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 students call him “Guro Bot”.
Not only does Mr. Jocano teach Cultural Anthropology, he is also an instructor of a Silat style from the Southern Philippines called Telu Bituun as well as a Northern Filipino style called Lightning Scientific Arnis.
I found it fascinating that Guro Bot teaches Silat, because Filipino Silat is very hard to find. It is very secretive and not normally taught to non-muslims and usually only taught to family members.
So you can imagine how excited I was to find someone who teaches it openly!
Mr. Jocano now calls his style “Telu Bituun Bagani” which means “Three Star Warrior”.
His instructor was the late Guro Yasser Tanadjalan, the former head coach of the Philippine National Pencak Silat Team.
I had an amazing private Silat lesson with Guro Bot covering several forms, techniques and drills and a question and answer session with him.
If you’re interested in learning Telu Bituun Bagani with Guro Bot, they meet on Wednesday nights from 6 to 8 PM on the 3rd Floor of the Vanguard Building on the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus.
You can also find Guro Bot on Facebook.
Just search Felipe P. Jocano Jr. on Facebook and send him a message.
Please can u send a video or do u know of an instructor in Washington State. I was in the US Army and I am very interested in learning and later teaching my children something to hand down the generations of my family. thank you Scott Johnston.
Scott, there’s a teacher of Lightning Scientific Arnis in Washington State. His name is Bob Park.
That’s easy Chris Clarke is the best in the Northwest!