kali or escrima did not originate with the moros but jointly melded with western swordfighting?
Socrat...@gmail.com
THE HEROES OF CEBUANO ESKRIMA:
Nemesis of the Moro Pirates
By: Celestino C. Macachor
What the early pseudo-historians probably did not foresee was the
speed at which information technology can debunk the slanted history
of the Filipino Martial Arts. Two decades ago, digging into the
veracity of distorted historical data can be arduous and library
research a protracted undertaking. Thanks to the internet revolution,
nowadays, the burden of proof on the existence of a mother art called
kali the supposed progenitor of eskrima / arnis / estokada lay heavy
on the very people that fabricated this story.
But internet information is not enough, tough field work and
multimedia research and interviews of living descendants of FMA
practitioners are imperative to support our theory that:
1.) Eskrima / arnis / estokada did not pre-date the arrival of the
Spaniards as earlier claimed by Filipino American FMA practitioners
but was actually developed during the Spanish colonization of the
archipelago. It was a hybrid martial art combining Spanish Renaissance
rapier fencing with a plebeian form of stick fighting by the native
Filipinos and was developed primarily in the Christianized coastal
villages of the Visayan islands of Cebu, Bohol, Panay, Leyte Negros,
and coastal provinces of Luzon namely, Zambales, Pampanga, Ilocos and
Batangas that were vulnerable to sea-borne Moro attacks.
2.) Spanish recruitment of Cebuano, Boholano, Macabebe conscripts
in the pacification of Sulu and Mindanao. Don Sebastian Hurtado de
Corcuera's administration was credited in the history books as having
successfully pacified Sulu with his policy of recruiting the best
native Christian warriors.
3.) Eskrima reached its pivotal development at about the same year
(1635) Corcuera became Governor General and this coincided with the
introduction of the Chavacano language by the 1,000 Creole Spanish
speaking Cebuano expeditionary force under the command of Captain Juan
de Chavez upon the orders of Bishop Fray Pedro of the Archdiocese of
Santissima Nombre de Jesus (Cebu)
4.) The role of the warrior Jesuit priests that accompanied De
Chavez's expeditionary force. They also taught orasciones to the
Christianized Cebuano natives during the long boat trip to Zamboanga.
Thus orascion became an integral ritual among eskrimadors.
5.) Preponderance of Spanish terms in almost all eskrima styles -
i.e., abanico, fraille, crossada, boca y lobo, planchada, rompida, de
cadena, amarra, carrenza, sumbrada, cadena de pasa, senorita, etc.
In the past articles for the Rapid Journal magazine, Ned Nepangue and
I challenged the widespread fallacies about the FMA. The most
contentious issue related to the kali myth is that it originated in
Muslim Mindanao. Notwithstanding my argument on kali I have nothing
but admiration and awe for the bravery and fighting skill of the Moro
people. However, despite their ferocity in battle there is nothing in
eskrima that we see today that is remotely related to a Moro fighting
style.
I've lived in Mindanao for twenty-two years, unlike Cebu where there
is probably one eskrimador for every square kilometer, the eskrimadors
there are too few and far between and all of them trace their lineage
to Cebu. In Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, I found out the old founder of
Lucenara Eskrima de Combate came from Tuburan, northwest of Cebu
province. The next eskrima you can find is 176 kilometers away in
Cagayan de Oro, and it's Chapter 26 of Balintawak Eskrima. Roughly 140
kms. away from Cagayan de Oro Pabling Cabahug and Jesus Abella the
stalwarts of Modernos Largos Eskrima in Ozamiz are also Cebuanos. A
Muslim customer in Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte confirmed that kali the
martial art does not exist. He mentioned though the term rido, which
means a bloody vendetta war of attrition between two rival Muslim
families. However, the igso' (Muslim brother) promised me that should
he find one kali master he would immediately send a text message to my
former Sales Rep Rudy Siao, his kumpadre. That was more than six-
years ago, now that I'm back in my hometown Metro Cebu I still
maintain a "hotline" with Rudy, still expecting the much awaited kali
scoop. Until now all messages I get from him are green jokes.
Except for silat / kuntao that many kali fanatics unsuccessfully try
to connect with FMA, not a single Filipino Muslim grandmaster has come
out to the fore. Secrecy? Then why is everyone in the U.S. selling VHS
kali videos of this so-called secret Martial Art? So who's the windbag
who spilled all the secrets of kali to the Caucasians and not to his
brethren Pinoys? Simply preposterous! Practically 98% of the middle
20th century grandmasters the very pioneers and innovators of the FMA
are Cebuanos. So where's the Moro kali grandmaster?
The most compelling evidence to prove our theory on the origins of
eskrima are the epic stories of Solferino Borinaga of Pilar, Camotes
and the Sabanal saga beginning with the story of the early pioneer of
Moalboal Laurente "Laguno" Sabanal down to the living heirs of his son
Pablo "Amboy Kidlat" Sabanal.
SOLFERINO "KAPITAN PERONG PAK-AN" BORINAGA
In stark contrast to the story of the blind kali princess Josefina of
Gandara, Samar, a story that not a single senior citizen in Gandara
can recall, the story of Borinaga can be told and retold with the
consistency of a Michael Jordan free three throw. While in Manila, I
was lucky enough to get a cab driven by a young man in his late
twenties who comes from Pilar, Camotes.
No detail of the cab driver's Borinaga story differed significantly
with Master Yuly Romo's version or historian Evangeline Lavilles de
Paula's chronicle in her book Cebu: In Legend and History. In a
previous Rapid article New Theories on the Origins of Eskrima, my
assumption that Borinaga was an eskrimador was purely speculative,
until I got a surprise text message from Master Yuly Romo who I
haven't met personally at that time which read: "Soferino "Kapitan
Perong Pak-an" Kabigting Borinaga of Pilar, Camotes, banggi-itang
eskrimador sa isla sa puting baybayon" (Soferino "Kapitan Perong"
Cabigting Borinaga eskrima expert of white beach island). I never had
so much adrenaline rush since my first date when I got this
confirmation from one of the most respected icons of eskrima. Now, I
have an alias and a name of his system and the full details of the
story!
I tried to get in touch with Master Yuly that very day through the
local landline he gave as I was in incidentally in Metro Manila at
that time for an official business. But due to conflict in our
schedules we had to postpone the meeting the following month. I
finally got to hear Master Yuly's version of the Borinaga story
sometime in December 2004 at the Hap Chan Tea House in Makati City.
Solferino "Kapitan Perong Pak-an" Borinaga came from Cabalian,
Southern Leyte who migrated to Pilar a tiny islet that is a part of
Camotes group of islands northwest of Cebu province. He kept watch of
marauding Moro pirates from the mouth of a cave overhanging on a cliff
about eight stories high from the shore. This natural formation
offered a panoramic view of the horizon and was very well suited as a
balwarte (watchtower) because of its strategic location. From the
cliff, Kapitan Perong designed an ingenious catapult made of five live
bamboo poles carefully selected from among several plants growing in
the vicinity of the cliff. The five robust poles were bent to about 45
degrees and tied securely with abaca ropes to sturdy pegs just a few
meters from the tip.
Kapitan Perong brandishing his lampirong (Visayan version of Moro
barong blade) would "horse" mount at the tip of the bundled bamboo
poles and upon his signal to cut loose the harness would be propelled
several feet above the air flying like superman with the trajectory
precisely aimed at the incoming paraos (Moro sailboats). Landing
accurately on the harsha (parao sails) for a soft impact, the element
of surprise and seeing a man flying from the air would leave the Moros
shocked with very little time to react. Then single-handedly he would
finish off all the Moro raiders in the parao with his blinding speed
and superior eskrima skills.
This daring display of aerial acrobatics earned him the moniker
Kapitan Perong Pak-an (Winged Captain Perong or the Flying Captain
Perong). And those who didn't see the ingenuity of his natural
catapult actually believed he had supernatural powers. A flying
swordsman leaping out of nowhere scared the daylights out of the Moro
raiders and they never came back to pillage the islands of Camotes
again.
Moro warriors geared up for raid
Borinaga's son Martin took over the leadership of the tiny islet of
Camotes, which used to be called Isla sa Putting Baybayon (White Beach
Island) and renamed it after his wife Pilar. The only living master of
Kapitan Perong's system called Repikada Pegada Eskrima is Yuly Romo
who teaches the style as supplementary lessons to Ka'li Ilustrisimo.
He inherited the system from his uncle Tatay Anas Romo who acquired it
from Emong Urias of Guindulman, Bohol. Emong Urias and his paisano
(compatriot) Pedro Cortez once taught close quarters techniques to the
late GM Antonio Ilustrisimo. During his youhful exile in Mindanao, GM
Antonio Ilustrisimo learned the subtleties of praksyon a technique
outside of the original Ilustrisimo family system from both Boholano
masters. Tatang never learned "kali" or eskrima from any Moro master
in Mindanao according to Master Yuly Romo. That's a serious blow to
the Moro myth in the Ilustrisimo system!
THE SABANAL SAGA:
LAURENTE "LAGUNO" SABANAL, HIS SON AMBOY KIDLAT AND DESCENDANTS
The story of Laurente Sabanal probably took place at about the same
time as the Borinaga story. Laurente "Laguno" Sabanal was imprisoned
for killing a Spanish guardia civil in Bohol sometime in the mid
nineteenth century. He later escaped and fled to Moalboal on a
rowboat. Finding the place rich in fish, the fugitive went back to
Bohol to bring his family to their new home.
The town of Moalboal used to be called Laguno to honor the man who has
successfully repulsed Moro pirates on the shores of this rustic
southern Cebu town. A batang or huge driftwood lay on the mangrove
shores of Moalboal that is widely believed to be the final burial
ground of Laurente Sabanal. It was also here that his magic cane that
once struck fear among the encroaching Moro pirates was buried. Today,
the batang that Moalboalnons call Laguno is still visible during low
tide on the shores where a fish market now stands nearby. It is ironic
indeed that in the municipal hall of present day Moalboal stands a
monument of Dr. Jose Rizal, but none for the man who once pioneered
and defended the town's women, children, their religion and culture.
And to add salt to injury, the credit for the origin of the martial
art that Sabanal practiced and probably helped develop and innovate
went to his former nemesis.
Part of the eskrima apprenticeship passed on by Laguno to his son
Pablo "Amboy Kidlat" Sabanal involved a ritual of casting spells on
lana (coconut oil) that gave them protection from evil forces. The
ritual took place at a cemetery on the night of Good Friday. The
traditional method of footwork exercise also made use of three coconut
shells during moonlit nights. Amboy Kidlat would challenge anyone to
hit him in any part of his body without losing his footing on the
coconut shells and at the same time successfully foiling all attacks.
As a prerequisite, the apprentice would have to undergo full contact
sparring also known as juego todo with the use of rolled upak, the
outer dead skin of a coconut palm.
Pablo "Amboy Kidlat" Sabanal was a drifter on horseback who roamed the
towns of southwest Cebu to teach eskrima. One of the inheritors of the
system we interviewed was the late Julian Goc-ong a decorated World
War II veteran who acquired it from his uncle Felix "Titi" Goc-ong
A contemporary of Moro-moro stylist and fellow townmate Telesforo
Subing-subing, "Titi" joined a labor strike in the Hilo plantation
where he once worked. An American officer on horseback tried to break
the picket line, but "Titi" did not budge an inch and instead hit the
horse with a powerful punch on the face knocking it down and its
American rider. The incident earned him the respect of the American
plantation official who later became a matchmaker of juego todo (no
holds barred) fights. Titi beat the Hilo Eskrima Champion and later
killed an African American in a fair duel.
Titi was reputed to be very fast with his hands that he could catch a
live fish in the shallows barehanded. When Manoy Julian was
interviewed for this article he was very explicit in telling us that
they do not have a name for the eskrima style of Amboy Kidlat. It was
simply called eskrima, however for purposes of making a distinction of
their system from the others and it being the dominant technique of
their methodology, he called it Abanico de Vertical which is just one
of the styles they practiced along with the florete, fraille, juego
literada techniques.
The other techniques that comprise Abanico de Vertical are:
Fraile- basically kulob / hayang (pronation-supination) and
ginunting, espada corta, punta y daga techniques
Florete- basically double stick.
Juego Literida- akin to Lastico technique to counter aggressive
opponents
Cadena de Pasa- a fluid motion of continuous double stick strikes
starting from the lower extremities to the head or vice versa.
Julian started learning the art of eskrima as a teenager with a
certain Himaya as his first instructor who taught him the first the
double stick florete technique. When Felix "Titi" Goc-ong arrived from
Hawaii in 1922, he gathered all his nephews to train in eskrima.
Julian along with cousin Dalmacio "Maciong" Goc-ong trained with their
Tio Titi in Barangay Nanca during moonlit nights. Eskrima in the old
days was taught at night to maintain secrecy. The highlight of these
nocturnal workouts was the triangular footwork drill. The exercise
requires alternate stepping on three coconut shells cut in half to
develop balance and body angling.
Julian Goc-ong died in February 19, 2003. He passed on the eskrima of
Amboy Kidlat now known as Abanico de Vertical to his son Patricio Goc-
ong a Nestle sports executive and former two-time Philippine
weightlifting champion in the bantamweight division.
Teodoro "Totong" Nuevo was 84 years old at the time we interviewed him
in 2002 near the ancestral home of Amboy Kidlat in Moalboal. Noy
Totong also told us of the story of the other eskrimadors of the
Sabanal clan; among them was Jose Sabanal a prodigious fighter who was
known to have defeated seven armed attackers while on the ground. He
made good use of his hands and feet to block and strike at the
attackers. Another extraordinary member of the clan was the younger
sister of Amboy Kidlat, Silvina " Insi Benang" Sabanal. Manoy Totong
narrated that Insi Benang was a practitioner of tagolilong the art of
invisibility, camouflage and deception akin to Japanese ninjitsu.
Another skilled eskrimador belonging to the clan was Filomeno "Ingko
Menong" Sabanal a man of superhuman strength who can lift a heavy
metal grinder with his teeth.
Although he never had formal education Amboy Kidlat spoke
conversational Spanish and memorized long Latin orasciones, according
to Noy Totong. Amboy Kidlat's proficiency in Spanish despite a low
educational background is interesting because he could have acquired
it from his father Laurente. Who could have taught Laurente the
language of the colonizers at a time when barely 2% of the population
spoke Spanish, unless he was a privileged warrior class once trained
as a mercenary by the Spaniards in the pacification of Mindanao? In
his book The Filipino Martial Arts Dan Inosanto fondly recalled that
on their way to a TV appearance, his revered instructor GM Juanito La
Coste who spoke fluent Spanish went out of his way to assist as
interpreter for a Mexican family having trouble getting a bus ride.
It is very intriguing indeed that Lacoste who spoke pidgin' English
and who probably came from a poor working class Filipino family could
speak the Spanish language reserved only for the rich and famous back
in his home country. We can only surmise that GM Lacoste and the
other Cebuano pioneers in the U.S. like Jack Santos, Telesporo
Subingsubing and Lucky Lucaylucay descended from the same warrior
class ancestors of Solferino Borinaga and Laurente Sabanal. GM
Lacoste's hometown is still a mystery, however, here's the real
clincher: GMs Julian Goc-ong, Telesporo Subingsubing, Lucky
Lucaylucay and Jack Santos all come from the same town - Balamban,
Cebu where the drifter on horseback Amboy Kidlat once taught eskrima.
Amboy Kidlat bore children from an illicit affair, one of them was
Brigido who also inherited his eskrima and extraordinary strength.
Wrongly imprisoned for stealing bananas and coconuts from a neighbor,
Brigido bolted out of jail by bending the iron grills with his bare
hands.
The only living daughter of Amboy Kidlat at this writing is Facunda
"Aling Cunda" Sabanal Berro. Aling Cunda was born in Tunga, Moalboal
on November 25, 1924. One of Aling Cunda's fondest memories of her
late father was during World War II, when she saw how her father
intimidated a Japanese soldier who barged into their home, by bending
a crowbar right before the eyes of the frightened intruder and slammed
it on his chest. From then on, no Japanese soldiers knocked on their
doors again.
Aling Cunda learned eskrima by simply observing her father teach his
brothers Brigido, Serapion, Alfonso, Ubaldo and elder sisters
Magdalena and Segundina. Aside from her father one of her biggest
influences was her aunt Insi Benang Sabanal, a ferocious fighter who
she remembered foiled an attempted rape by nearly suffocating the
attacker to death with a tight submission lock.
Aling Cunda has a collection of mystical panyo (handkerchief)
inscribed with Latin incantations that they used as headband for
protection. When Luzvisminda Aling Cunda's daughter showed us an old
picture of her grandmother Demetria, Aling Cunda fondly recounted that
her mother was also an eskrimador even before she met her father Amboy
Kidlat. When we asked why there were so many women eskrimadors in her
era, Aling Cunda confirmed what we had been expecting all along. She
was the first and probably the last living eskrimador we interviewed
to corroborate that the primary purpose in learning the art was to
defend their villages against Moro pirates.
Women being the favorite prey of Moro raiders for their harem, it is
not surprising that some of them were equally deadly fighters. Even
during the early 20th century Moro pirates continue to sow terror on
the coastlines of Cebu, her elder brother Serapion took on the job of
their grandfather Laurente in defending Moalboal against Moro raids.
This firsthand account on the use of eskrima against Moro pirates is
the final seal to prove that our theory on the origins of the Filipino
Martial Arts is historically correct!
Aling Cunda is a testament of her generation's courage, strength,
tenacity and profound spirituality. Truly a remarkable woman and
eskrimador, the last living child of the legendary Pablo "Amboy
Kidlat" Sabanal and granddaughter of Laurente "Laguno" Sabanal, the
true hero of the south and probably the first to introduce the art of
eskrima to the island of Cebu.
Dirty Sick Pig
> THE HEROES OF CEBUANO ESKRIMA:
>
> Nemesis of the Moro Pirates
>
> By: Celestino C. Macachor
SNIP STOLEN ARTICLE.
just the crab
In fact, sword fighting was stopped by the Spaniards, so using sticks
was
developed instead of actual swords, it was very much the same in Japan
for
very different reasons.
As native Filipinos' habit of using newly accepted words, escrima was
used, it is typical Filipino, to use what is popular instaed of the
native
word, for example tinidor and kuchara instead of the native word (yes,
natives do have words for them) it happened!
Very poorly investigated article, sorry...
joek...@gmail.com
> THE HEROES OF CEBUANO ESKRIMA:
>
> Nemesis of the Moro Pirates
>
> By: Celestino C. Macachor
>
> What the early pseudo-historians probably did not foresee was the
> speed at which information technology can debunk the slanted history
> of the Filipino Martial Arts. Two decades ago, digging into the
> veracity of distorted historical data can be arduous and library
> research a protracted undertaking. Thanks to the internet revolution,
> nowadays, the burden of proof on the existence of a mother art called
> kali the supposed progenitor of eskrima / arnis / estokada lay heavy
> on the very people that fabricated this story.
>
> But internet information is not enough, tough field work and
> multimedia research and interviews of living descendants of FMA
> practitioners are imperative to support our theory that:
>
> 1.) Eskrima / arnis / estokada did not pre-date the arrival of the
> Spaniards as earlier claimed by Filipino American FMA practitioners
> but was actually developed during the Spanish colonization of the
> archipelago. It was a hybrid martial art combining Spanish Renaissance
> rapier fencing with a plebeian form of stick fighting by the native
> Filipinos and was developed primarily in the Christianized coastal
> villages of the Visayan islands of Cebu, Bohol, Panay, Leyte Negros,
> and coastal provinces of Luzon namely, Zambales, Pampanga, Ilocos and
> Batangas that were vulnerable to sea-borne Moro attacks.
PLEBIAN FORM OF STICK FIGHTING??? BWAHAHHAR It closely follows kali as
can be seen in other S.Asian stick fighting forms...
> 3.) Eskrima reached its pivotal development at about the same year
> (1635) Corcuera became Governor General and this coincided with the
> introduction of the Chavacano language by the 1,000 Creole Spanish
> speaking Cebuano expeditionary force under the command of Captain Juan
> de Chavez upon the orders of Bishop Fray Pedro of the Archdiocese of
> Santissima Nombre de Jesus (Cebu)
>
> 4.) The role of the warrior Jesuit priests that accompanied De
> Chavez's expeditionary force. They also taught orasciones to the
> Christianized Cebuano natives during the long boat trip to Zamboanga.
> Thus orascion became an integral ritual among eskrimadors.
teaching "rapier" fighting doesn't equate with SPANISH BASED nor does
it show in any thing except posibly the footwook of modern fighters
> 5.) Preponderance of Spanish terms in almost all eskrima styles -
> i.e., abanico, fraille, crossada, boca y lobo, planchada, rompida, de
> cadena, amarra, carrenza, sumbrada, cadena de pasa, senorita, etc.
preponderence in all things in Philippines... a huge leap that falls
way short!
>
> I've lived in Mindanao for twenty-two years, unlike Cebu where there
> is probably one eskrimador for every square kilometer, the eskrimadors
> there are too few and far between and all of them trace their lineage
> to Cebu. In Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, I found out the old founder of
> Lucenara Eskrima de Combate came from Tuburan, northwest of Cebu
> province. The next eskrima you can find is 176 kilometers away in
> Cagayan de Oro, and it's Chapter 26 of Balintawak Eskrima. Roughly 140
> kms. away from Cagayan de Oro Pabling Cabahug and Jesus Abella the
> stalwarts of Modernos Largos Eskrima in Ozamiz are also Cebuanos. A
> Muslim customer in Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte confirmed that kali the
> martial art does not exist.
most scholars have pointed to Cebu in the past in fat the "Tweleve
Fathers" are from that region...
really not a well done job of research... hell most people never have
a problem finding a teacher so this secret thing weeeelll every
martial art claims to have secrets hee hee you just got to learn them.
Just like the secrets to valid research.
Dirty Sick Pig
> from tanso idol ni dsp
rong misteak u mi idolo i yust wuv shit bwahawr plonkv ,m