Hello Friend! I've got to tell you about this amazing experience... My Kung Fu journey around Southeast Asia recently landed me on the "Island of the Gods" (Bali, Indonesia) in search of perfect waves and exotic Pencak Silat styles. To my delight, I found both! From May through October the waves are easy to find [...]
My Southeast Asian Kung Fu trek of late took me to the remote islands off of Sumatra, Indonesia in search of secret surf spots and secret Pencak Silat styles. I found some amazing hidden surf spots but came short in my search for Silat masters. However, I did come up with a lead on where [...]
THE ART OF THE BLADE MAESTRO ARNOLD NARZO was personally trained in the “Art of the Blade” (Kalis Ilustrisimo) by Antonio “Tatang” Ilustrisimo and by Tatang’s top protege, Master Tony Diego (Mang Tony). Here’s Arnold’s story… Born in Manila, Philippines in 1970 but raised in Cebu, Arnold took a liking to boxing and the martial [...]
My search of the Malay Archipelago for exotic fighting arts recently led me to Paranaque, Philippines where I had a private training session with Grandmaster Roberto Labitan Labaniego (Mang Bert). You may have seen Mang Bert before, as he was featured in the Filipino Martial Arts film "The Bladed Hand". At 74 years old, Mang [...]
My Southeast Asian Kung Fu odyssey took an amazing turn yesterday when I had the opportunity to take a private lesson with and interview Grandmaster Yuli Romo. GM Yuli is one of the Five Original "Pillars" of Kalis Ilustrisimo as handed down by "Tatang" Antonio Ilustrisimo. The 5 Pillars of Ilustrisimo are: 1) Antonio Diego [...]
My Kung Fu adventure around Southeast Asia is not only about learning and experiencing new things, but also about sharing the knowledge I've accumulated over my last 30 years of being immersed in the combative martial arts. With that in mind, I held my first Dirty Boxing Camp in the Philippines last weekend, April 25 [...]
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 [...]
My 3 month journey around Southeast Asia begins in the Philippines. I'm staying in the heart of Metro Manila in Makati City. Here in Makati there is a group of Filipino Kali practitioners who call themselves KALI MAKATI. The group is lead by Master Kit Acenas, an expert in the art of Filipino Kali. Guro [...]
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 • [...]
