Balintawak Eskrima or Balintawak Arnis is a Filipino martial art created by Grandmaster Venancio "Anciong" Bacon in the 1950s to enhance and preserve the combative nature of arnis which he felt was being watered down by other styles of Philippine martial arts. It is named after a small street in Cebu where it was founded.
Balintawak
Original Balintawak club members from left to right: José Villasin, Johnny Chiuten, Venancio Bacon, and Teofelo Velez.
In 1932, the Doce Pares Club was formed, composed of eskrimadors from the Saavedra and the Cañete family. This was headed by Lorenzo Saavedra. Venancio Bacon was among the first members of the Doce Pares Club and became one of its best fighters. According to an interview in Bladed Hand, a Filipino documentary about Filipino martial arts, Grandmaster Ciriaco "Cacoy" Cañete said that Bacon was among the best fighters in the Doce Pares Club, second only to "Doring" Saavedra.
In the 1950s, together with Delfin López Timoteo Maranga and others, Bacon established a new club, calling it the Balintawak Street Self-Defense Club. The newly formed club started training in the backyard of a watch shop owned by Eduardo Baculi, one of Bacon's students, in the titular street, a small side street in the Colon St. area.
Ted Buot was the only student of GM Bacon to teach at his club in the back of the watch store. Buot would be teaching and Bacon would show up and Buot would hand him his stick to teach with. When Bacon was done he would hand the stick back to Buot and leave.
During the 1950s and 1960s, eskrimadors from various camps, mainly Doce Pares and Balintawak, tested each other's skills in all-out challenges, sometimes by arrangement and sometimes by ambush, often resulting in injuries and, more rarely, deaths. In one such ambush, Venancio Bacon was caught in the dark while walking to his home in Labangon, and killed his assailant by snapping his spine.[1] Bacon was tried and imprisoned, with the judge ruling that Bacon's fighting skills could be considered a lethal weapon[1] and should have been used with restraint. Upon his release on parole in the mid-1970s, Bacon returned to Cebu and Balintawak. He did not resume leadership, but did regularly attended training sessions conducted by José Villasin and Teofilo Velez until his death a few years later. Per Buot, both Bacon and Buot were always welcome at many of the Doces Pares homes.
Curriculum
Bacon developed single stick techniques. With the help of Villasin he developed and optimized his techniques based upon single stick work. Villasin, under the tutelage of Bacon, developed its basic strike and defense patterns which are now used by most Balintawak practitioners. This pattern forms the basis from which a practitioner can develop basic, semi-advanced, and advanced movements.[2] All techniques must be demonstrated with power, control, and body mechanics. There has been some discussion that Velez brought the idea of the patterns to Villasin and shared it with him. This does not detract at all from the contributions Villasin made within his club and the lineage that comes from his instruction.
The Buot lineage teaches in the same methodology as Bacon originally taught. This is not a claim of being better, it is just a statement as the pattern training above could easily be argued to be a better system to reaching more people. This is mentioned here for historical reference and to list the minority training as referenced above.
In Balintawak, the stick is only used to enhance and train the individual for bare hands fighting, and to achieve perfection in the art of speed, timing and reflexes necessary to acquire defensive posture and fluidity in movement. It aims to harness one's natural body movement and awaken one's senses to move and react. It guarantees its practitioner to experience a revelation in the fundamentals of street fighting.[3] Twelve basic strikes: Left temple, right temple, right floating ribs/kidney, left floating ribs/kidney, navel, genital area, left breast, left knee, right knee, right eye, left eye, crown of head.
Systematization
Later, some of Bacon's successors soon began to systematize the Balintawak curriculum. One was José Villasin, a self-defense instructor at University of Visayas who grouped the techniques in various categories so his students could master one set of techniques and then move to the next set of related techniques. The GROUPING SYSTEM was taken from the Traditional way of teaching from Venancio "Anciong" Bacon. Jose Villasin also teach the "Traditional Balintawak System" the old method of Balintawak System to few of his chosen student. At this point, several distinct schools of Balintawak emerged teaching the "grouping method".
While those like Villasin taught using the "grouping method", some of Bacon's students and his associates continued to teach in the (Traditional System) old method of random instruction.[4]
Today, there are a number of Balintawak groups teaching different versions of the system. Most instructors use the "grouping" method for teaching the techniques while others continue to teach in the traditional way, as Bacon used to teach.
Influence
The principles and concepts of Balintawak have, however, found their way into many different Filipino martial arts. Most notable is Modern Arnis, founded by Remy Presas who studied Balintawak under Arnulfo Mongcal, who also introduced him to Anciong Bacon.[5] Tat Kun Tao is created by Joe Go, one of Venancio Bacon's earliest students. This is an unarmed form of Balintawak with influences from Chinese martial arts such as Tai Chi and Five Ancestors Boxing.
balintawak, eskrima, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, ad. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Balintawak Eskrima news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations August 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Balintawak Eskrima or Balintawak Arnis is a Filipino martial art created by Grandmaster Venancio Anciong Bacon in the 1950s to enhance and preserve the combative nature of arnis which he felt was being watered down by other styles of Philippine martial arts It is named after a small street in Cebu where it was founded BalintawakOriginal Balintawak club members from left to right Jose Villasin Johnny Chiuten Venancio Bacon and Teofelo Velez Also known asBalintawak EskrimaFocusStick fighting StreetfightingCountry of originPhilippinesCreatorVenancio Anciong BaconFamous practitionersJose Villasin Teofilo Velez Timoteo Marangga Teodorico Teddy Buot and Delfin LopezBalintawak Street in Colon Street Cebu City Philippines Contents 1 History 2 Curriculum 2 1 Systematization 3 Influence 4 Gallery 5 Further reading 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory EditIn 1932 the Doce Pares Club was formed composed of eskrimadors from the Saavedra and the Canete family This was headed by Lorenzo Saavedra Venancio Bacon was among the first members of the Doce Pares Club and became one of its best fighters According to an interview in Bladed Hand a Filipino documentary about Filipino martial arts Grandmaster Ciriaco Cacoy Canete said that Bacon was among the best fighters in the Doce Pares Club second only to Doring Saavedra In the 1950s together with Delfin Lopez Timoteo Maranga and others Bacon established a new club calling it the Balintawak Street Self Defense Club The newly formed club started training in the backyard of a watch shop owned by Eduardo Baculi one of Bacon s students in the titular street a small side street in the Colon St area Ted Buot was the only student of GM Bacon to teach at his club in the back of the watch store Buot would be teaching and Bacon would show up and Buot would hand him his stick to teach with When Bacon was done he would hand the stick back to Buot and leave During the 1950s and 1960s eskrimadors from various camps mainly Doce Pares and Balintawak tested each other s skills in all out challenges sometimes by arrangement and sometimes by ambush often resulting in injuries and more rarely deaths In one such ambush Venancio Bacon was caught in the dark while walking to his home in Labangon and killed his assailant by snapping his spine 1 Bacon was tried and imprisoned with the judge ruling that Bacon s fighting skills could be considered a lethal weapon 1 and should have been used with restraint Upon his release on parole in the mid 1970s Bacon returned to Cebu and Balintawak He did not resume leadership but did regularly attended training sessions conducted by Jose Villasin and Teofilo Velez until his death a few years later Per Buot both Bacon and Buot were always welcome at many of the Doces Pares homes Curriculum EditBacon developed single stick techniques With the help of Villasin he developed and optimized his techniques based upon single stick work Villasin under the tutelage of Bacon developed its basic strike and defense patterns which are now used by most Balintawak practitioners This pattern forms the basis from which a practitioner can develop basic semi advanced and advanced movements 2 All techniques must be demonstrated with power control and body mechanics There has been some discussion that Velez brought the idea of the patterns to Villasin and shared it with him This does not detract at all from the contributions Villasin made within his club and the lineage that comes from his instruction The Buot lineage teaches in the same methodology as Bacon originally taught This is not a claim of being better it is just a statement as the pattern training above could easily be argued to be a better system to reaching more people This is mentioned here for historical reference and to list the minority training as referenced above In Balintawak the stick is only used to enhance and train the individual for bare hands fighting and to achieve perfection in the art of speed timing and reflexes necessary to acquire defensive posture and fluidity in movement It aims to harness one s natural body movement and awaken one s senses to move and react It guarantees its practitioner to experience a revelation in the fundamentals of street fighting 3 Twelve basic strikes Left temple right temple right floating ribs kidney left floating ribs kidney navel genital area left breast left knee right knee right eye left eye crown of head Systematization Edit Later some of Bacon s successors soon began to systematize the Balintawak curriculum One was Jose Villasin a self defense instructor at University of Visayas who grouped the techniques in various categories so his students could master one set of techniques and then move to the next set of related techniques The GROUPING SYSTEM was taken from the Traditional way of teaching from Venancio Anciong Bacon Jose Villasin also teach the Traditional Balintawak System the old method of Balintawak System to few of his chosen student At this point several distinct schools of Balintawak emerged teaching the grouping method While those like Villasin taught using the grouping method some of Bacon s students and his associates continued to teach in the Traditional System old method of random instruction 4 Today there are a number of Balintawak groups teaching different versions of the system Most instructors use the grouping method for teaching the techniques while others continue to teach in the traditional way as Bacon used to teach Influence EditThe principles and concepts of Balintawak have however found their way into many different Filipino martial arts Most notable is Modern Arnis founded by Remy Presas who studied Balintawak under Arnulfo Mongcal who also introduced him to Anciong Bacon 5 Tat Kun Tao is created by Joe Go one of Venancio Bacon s earliest students This is an unarmed form of Balintawak with influences from Chinese martial arts such as Tai Chi and Five Ancestors Boxing Gallery Edit Further reading EditManingas Rad 2015 Balintawak Lessons In Eskrima iUniverse ISBN 978 1491749999 Wiley Mark V 1997 Filipino Martial Culture Tuttle Publishing ISBN 0 8048 2088 0 Wiley Mark V 2000 Filipino Fighting Arts Theory and Practice Tuttle Publishing ISBN 0 86568 180 5 Russell John VMA Instructors Retrieved 8 July 2013 VMA Instructors The Balintawak System of Arnis Escrima Archived from the original on 2010 03 16 Retrieved 8 July 2013 Buot Sam 2015 Balintawak Eskrima Tambuli Media ISBN 978 069 231 2995 A Message from Jacqueline C Villasin Atty Jose Villasin s daughterSee also EditArnisReferences Edit a b Eskrimadors A Filipino Martial Arts Documentary Archived from the original on 2018 08 08 Retrieved 2019 04 14 Thurston B 2007 Curriculum Guide for Balinatwak Arnis Balintawak Arnis pp 3 7 Simhota Ko Dong Anciong Bacon Retrieved 8 July 2013 Russell John Balintawak Arnis Escrima Archived from the original on 14 September 2009 Retrieved 2009 08 23 History of the Balintawak Style Retrieved 2009 08 23 dead link External links EditArchive footage of Anciong Bacon training with his students in Fort San Pedro Balintawak Sugbu Arnis Eskrima Inc Traditional Villasin Fighting System Consolacion Cebu headed by Grandmaster Carlo Kaloy Campana Filipino Martial Arts Digest Special Edition 2007 Buot Balintawak Interviews with Teddy and Sam Buot PDF Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Balintawak Eskrima amp oldid 1121043772, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
