PINK UMBRELLA ESKRIMA

This is another very short footage of myself doing some beginner's Arnis/Kali/Eskrima moves--this time using my Nanay's old pink umbrella.

I videoed this while waiting for the rest of the family to leave the house to eat somewhere else.

And, no, there's no such thing as "Pink Umbrella Eskrima."

MY FIRST-EVER VIDEOED PRACTICE

After more than a year of never been able to practice (due to lectures, hospital duties, review classes, thesis work, and other "ordeals" of a graduating nursing student), I casually picked up one of my already-dusty Arnis/Kali/Eskrima sticks just this afternoon and made a few beginner's swings, and decided to video it.

I realized--just now--that videos can reveal many gaps (e.g., bad habits) that need to be worked on--especially if one only trains alone most of the time. Like myself.

This first-ever footage of myself doing a spur-of-the-moment "practice" is no exception. It indeed reveals a lot of bad habits.

This is a very short video (and bad-quality, too) for a viewer to make some sound assessment, but please feel free to leave a comment.

ARNIS / KALI / ESKRIMA TRAINING GROUPS IN ILOILO CITY

Iloilo City, just like its neighbors in the Panay Island and the Visayas region in general, has a rich and proud martial history and tradition.

During the Spanish era, Ilonggo conscripts--together with Cebuanos and other Visayans--were a mainstay of the Spanish armed forces in maintaining "peace" and "order" in both the northern (i.e., Luzon) and southern (i.e., Mindanao) parts of the country.

They pillaged local kingdoms, burned down tow ns, massacred insurgents, sowed fear to potential dissenters, and generally did most of the dirty work upon orders of the Spaniards.

Used as frontliners in battle, Ilonggo and other Visayan warriors were instrumental in forcing the different tribal leaders of Luzon and Mindanao to kneel before the Spaniards and lick their boots.

It's no wonder then why--even up to these days--Iloilo City remains one of the best places in the Visayas region to learn the art of indigenous and traditional sword, stick, and empty-hand fighting.

Here is the partial list of groups that teach Arnis/Kali/Eskrima in Iloilo City:

• UNO-BLANCO ESKRIMA SYSTEM. They're at La Paz Plaza on Sunday mornings, almost beside the tennis court. They don't wear uniforms, but when you see guys doing some Tai Chi moves (yes, they also do train and practice authentic Tai Chi), that's them. From the looks of what they're doing, theirs is a very efficient blade-based style. They're open to everyone but they don't accept just anyone. For details, you may contact Talibung Antikenyo of the Filipino Martial Arts Forum.

• NORTEGA ESKRIMA TRAINING GROUP. Grand Master Antonio Nortega, who was his family's duelista or representative fighter back in the old days, teaches this family system. From the looks of it, Nortega Eskrima seems more stick-based than blade-based. There's very minimal footwork, but the strikes are so powerful and "deceptive" they could surprise even a seasoned Arnis/Kali/Eskrima practitioner. Check out this YouTube video posted by a close friend to see a sample of their moves. For an appointment with Grand Master Nortega, you can either contact me (so I can hook you up with his senior students) or the person who posted the YouTube video.

• COMBATIVE AND SPORTIVE ARNIS SYSTEM ASSOCIATION. This group is led and founded by Master Guru Melecio Balberde from the municipality of Cabatuan. The style is a clever mix of traditional systems that are indigenous to Iloilo, Balintawak Eskrima, and Modern Arnis, Master Guru Balberde being a practitioner of Modern Arnis and also a former official of International Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines in Iloilo (though their website doesn't state this). They excel at sport Arnis/Kali/Eskrima competitions, and they have several smaller training groups around the city--at La Paz Plaza, in public and private schools, at Iloilo Sports Complex, and many others. For details, you may visit their website.

• PHILIPPINE DYNAMIC ARNIS. Grand Master Rogelio Galvarole is the founder and chief instructor of this group. Just like the Uno-Blanco Eskrima guys, they train at La Paz Plaza on Sundays, but you can also spot them on other days--usually mornings--and it's easy to do so because they're the largest group that does Arnis/Kali/Eskrima at the park. Another way to spot them is to look for a grey-haired guy who wears hakama in the middle of La Paz Plaza. From the looks of what they're doing, this system is also a mix of various styles, is more stick-based, and incorporates Karate and Tapondo/Combat Aikido moves in their repertoire.

• MODERN ARNIS-ILOILO CHAPTER. They may be too mainstream for some, but they also do very well even in full-contact tournaments (i.e., with minimal protective gear). For one, I have personally witnessed how Modern Arnis-Iloilo Chapter guys defeated Pekiti Tirsia Kali players in a full-contact tournament at Iloilo Sports Complex sometime in 1997 or 1998. Grand Tuhon Leo Gaje Jr of PTK was there. If my memory serves me right, only two PTK players won out of the seven or eight bouts. Five or six victories out of seven or eight bouts is no fluke, in my opinion. I learned just in April 2008 that it was Master Rosauro "Roy" De Leon of IMAFP-Iloilo who trained the Modern Arnis guys that competed back then. He also used to serve as the Arnis/Kali/Eskrima instructor of the criminology students and the police interns of the University of Iloilo. You can reach Master De Leon at +63 (33) 500-2749.

• FILMOCAN-SAN MIGUEL ESKRIMA CLUB-ILOILO CHAPTER. While this style is originally from the soils of our brave Cebuano brethren, the club already has a branch in Iloilo City and is being run by an Ilonggo instructor, Master Edward Ace Peler. FilMoCan-San Miguel Eskrima is old-style, blade-based Doce Pares. Master Peler, who now teaches a small group of select students, is a direct senior student (third-degree black belt) of the late Grand Master Filemon "Momoy" Canete's grandson, Grand Master Franchot "Panto" Flores. For contact details, you may inquire with Grand Master Flores through his Facebook account.

NIPPON KEMPO IN METRO MANILA

For seven years, I have collected many memories of Metro Manila that I still often bring to mind even while I'm now in Iloilo City.

One of these memories is Nippon Kempo, a rather lesser known, newfangled combat sport developed in Japan in the 1930s. We still don't have it here in the entire Western Visayas.

Like other forms of combat sports, such as Judo, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai, Nippon Kempo uses full-contact competitions and modern sport training methods to teach and assess students rather than the non-competitive, almost non-contact approaches of more traditional martial arts systems like Aikido. 

So, a Nippon Kempo practitioner doesn't neutralize attacks with some cosmic energy mumbo-jumbo, or "pull" his/her strikes, or deliver them in a semi-cooperative manner, or refuse to go full-contact because his/her techniques are so lethal for actual application.
 
Instead, he/she delivers his/her techniques with full power, blinding speed, deceitful cleverness, and reflexive killer instinct--just like he/she would outside the gym or dojo.

On the other hand, unlike Judo, Muay Thai, and Taekwondo, Nippon Kempo's repertoire of techniques is rather more exciting because it's pretty much like those used in Mixed Martial Arts: punches, kicks, knee strikes, wrestling, throws, foot sweeps, takedowns, ground fighting, joint locks, and submission holds. 

To allow students to practice these techniques in full force and actual speed--without going home ugly and disfigured--they must wear a set of (very heavy) protective gear called bogu, which consists of a head protector, a body armor, groin protector, hand wraps (though optional), and a pair of 8-ounce boxing gloves.

Nippon Kempo bouts usually last for three minutes, within which competitors must try to score an ippon or one full point against each other. The first competitor to score two ippons is the winner of the match.

The following are examples where an ippon is awarded:

1. When you've cleanly connected a flurry of well-timed punches or kicks to a protected area, such as the head.

2. When your opponent taps out due to a joint lock or submission hold.

3. When you've lifted your opponent above your waist line. (The presumption is that--without the protective gear--your opponent could no longer continue fighting if you slam him to the ground.) 

I had the opportunity to experience Nippon Kempo for two months under Coach Rio Ohmori in Makati City in 2006, and it was fun.

We held our classes back then at BA Lepanto Condominium along Paseo De Roxas Avenue. However, their new location now is at Punch Out Boxing Gym, World Center Building, 5th Floor, 330 De La Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City.

To win in a Nippon Kempo match, you really have to have an entire range of skills and techniques in both stand-up and ground fighting.

Just like in MMA, a good stand-up alone won't be enough. With zero background in clinch combat and ground fighting, even a good striker could end up tapping out or eating punches from above once the fight goes to the ground. 

I learned this beyond mere theory when I sparred with Coach Rio twice or thrice. During our feeling-out stage, he would tell me, "Very nice combos, CJ," but in just a matter of seconds after that, I would already be inside his tight triangle choke or would go flat on the mat with his crazy Judo foot sweeps.

After each match, I would just console myself with the fact that Coach Rio was a six-footer (he's the one standing behind me in the third photo and, in the video below, he's the only one wearing a black head protector), and he already was a Nippon Kempo black belt and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt then (maybe he's purple now, I'm not sure). I'm only 5'6" and, that time, was just a lowly BJJ white belt from another school.

As a system, Nippon Kempo has its share of shortcomings, too. I observed that, because of the heavy protection that the bogu provides, practitioners--especially the lazy ones--tend to form bad habits by forgetting/disregarding the "pain aspect."

Because of the thick protective gear, they can afford to sacrifice being hit (it doesn't hurt at all really--except when, say, a front kick misses a protected area, like your lower abdomen, and hits your upper right thigh instead, which happened to me, by the way, and made me limp for like four days) so that they can get closer to their opponents and increase their chances of landing a cleaner shot or launching a takedown.

I have seen some guys at the gym who occasionally did this tactic--even those Japanese black belts (Coach Rio's friends) who paid us a visit one time. (Watch the video below.)

On the streets, however, (where there's no bogu, of course) this tactic not only has very slim chances of success, it also has disaster written all over it. You'll likely end up having memorable injuries, or artless disfigurement, or even an untimely rendezvous with thine Creator. 

Despite this shortcoming (and even the relative obscurity it suffers compared to other combat sports), I think Nippon Kempo is still the next best thing to MMA because--unlike Judo, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, even BJJ and Boxing--you get to do a much wider range of techniques (not just the "usual" punches only, or kicks only, or punches and kicks only, or grappling only kind of thing) in full-power application but without the potential danger of getting seriously injured--or disfigured.

Through actual, full-power application, you get to test whether or not your techniques will work against a fully resisting opponent. Through regular sparring, you'll realize that techniques that don't work are soon abandoned, and the more effective ones are continuously fine-tuned against different attackers and defenders under different situations.

Also, with the full-contact spar sessions in Nippon Kempo, you always get to practice how to react or operate under the adrenal stress of actual (and usually unpredictable) attacks, giving you an already-familiar feeling--and hopefully enough wits and composure not to panic--during a potentially violent confrontation on the streets or inside a bar, especially if it's your first time. 

For those who are in Metro Manila and are interested in this fun combat sport, you can reach Coach Rio Ohmori at +63915-950-2135 and/or nipponkempo@mail2philippines.com.

 
Photo Source: The Martial Arts Club Website
Video Source: Nippon Kempo Philippines Website