Original Balintawak club members from left to right: Atty. Jose Villasin, Johnny Chiuten, founder Venancio Bacon, and Teofelo Velez. |
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| Also known as | Balintawak Eskrima |
|---|---|
| Focus | Stick fighting |
| Country of origin | Philippines |
| Creator | Venancio "Anciong" Bacon |
| Famous practitioners | Teodoro Buot Timoteo Maranga Arnulfo Mongcal Atty: Jose Villasin Bobby Tabimina Teofilo Velez Bobby Taboada |
| Parenthood | Lapu-Lapu, Bolo knife and others |
| Olympic sport | No |
Balintawak, also known as Balintawak Eskrima or Balintawak Arnis, is a style of Filipino martial art developed by Venancio Bacon in the 1950s from earlier tutelage of Lorenzo Saavedra. It is named after Cebu City's Balintawak Self Defense Club, where it was originally taught. In turn, the club took its name from the street of its location, Balintawak Street, where the original Balintawak masters trained.
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Early in the 20th century, the colonizing Spaniards left the Philippines, ending their 300-year rule. In their place, came the Americans. It was during this period of change that Venancio Bacon was born in 1912 in Carcar, Cebu. He grew up in San Nicolas town outside of Cebu City, he would become one of the Philippines’ most influential eskrimadors. He learned eskrima in the 1920s as a teenager. His formation as an eskrimador began in San Nicolas. This would later lead him to death matches, attacks, and eventually jail.
Bacon's only teacher was Lorenzo Saavedra, of San Nicolas, who during this time had established the Labangon Fencing Club. At a time when many different styles of eskrima abounded, Saavedra’s was called the Corto Linear, although he was known to have mastered other styles. His best students were Teodoro Saavedra, his nephew, and Venancio Bacon. The Labangon Fencing Club, however, eventually dissipated into oblivion.
In 1932, the Doce Pares Club was formed. Headed by Lorenzo Saavedra, the club was composed of three Saavedra eskrimadors and nine from the Cañete family. This constituted the original twelve needed to symbolically actualize the title Doce Pares, which was named in honor of the Frenchman whom Saavedra befriended and who he shared combat techniques with while in jail. Doce Pares also symbolized the Twelve Peers mentioned in the Matter of France - the knights or paladins of Charlemagne. Venancio Bacon was among the first members in the club and a few months later left the club due to arguments that the Doce Pares system was not an effective escrima.
World War II broke out in the Philippines in the early 1940s. With the onset of Japanese occupation, many eskrimadors became guerrilla fighters, employing their art for the defense of their nation. It was during this time that Teodoro Saavedra died at the hands of Japanese soldiers.
After the war, in 1952, along with Vincente Atillo, Delfin Lopez, Jesus Cui, Timoteo Maranga, Lorenzo Gonzales, Isidro Bardilas, Andres Olaibar, and a few 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. This shop was located in a small side street in Colon, called Balintawak Street.
The 1950s and 1960s was the "Golden Age" of eskrima in Cebu. Eskrimadors from various camps, mainly the two already mentioned, tested each other’s skills in all-out challenges. These resulted in injuries and sometimes deaths. Some were under honorable circumstances, while others treacherous. Vincente "Inting" Carin of Doce Pares found himself attacked by multiple assailants, incurring various injuries, while reciprocating lethal injuries on his attackers he was able to adapt the balintawak style fighting to fend off his assailants. Delfin Lopez was knifed from behind, resulting in his death. Venancio Bacon was ambushed in the dark while walking to his home in Labangon. He killed his assailant.[1]
Bacon was incarcerated for killing the attacker, who was armed with a knife, in self-defense, the judge ruled that Bacon’s martial arts skills could be considered a lethal weapon[1] and should have been used with restraint. Bacon was paroled from prison in the mid-1970s. When he returned to Cebu, he continued to check on students, making sure the quality of Balintawak was still up to his standards since he left. Bacon regularly attended training sessions conducted by Jose Villasin and Teofilo Velez. A few years after, Bacon died.[1]
Bacon's successors soon began to systematize the Balintawak curriculum. One was a lawyer named Jose Villasin, who set about to group the style into its various categories so that his students could master one set of related techniques and then move onto the next set of related techniques. At this point, several distinct schools of Balintawak emerged. Many of Bacon’s Balintawak students and some of his and the Saavedra's Doce Pares students continued to teach in the old method of random instruction, while Villasin taught in his "grouping" style.[2]
Today, it may be concluded that the original Balintawak of Bacon is no longer taught, though there are a number of Balintawak groups that continue to teach their version of the system. Some instructors use a "grouping" method for teaching the techniques while others continue to teach single responses in the traditional way. The principles and concepts of Balintawak have, however, found their way into many different Filipino martial arts methods, most notably Balintawak student Remy Presas' Modern Arnis.[3]
Balintawak principally teaches single stick fencing, in a dueling format, sometimes a small second stick is used to simulate a dagger. Bacon developed single stick techniques, as during his work-outs and training with other members of the Doces Pares Club before World War II, he would stab people with his wooden training dagger. Some say his dagger was taken from him by Saavedra, while others say he was simply asked not to train with it. Either way, Bacon with the help of Atty. Jose Villasin developed and optimized his techniques based upon single stick work. Atty. Jose Villasin with the tutelage of Bacon developed the twelve basic strikes which is now used worldwide.
Balintawak uses twelve basic strikes because the human body is limited in movement. These twelve strikes form the basis from which a practitioner can develop, basic, semi-advanced and advanced movements.[4]
There are only two formal ranks awarded by Balintawak Arnis . That has further expanded the techniques in these ranks into eight levels:[4]
All techniques must be demonstrated with power, control, and body mechanics. A student will automatically fail the "Completion of the Art" test if they drop their stick, swear or make accidental contact with their partner.[4]
Generally, a practitioner would need to be taught for two to three years to achieve a fully qualified instructor status because a student of their teaching would need to pass the "Completion of the Art", and they need to develop twenty-four techniques that are both unique and effective.[4]
Many Balintawak eskrimadors have become notable. These include Timoteo Maranga, Arnulfo Mongcal, Jose Villasin, Teodoro and Sam Buot, Teofilo Velez, and Bobby Taboada. They are the ones responsible for spreading Balintawak around the world. The two most prolific teachers of Balintawak were Villasin and Velez.
Some of the better-known current instructors are, GM Rudy Capito, GM Bobby Taboada, GM Bobby Tabimina, GM. Nick Elizar, GM Dr. Chris Go, GM Teddy Buot, Sam Buot, Sergio Arcel, GM Danilo Casio, GM Arturo Sanchez, GM Chito, GM Monnie and GM Eddie Velez (Sons of GGM. Velez), GM Dr. Ben Marapao, Master Boy Baguio, GM Nene Gaabucayan, GM Rico Carino, GM Crispulo Atillo, Master Carlo KALOY Campana, Master Jocel Yuson, Master Rich Parsons and GM Henry Jayme.