book is a tribute to the art and will shed more light on the man and his system. I feel that this book is long overdue, and will be a welcome addition to any martial artist’s library, not only from a technical stand point, but also for it’s historical and cultural value.
▲ Acknowledgments ▲
I would like to thank Grandmaster Leo M. Giron who has shared his knowledge to so many of us and taught us not only the art of escrima but also the Filipino culture and history.
I would like to thank the following guros (teachers) who have helped Grandmaster Giron and myself to illustrate the art: Dexter Labonog (the head and senior instructor of the Bahala Na Club), Roy Atay, Dave Paler, Glenn Abresy, June Gotico, Barry Shreiarr, David Hines, Steve Tarani, and Jim Johnson.
I would like to thank Guro Dan and Paula Inosanto for all of their help and encouragement with this project and throughout the years.
I thank our photographer, Kim Rose, who at a moment’s notice drives all the way to Stockton to take our pictures, whether for this book or for any other Bahala Na function.
To Rob Farrens and the staff of the Stockton Athletic Club for allowing us at any time to use their wonderful facilities.
To Besar Pendakar Herman Suwanda for your guidance and support.
I thank the Bahala Na Martial Arts Association for keeping our art alive.
And, on behalf of Grandmaster Leo M. Giron and the staff of the Bahala Na Martial Arts Association, we extend our gratitude to Mark V. Wiley and Tuttle Publishing, whose books continue to set the standard of excellence.
▲ Introduction ▲
In the late 1960s, Guro Daniel Inosanto, one of Grandmaster Leo Giron’s early students, set out on a quest to learn about one of the hidden treasures of his heritage, the low-profile existence of an elite number of Filipino-Americans known as masters in the fighting arts of the Philippines. These early escrima masters had long ago migrated to the United States and, under the cover of secrecy, had shared their wisdom with only a select few. From the rare opportunity to meet, observe, and interview these individuals in both California and Hawaii came a published series of articles and, later, a book titled The Filipino Martial Arts. This was groundbreaking research, in some cases revealing the identities, styles, and methods of escrima “play” for the first time to the outside world.
In 1997, Mark Wiley’s Filipino Martial Culture appeared, featuring the complete history, weapons, systems, and masters of the Filipino martial arts in the United States and the Philippines. Grandmaster Giron proudly stands as one of only eighteen masters to have an entire chapter of the book dedicated to him and his art form.
Now at the age of eighty-six years, Grandmaster Leo M. Giron, a native son of Bayambang, Pangasinsn, Philippines, stands virtually alone among his generation as an active teacher of these arts, imparting history and knowledge to his close knit family of students. The time has now arrived to cast light on the substance and depth of the art which the grandmaster has scrupulously held in trust for so many generations.
After meeting Grandmaster Giron for the first time, many people comment on the professorial manner of a man whose skills and knowledge are rooted in deadly combat. Any contradiction is quickly dispelled, however, when Grandmaster Giron deftly demonstrates both in words and deed the direct connections between the beauty and effectiveness of his art and its basis in actual use. “Combat proven” is the operative term as the Grandmaster in a very real sense serves as a professor of living history, reaching into his own past and that of his predecessors to illuminate the present. Such light guides us through the following pages, as we view two of the twenty styles of Giron arnis escrima.
Part One
Background
and Overview
1
Development of a Fighting Art
The history of the Philippines and her martial arts is a history of influences whose origins span the globe—extending from the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, China, India, Japan, and the Middle East, to Europe and the Americas. These regions have made an impact on the Philippines through centuries of trade, migration, and conflict. The blood and ashes of such conflict has marked the landscape and national psyche of this great land for over one thousand years. This has involved a virtual kaleidoscope of cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds. Throughout the ages, the people of these islands have observed, learned, and adapted from others where necessary while reinforcing and refining the wealth of indigenous knowledge already in place.
Regionalism
Regionalism in the Philippines evolved from the ancient barangay system of rule where rajahs or kings would exercise direct authority over a virtual city-state, consisting of between thirty and one-hundred families. Often, barangays with common language and customs would confederate with others, forming much larger regional kingdoms. This eventually formed the political-geographic basis of what has become today’s provincial system of government. It was during the period of regional kingdoms that the Spanish first arrived.
As if in a classical morality play, the symbolism of certain events often looms larger than the occurrences themselves. The defeat in 1521 of the Portuguese explorer, Fernando Magallanes, or Ferdinand Magellan as he is known today, while sailing under the Spanish flag, indicated such an event. While attempting to bring the rajah and datus (chieftains) of Cebu under Spanish control, Magellan foolishly assumed a lack of martial capabilities among inhabitants and blundered into a conflict which ultimately led to his demise. His nemesis was a king by the name ofLapulapu. Rajah Lapulapu was named after a colorful and aggressive coral game fish of the area. Lapulapu was not of the people commonly settled in the larger island of Cebu. He was of the Orang Lauts, or man of the high seas, from the southern Celebes.
Magellan had unwittingly encountered a fierce people whose lives were dedicated to freedom and struggle. Magellan’s defeat at Mactan became a symbol representing the inherent power of the people to resist the imposition of foreign rule. It is both ironic and illuminating that notwithstanding the long period of the Spanish rule, some 333 years, a short-lived American period, and an even briefer Japanese occupation, it is the event of victory that stands out when characterizing Filipino history. What Magellan failed to understand was that he was dealing with a people of great variety and complexity who were not unprepared for his challenge. Lapulapu and other leaders of common ancestry and experience shared a tradition of acculturation which included the study and training in the arts of war as well as other facets of life. These martial arts have continued to evolve, resulting in many of the styles and systems found in the central and southern regions of the Philippines today. In some parts of the Visayas and Luzon, knowledge of European fencing techniques generated counter measures to be woven into the fabric of indigenous styles and systems. Examples of successful resistance to foreign rule as in the case of the unconquered Moros of the southern Philippines, further served to encourage the spirit of independence among all peoples of the islands. This spirit frequently surfaced as full-blown revolts throughout Philippine history.
Grandmaster Giron with a panabas
Some ninety years later in a much different part of the islands, it was just such a revolt that proved to be a pivotal factor in the further development of the Filipino martial arts. The location
