My search of Southeast Asia for exotic martial arts knowledge recently took me to the University of the Philippines Diliman campus in Quezon City, Manila. There is an assistant professor of Cultural Anthropology there who's interests and studies include the anthropology of the martial arts. His name is Felipe Jocano Jr. and his martial arts [...]
Today, my Kung Fu journey led me to Luneta Park, Manila Philippines where I trained in Kalis Ilustrisimo (KI) with the Sunday Luneta group. The followers of the late Mang Tony Diego gather here every Sunday as we did when Mang Tony was still alive. (Sadly, Mang Tony died last August.) These guys are keeping [...]
Tomorrow I depart on a 3 month journey wandering around South East Asia barefoot doing Kung Fu like Kwai Chang Caine. (I even have the haircut.) The only difference... Instead of a horse, I'll have a surfboard! First stop, the Philippines to explore the local martial arts styles and systems... • Kali • Silat • [...]
“AS LONG AS MAN HAS ONLY TWO ARMS AND TWO LEGS THERE IS ONLY ONE STYLE OF FIGHTING”… BRUCE LEE In a time when most martial arts training methods were traditional and antiquated, these pioneers broke major ground on new ways to train and helped push MMA to it’s modern state. Radicals in the martial [...]
WHAT IS KALI? "Kali" is an ancient martial art form from the Philippine Archipelago (formerly Maharlika) that pre-dates the Spanish conquest of the island nation and is based on the use of the blade (sword). But the word “Kali” has many interpretations and meanings depending on who you talk to within the Filipino Martial Arts [...]
We've all heard the sales pitch that "ALL FIGHTS GO TO THE GROUND". While it's true that many fights do go to the ground, it is usually is not a good idea to take a real fight to the ground and if you do end up there, it's probably a good idea to try to get [...]
FILIPINO KNEE STRIKES OF MASS DESTRUCTION If there’s one thing we love in Filipino Dirty Boxing (Suntukan or Panantukan), it’s knee strikes. Knees are one of the most formidable and dangerous tools of Filipino Boxing. In Tagalog, knees are called “Tuhod”. The knee strikes of Filipino Boxing are delivered to different parts of the human [...]
THE DEADLY “SIKO” OF FILIPINO DIRTY BOXING Filipino Dirty Boxing, also known as Suntukan, Suntokan or Panantukan places a lot of emphasis on the use of elbows for striking and defending. The Tagalog term for elbow is “Siko”. The elbow strikes from Filipino Boxing come from all angles of attack including diagonal, horizontal, vertical [...]
THE BOLO PUNCH By Daniel Sullivan The infamous “Bolo Punch” is a punch that all hard core boxers and boxing fans know. However, very few know about the origin of the term “Bolo Punch” or where the technique originated. “Bolo” is a term from the Philippines which means “Blade”. But what does a Filipino Blade [...]
