arts lineage,
I am proud to say, the late
Grandmaster Dr. Guillermo “Doc” B.
Lengson, was mine.
Grandmaster Sony P. Sy
Palis Sagasa Arnis Pilipino
This is a 4 foot long staff constructed of
dense rattan with skin. Hand-burned in the
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The Challenge Fights of Grandmaster Ciriaco “Cacoy” Canete: The Greatest Living Eskrimador
By TomMeadows
Grandmaster Tom Meadows, author and longtime student of Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy
Canete proudly announces the release of the book he wrote entitled “The Challenge Fights of Grandmaster
Ciriaco “Cacoy” Canete”.
History is written by the victors”. This timeless quote is clearly an appropriate one for the
biography of a man never beaten in over 100 challenge fights. This book documents the fights exactly as
Grandmaster Cacoy Canete related them to the author. The risk of death or serious injury was ever present
in these type of matches, which became known as the legendary “Death matches of the Philippines”. It was
common practice for the opponents to exchange waivers that asked their family and friends not to take
revenge on the victor’s family, eskrima club or friends. Both players assumed full responsibility for the outcome
of their challenge. To be the victor of more than 100 challenge fights one must have a technical base that
can deal with any empty hand style and all known weapons systems. Many of the fighters that Cacoy Canete
fought relied heavily upon the anting-anting mystical arts, orascion prayers and religious mantra chants to
guarantee their success in fighting. These methods had no part in how Grandmaster Canete won his fights
against these men. In his own words: “I do not use anting-anting, I rely on my technique”. Always challenged,
never beaten, this is the fighting history of Grandmaster Cacoy Canete, the greatest living fighter in the history
of Doce Pares.
Paperback $14.40
Also in the book are stories of near-death experience of my father Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Canete
as a guerrilla fighter during World War II. Unfortunately since Amazon only accepts High-Resolution pictures
many of my father’s relevant historical black and white pictures are not in the book such as in military uniform, champion in the 1st National Eskrima
Tournament in Cebu on 3/24/79 and also in the 1st Invitational Eskrima Tournament in Manila on 8/19/79 just to name a few. Hope we can convert
them to High-Res for the next edition of the book.
Thank you for your support.
To Order Visit Amazon.com: Click Here
Grandmaster Kitty Canete-Knight
46 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
KEAT Tac Ops - Close Quarter Combat
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Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 47
Eskrima for the Street
By Bong Abenir
Ka Abner Anievas has started a program at the EVERLAST Fight & Fitness
and teaches every Saturday afternoon at the Everlast Gym Causeway Bay, Hong
Kong. It is hoped that this could lead to a future of series teaching at various other
EVERLAST Fight & Fitness gyms through the world.
Practical Techniques for Dangerous Situations
Eskrima for the Street is a compilation of techniques strictly based on the practical application
of the Filipino martial arts within the concept of a street fight. Although there have been many books
about self-protection and also the art of Eskrima, but only a few featuring the practicality of Eskrima for
unpredictable street fighting scenarios. This book will deal with different scenarios that may happen
outside the safety walls of your training hall and definitely beyond the realm of Eskrima as a sport. It will
provide the readers with the different strategies, techniques and street-smart moves that may help them
get out of a bad situation and may even save you and others from seriously getting hurt or from death at
the hands of an attacker.
In this book, Maestro Bong Abenir addresses how to translate Eskrima weapons fighting to empty-hand
skills against dangerous knife threats, against difficult situations which include third-party protection,
threats against a bolo attack, against improvised weapons such as broken bottles, steel pipes, an ice pick,
etc. It will also show Eskrima techniques used in special situations such as knife against knife encounters,
bolo against bolo situation, blunt weapons against edged weapons and vise-versa, even scarf against
edged weapons, and situations against multiple attackers and other possible street scenarios. Although
no book can replace an actual training program, it will be a great tool for any individual who wants
to learn a technique or two that might help him or her against special situations where one’s life is at
stake. It will also serve as an added resource of training material, for advanced practitioners as well as
instructors in any martial arts.
Available through Amazon - Click Here
SIKARAN “The Fighting Art of the Filipino Farmer”
By Emmanuel del Espiritu Santo Querubin
The author was appointed
by Grandmaster Melton
Geronimo as Director for Research and Standards. This
is the only fully authorized
book about Sikaran authorized by Grandmaster Meliton Geronimo.
This book neither intends
nor claims to reveal any mysticism or secret of Sikaran.
This is solely because there
are neither secrets nor mysteries involved in Sikaran. Sikaran is composed of purely
offensive and defensive maneuvers systematically organized as an effective fighting art
and an exciting sport.
This is a must for all practitioners whether practitioners
of Sikaran. or not
To Order: Click Here
Original Balangkas of Sikaran
By Emmanuel Del Espiritu Querubin
9th Degree Red and White Belt
In the 1960’s Grandmaster Meliton
Geronimo developed Sikaran Balangkas
with the assistance of Jaime Geronimo
and Emmanuel Querubin, inspired and
encouraged by the Sikaran elders of Baras,
Rizal led by Cipriano Geronimo (last Hari of
Baras), Melencio Bigasin, Manuel Ocampo
(both Hari-turned Guro) Aurelio Cabacob,
Angeles Pilapil, and Servillano Javier (all
Sikaran Guros).
When Melton Geronimo appointed
Emmanuel Querubin Executive Assistant
for Research and Standards in the 1960’s,
it became his duty and responsibility to
journalize everything regarding Sikaran,
serve as record-keeper, disseminate, and
share what has been entrusted to him by
Grandmaster Meliton Geronimo.
This book, Original Balangkas of Sikaran is designed to provide
accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter
covered.
To Order: Click Here
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48 FMA Informative Vol4 No2 2015
The FMA Informative with the permission of Tambuli Media brings you just a little look at the publication of Mark V. Wiley book “Mastering Eskrima
Disarms”
Mastering Eskrima Disarms
By Mark V. Wiley
Forward (pages 1 - 2)
I like to tell people there are two Mark V. Wiley’s running around. There is the Mark Wiley
the martial arts public knows. This Mark V. Wiley has written no less than seven books
on Filipino martial arts (12 books in total), hundreds of articles, as well as having served
as book editor for Tuttle Publishing, Unique Publications and Multi-Media Books, and in
various editorial positions for Martial Arts Illustrated, Martial Arts Legends magazines and
the Journal of Asian Martial Arts.
From these books and magazines it is widely known that he is one of the 16 people
issued a masters certificate from the late GM Angel Cabales. He has taught seminars in
the USA, Europe and Asia as well as having traveled and trained in the Philippines on no
less than 15 separate occasions, not to mention his multiple trips to Malaysia, Singapore,
Taiwan and Hong Kong and having lived in Japan. This is the public Mark Wiley.
The less well-known Mark Wiley has teaching credentials in Biñas Dynamic Arnis
(under GM Herminio Biñas), Kalis Ilustrisimo (GM Antonio Ilustrisimo), Estalilla Kabaroan
Eskrima (GM Ramiro Estalilla), Lightning Scientific Arnis (GM Benjamin Luna Lema), Cinco
Tero Arnis (GM Carlos Escorpizo), Modern Arnis (GM Remy Presas) as well as in Ngo Cho
Kun (GM Alex Co) and Wing Chun Kuen (GM Robert Chu). And these are just the senior
teaching credentials he has earned in his 34 years in the arts.
What many martial artists do not know about Mark V. Wiley is that he is a doctor of
both Oriental and alternative medicines, with decades of experience and qualifications
in acupuncture, TuiNa, clinical QiGong, herbal medicine, Thai Yoga massage and muscle
energy technique. He also holds a master’s degree in health care management. As an
undergraduate he earned a bachelor’s degree in applied sociology with a minor in
medical anthropology, during which time he conducted research into home-based health
care systems in Scandinavia, and wrote papers on enthnomedicine in Africa, Melanesia
and China, and on various forms of magic, ritual and rites of passage in Southeast Asia
and New Guinea. He also helped classify Philippine martial artifacts at University of
Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. He also holds an Associate’s
Degree in Small Business Management.
In working with Mark I have found him to be a progressive thinker in the realm of Filipino martial arts. Being a former karate champion, to me
this is where the rubber meets the road. In talking and working with Mark I find that although we have different backgrounds we have one major
thing in common—we work with the underlying principles of our arts rather than just collecting techniques from whatever sources we can find. So
why make such a fetish about one aspect of eskrima and write a book on disarms?
One answer could be it is better to take away your opponent’s weapon than to continually face him. Another answer is that in a higher ethical
realm it is better to disarm your opponent than to damage or destroy him. Another answer is that Dr. Mark likes disarms and is knowledgeable
enough to write a book on them. If fact, not only as he gained a vast amount of personal experience at the hands of dozens of masters in the
Philippines and the United States, but he has interviewed them all at length about the concepts and methods behind the applications of their
systems. This treasure trove of knowledge is expressed within the pages of this book in a way that has not before been seen.
What answers the question for me is that when one gets over the anxiety of self-defense - the “can I protect myself?” anxiety - one can get
into what makes a martial arts tick. When this happens one can actually proceed to mastery. That much is obvious. What is not so obvious is that the
art of disarming is actually a microcosm for the entirety of Filipino martial arts. This is to say, the combination of the various parts of the body acting
in a coordinated effort, as opposed to segmenting or using only one or two parts of the body to execute. Structure, alignment, angling, flow, timing,
movement, distancing, recognition, leveraging, sensitivity and coordinated motion are all key principles of the Filipino martial arts, and are found
within disarms. THIS is what makes Mark Wiley’s new book so interesting, as these details are explained in vast detail!
Mastering Eskrima Disarms is one for beginners who want to learn some moves to add to their repertoire. This book is also for experienced
teachers who want to delve deeper into the depths of understanding Filipino weapon fighting. This book has something for everybody and I am
fortunate to have been able to read the advance manuscript... and also to be involved in the photographic demonstrations!
Professor Dan Anderson
6th Dan, Modern Arnis
Grandmaster, MA 80 Arnis
Chapter 1
Principles of Effective Disarming (pages 9 - 10)
Every inherently effective self-defense technique is guided by principles, whether or not its practitioners know them. Eskrima styles in general,
and their disarming skills in particular, depend on principles to guide correct application of movement and technique. Have you ever wondered
why sometimes a certain technique works well for you, and at other times it fails? The answer, most likely, is that you did not apply the correct
principle to its use. In other words, you applied it at the wrong time, or in the wrong range, or within the wrong technique. As a result, the technique
(function) did not follow the principle (form), and thus was unsuccessful in its purpose (application). Therefore, it can be said that when your
technique worked, it was by accident. When it comes to facing an armed opponent, doing things on purpose is the only way to do them. Knowing
the principles and concepts that support the technique is the way to purposefully apply techniques. If you’re not doing this, then you are merely
“swinging wood.”
In eskrima, principles are not generally categorized or written down as they are, for example, in many Chinese martial arts. Instead, they are
expressed in the movements and applications of the art’s practitioners. While many eskirmadores can effortlessly execute their art, the techniques
are not well articulated in their verbal teachings. They know what to do, and can tell you what they are doing, but they often are unsure of how to
explain the reasons why. More often than not, this is because the older masters cared more about applying their art than thinking, talking or writing
about it—and this is how the art has been passed down.
In the Philippines, eskrima lessons are often carried out in the method known as muestracion, where the teacher demonstrates and students
follow. Often times, the teacher shows countless variations of a single technique concept, yet not much detail is given and so it must be gleaned
through critical observation, probing questions and experience over time. Unfortunately, many practitioners are followers and not critical thinkers
who examine the inner workings of what it is they are doing. Being able to repeat someone else’s technique is not an indicator of mastery of the
technique itself.
Contrary to popular belief, techniques are not “the secret” of martial arts. Techniques are merely examples, or physical demonstrations, of
martial principles. If the principle upon which a technique is based is solid, and the technique is applied following its principles, then the technique
will be effective. On the contrary, if a technique is applied incorrectly because the principle of the technique is not known or understood, its chances
of success against a skilled opponent are greatly diminished. Again, a disarm might work by accident or by fortunate happenstance, but then it may
fail, too. In short: techniques are less important than the principles upon which they are based. This is true for all martial art techniques.
Vol4 No2 2015 FMA Informative 49
While disarms are not necessarily “essential” to surviving an encounter, they are a useful skill set that may save your life. The trouble is, disarms are
difficult to do well against an unwilling opponent—i.e., one who is firmly holding his weapon and intent upon injuring you with it. Because teachers
and students of eskrima spend so much time training together in cooperative settings, an accurate sense of actually applying disarms often is
neither gained nor fully appreciated. Parenthetically, I would say the same applies to joint locking techniques.
Training Progressions (page 15)
It is common when executing disarms in class and demonstrations for practitioners to do their flash disarms while the feeder (attacking partner)
merely stands unmoving, his strike stopping at precisely the point of impact, and finishing too far away to actually hit the target. There is no followthrough, no power past the impact point, no counter and no (or little) allowance of what would otherwise be a natural attacker reaction under such
circumstances.
Cooperative training is vital to the beginner’s learning curve. But, disarm training must progress to something more akin to the reality of
what may be faced in actuality. Simple steps can be taken by the “attacking” partner to accomplish this.
• Being in the proper range to actually be able to strike the defender.
• Increase striking speed and power with each repetition.
• Following through on strikes, so the defender must actually stop or redirect the strikes, or else be struck.
• Reacting naturally to the defender’s technique, rather than posing.
Practitioners can learn a lot about their art and themselves with such a training progression. It is simple, but allows the drill feeder to lead the session
and help the defending partner increase his timing, technique and structure over time. There are many more ways in which training progressions
can be developed in class, and each system and teacher will have their preference and focus. The point here is that there should be a progression in
place for students to advance their skill on purpose and not just hope for the best when the time comes to use it.
The following are just a few samples of the disarming techniques which are in the book.
Professor Herminio B. Binas of Binas Dynamic Arnis (page 157 - 160)
Books by Mark V. Wiley
Do you have these publications? Do you even know about them?
Well here is a chance, you can get them. Visit: Amazon.com - Click Here
Modified Pangamut (DVD Set Vol-1, 2 & 3)
By Master Marc J. Lawrence
The traditional arts are known as Kali, Eskrima or Arnis, stick, knife and hand to hand fighting
was developed over a period of many centuries in the Philippines as her people fought for their
independence from foreign invaders. Each skirmish with a new culture added to the Filipino Martial
Arts as warriors developed techniques to combat foreign styles. Subsequently, more than 100 different
Filipino Martial Arts styles developed, which can be grouped into three complete self-defense
systems which utilize sticks, swords, empty hands and other weapons. Our core system is a Mountain
Visayan fighting system bought to the USA by our system’s Founder (Pundador) GM Felix Roiles. His
Grandfather called it Pakamut also called Pangamut. This referred to having skilled hands in Cebuano, a
Visayan dialect. He shared this with Marc Lawrence, his families fighting system. Marc L awrence had his
own FMA fighting system that he had learned in his travels. In his travels and fighting other systems he
developed the Modified Pangamut System. This is what he teaches and fights with, Marc Lawrence is
our Punong Guro (Head Instructor) and he is a National Champion in the Filipino Martial Arts.
Volume 1: Stances & Footwork, Finger Locks, Sitting Position, Floor Defense, Disarms and Submissions...
Volume 2: Controlling the Axis, Multiple Strike Strategy, Defenses & Disarming …
Volume 3: Block and Counter, Drills and Disarms, Multiple Return Strikes Competition Drills, Learning
to Defend by Zones, Tournament Disarms, Distractions & Disarms, Vining of the Stick, Fighting Mixed
Weapon Tournaments, Concepts and Rules of Fighting, Choosing Fighting Greer, Competition Strategy,
Point Fighting Strategies, Continuous Competition Strategies, What Wins A Fight, What shots Judges
Look For…
Volume 4: Arnis De Mano ‘14 Uses of the Live Hand:’ - 14 Uses of the Live Hand from the
Arnis De Mano System when fighting with a single stick: Re-Enforce, Augment, Checks,
Passes, Jams, Pushes, Pulls, Grabs, Hooks, Spreads, Punching, Blocking, Pinning...
Volume 5: Cadena De Mano ‘The Chain of Hands’ - Cadena De Mano basic principals of
parry, check, counter strike on the inside and outside lines, including “V” footwork, body
positioning, entry and advanced concepts of defeat.
Order from Punong Guro Marc Lawrence and receive a package deal plus his book “The
Basics of Filipino Martial Arts”
To Order Masters magazine: Click Here
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