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Balintawak Eskrima or Balintawak Arnis is a combat system developed by Anciong Bacon in the 1940’s. Believed to be named after a small street in Cebu where its first club was founded, it was developed by Anciong to enhance and preserve the combative nature of arnis which he felt was being watered down by other styles.
Various forms of the art of Arnis, which include Doce Pares, Doce Musa, Punta y Daga, and Amara, utilize long range fighting skills and are geared more towards an offensive style of fighting. Balintawak varies from most arnis based systems in that it uses close quarter range fighting exercises, applying all the known blows conceivable to street fighting. It was conceived to supplement and correct the missing defensive fundamentals of Arnis.
Its primary a single stick versus the traditional double sticks and espada y daga systems. However, it is not just a stick– or blade-fighting art. Balintawak fighters are equally adept at both weapons and empty-hand fighting. 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.
Great Grandmaster Anciong Bacon
Balintawak is battle-proven. Fights of Balintawak practitioners against fighters of other styles and martial arts, whether empty hand or weapon-based, are usually over in seconds. Its strikes are direct and fast, its footwork natural and short, almost like walking, for mobility.
It has no fancy movements and assumes at once that an adversary is skilled and has a strong attack, thus necessitating a strong defense. For this reason, defense is taught first to all Balintawak practitioners.
Sam Buot, Sr., was born in Cebu City on March 24, 1936, eldest son of Alfredo and Susana Lagrito-Buot. He grew up in the rough neighborhood of Katipunan Street in the Labangon District of Cebu City. He learned the rudiments of eskrima from Teddy Buot, who lived next door.
Joe Villasin & Sam in the Phillipines
Grandmaster Sam Buot is the eldest surviving student of Anciong Bacon’s original Balintawak Eskrima group from Cebu, Philippines. He is a true enthusiast of Filipino martial arts and has served as unofficial historian of the Balintawak style, having studied under the tutelage of Grandmaster Venancio Bacon, Jose Villasin, Teofilo Velez and Teddy Buot since the late 1950s. At 79, Sam is now retired and teaches eskrima in his backyard in Phoenix, Arizona.
Grandmaster Bobby Taboada was born in Cebu City, Philippines, on November 6, 1948, the oldest of five children of Sergio and Gabriela Taboada. He grew up fighting in the streets of Cebu, (not because he was a troublemaker but because it was the only means of survival on the streets). He is soft spoken and very slow to anger except when he rises in defense of himself that is infrequent and almost nil. He has a healthy sense of humor and loves to sing to accompaniment of the karaoke machine.
He was first introduced to eskrima by his father. He also boxed for six years and went into the exotic and imported arts of Karate and Kung Fu. Bobby left home when he was twelve and later lived with Teofilo Velez as an “adopted” son as well as a student of eskrima. That literally meant sitting at the foot of the master in full obedience and loyalty in his search for knowledge and wisdom. He then learned the secrets of Balintawak Eskrima from Jose Villasin and Venancio “Anciong” Bacon. Bobby discovered that the art was deadly, effective and sophisticated. As a fearless and undaunted volunteer for fights and tournaments, Bobby was trained by all the Balintawak masters in the practical aspects of combat fighting.
Bobby Taboada has made several video tapes for commercial worldwide distribution. He has incorporated original and innovative exercises and drills and even fancy stick twirling, amara. Today, Bobby Taboada is the most visible advocate of the Balintawak style of eskrima. Bobby is a long way from the oppressive slums of Cebu City. He is a success and the consummate example of the achieved American dream.
Manong Sam & George
Sam, Bobby, and George
At manong Sam’s book signing with Balintawak, FMA, and renowned martial artist.
Guru George Bell was born in 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and started his martial arts career in 1974. He started training Balintawak after meeting Grandmaster Bobby Taboada in September of 1993 at a martial arts expo that they both participated in Charlotte, North Carolina. After meeting Bobby he soon had to practice such a dynamic art. So George started training private lessons with Bobby until 1995. To this point, the majority of George’s background was in the Korean martial arts. Being his main martial art was Taekwondo and Hapkido/Kuk Sul Won he found Balintawak intriguing yet similar in some ways to another art he previously trained which was Wing Chun. So he embarked on the journey of training and became hooked! In late 1995 George moved to Colorado as a resident athlete in Taekwondo at the US Olympic Training Center then in 2000 he moved to Phoenix, Arizona. While in Arizona he was able to have Bobby teach a seminar at his gym as well as train with him and a local Balintawak club under the tutelage of Manong Sam Buot Sr. While operating his gym and teaching different martial arts he always utilized Balintawak for stick and empty-hand techniques within the close-quarter combat range in his reality-based self defense system he was teaching. So in many ways regardless if it was in Charlotte, Colorado, or Arizona George has tried to keep up with his Balintawak either training with others or under his original mentor Grandmaster Bobby Taboada. Nowadays, George trains with Manong Grandmaster Sam Buot. He has been such a great influence and mentor to his martial arts career and has been motivated to play his part in keeping the Buot & Taboada Balintawak legacy going the best he knows how which is to give back to others.
Click for information on Sam’s book at Amazon. A must have for Balintawak & FMA practitioners.
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