My Tai Chi Group

it's been a long time since my last post. At that time I was so immersed on the inaccuracies of our cultural history that I forgot all about my tai chi exercises which was and will be my best past time. Doing the 37 posture of Cheng Manching Yang style form daily maies or completes my day. I also do the 23 posture Beijing style but ever since I joined the TaichiCircle of Bacolod I do the 37 often . Thanks to sifu peter yap for integrating taichi principles in our forms. If not for him, our taichi exercise is merely calisthenics according to him.

the author, Bill Gomez, Sifu Peter Yap at the Yin/Yang Toushstones at Sifu's Residence.

the TaichiCircle of Bacolod Group doing the form at Lagoon fronting the Capitol Bldg

Oido caburata

One of the influential person in my quest for the negrense arnis system is GM Jose Aguilar. Through his teachings I have learned that there is a part in central Negros Occidental that the development of arnis has gone beyond the basics of espada y daga or metodo as the old practitioners of the art would call it. Through GM Aguilar I learned that the arnis/baston system of old was mainly the espada y daga system. In the hinterlands of Central Negros especially in Murcia, Ma-ao and Bago, there is a system that developed known as Oido de caburata. According to GM Aguilar, this system was developed in response to the espada y daga. It is somewhat synonymous to the defense against the basic methods of espada y daga. The evolution of oido was enhanced when people tried to find the answer to espada y daga. There are practitioners of espada y daga that maintained that even though they are experts in the metodo they still could be hit. The only difference is that one has to produce more hits that his opponent in order to win an exhibition match or sometimes a duel. So practitioners of the art sought a method to counter what they have previously learned. It took a man like the late GM Tonying Tolosa the initiative to developed a system that could counter the prevailing system in arnis which was the methodo. According to GM Aguilar, who is the first student of the late GM Tolosa, GM Tolosa devoted himself in trying to counter the metodo system.


(GM Aguilar in white shirt teaching the basic movements of oido to Jong2x Nifras)

(Solo form of oido by GM Jose Aguilar)

Oido de Caburata Arnis and the Gubaton Brothers Part 2

This is a continuation of the video clips we took during our visit to the home of the Gubaton Brothers of Oido de Caburata Arnis of Maao, Bago City, Negros Occidental. This original style of arnis was founded by the late GM Tonying Tolosa and handed down to the Gubaton Brothers.

Oido de Caburata Arnis and the Gubaton Brothers

This is dedicated to the Oido de Caburata Arnis Grandmasters and students.
We visited the Oido de caburata Arnis Grandmasters Abraham and Sabas Gubaton in Maao, Bago City. We were accompanied by GM Bobot Gayoles of the Yasay Clan of arnisadors.No one can match the hospitality of a Negrense. We were treated as friends of the family. They prepared lunch for us. The Headmaster is Grandmaster Abraham Gubaton assisted by his younger brother Grandmaster Sabas Gubaton. They showed us their brand of arnis. They have their own system and structure.
This series of video clips shows our visitation and how their system works.
This is for you, Tay Abraham and Tay Sabas.

the Late GM Honorio Togles arnis

The CMAS members visited the late GM Honorio Togle and the series of video clips are shown below on how he taught the members of CMAS.

TODAY

TODAY, I am still engage in martial arts and is still teaching young kids in various martial arts sports. Our group Conceptual Martial Arts Society is very instrumental in bringing to the forefront the unsung heroes of stickfighting called arnis/baston/escrima. These masters were never known outside their community. Thanks to the efforst of our group we managed to let the world know them.
TODAY, I have attended seminars and studied different martials arts and sports of various kind.
After I resigned from old dojo, I practiced Aikido with the Manila based group and was instrumental in bringing Aikido here with a different flavor from the traditional ones. We brought Aikido Nishio Style here in Bacolod. Although it was short lived because our Sensei told us that "seek in your own backyard. There are so many arts in your backyard waiting for you and for free." With this advise, my friends and I sought these masters in our own backyard and this was the beginning of our continuing search for the ultimate truth in martial arts. And this was the start of our Conceptual Martial Arts Society.
Aside from Aikido, I was associated with a Tang Soo Do teacher, who is very generous in imparting to us his wisdom in the field of martial arts.
But before this acquaintance I and my friends were instrumental in systematizing and old arnis school. This is where we learn the basic of 7 strikes. 7 panagang sa baston, 7 pang agaw sang baston and knife, knife defence, and knife, strangulation.
While learning these arts, one of our member and also my former student, who spend his college life in cebu was a practitioner of kungfu, balintawak arnis and grappling. My grappling art was from Judo. My knowledge in kunfgu and grappling was enhanced and developed by my acquaintance with my former student and is still an inspiration in our group.
I and my group would not stop seeking the truth in arnis and we found an old man in the hinterland of Bacolod who practices what was called Yaming Arts. This is an arnis art. It was not really the original name because the old man has many styles and I think which falls under espada y daga. Anyway he taught us a lot of things and he even gave us the name of his techniques.
While we are engaging in finding the old masters, we also have contact with modern martial arts sports. For example, Pencak Silat and Wushu Sanshou. We attended the first Wushu Sanshou seminar brought about by the Wushu Federation of the Philippines and we were instrumental in staging tournaments here. At the same time, a director of the regional Pencak Silat federation picked our group to be the representative of Bacolod And Negros. This is where we studied the art of Pencak Silant. Aside from these, we also studied the basic throws of Wushu Sanshou. I for one passed on to my students whatever I got from these trainings and it resulted great honor for the players by winning tournaments.
In seeking the old masters of arnis, we acquainted ourselves with the Togle's Modern Arnis, Guarra Modern Arnis, Oido de Caburata Jose Agular Style, Oido de caburata arnis of the Gubaton Brothers, Filipino Tang Soo Do forms and lastly the Original Filipino Tapado of Taloc, Bago City, Negros Occidental.
PRESENTLY, with this knowledge of the various filipino martial arts, and in particular Negrense martial arts, my outlook in life changed and how to respect life is more important than curtailing it. All these things have their common factor.
In the preceding articles I will post these various Negrense martial arts or Negrense Kinadman sa Pangamut (Negrense skills in in hand to hand combat). Let me remind the reader that there is no perfect English translation in this Negrense/Ilonggo terms. They stand as it is. Sorry if you are not an Ilonggo, you will not understand this.

IN THE BEGINNING......

hellow, folks.
all i can say is that i was born in a family of martial artist. my father was an amateur boxer, a blacksmith and a guerilla fighter. all he taught me was how to box, western style, when i was small. He would show me the moves just like the moves of an amateur boxer and he would tell me that one never cries when one is in an encounter. And he told me that I will never go home crying, even though there were bruises in my body. He would pit me against boys my age. That is how he trained me in the art of streetfighting. Before this streetfighting terms were popular, we were already engaged in streetfighting since we were in short pants. "You only have to stop fighting when everything around you is already dark," he used to advised us when engaging in a streetfight. During those times the common means of streetfighting is with our barehands and sometimes when one is in a disadvantage would engage in a wrestling match. But wrestling or grappling was never the name of the game. It is a womans style of fighting as the old men of our village says.
As I grow older and fightfights were common among kids and also teenagers, the style of fighting also changes. People began to study the imported empty handed style of fighting called Karate. Karate is a term wherein we used not only our barehands but also our feet. So, my father enrolled me in one of the local schools in our communtiy. But these schools never stayed long because the people in our community would challenged the instructor and they would bring with themselves bolo or scythe. Mostly the people in our community are "manangete" (the one who climb coconut trees and extract coconut wine from the trees and they use "sanggot" local term for scythe) and fishermen. The teachers of Karate would leave the dojo in haste to avoid confronting the folks of our community.
As I went to school, I had various encounters with other students only on barehand fights. It is here during my high school days that I learned some foreign based empty handed styles. My father would show me how to fight a knife weilding attacker and he would tell stories about his experiences of near death during his days. I know that he knows arnis or binaston because he would show me how to defend against a strike with only a "pitsikorno" (brass knuckle). But he never showed me everything because like the old bastoneros and arnisadores they would not teach their sons the art of killing people. They said that one can only use the arnis technique when his life is in danger and today we are at peace.
But the curiosity in me developed as I grow older and there were developemtn in the media that movies were part of my awakening in seeking the true art of defending oneself.
My grandfather on my mother side is an arnisador from Jaro, Iloilo. If he would visit us in Bacolod, he would teach me his brand of arnis. This is the first time that I was exposed to the art of arnis. But I would shy away from my grandfather because his kind of teaching is very painful and my tolerance to pain at that age was low.
Not until I was in college wherein I dedicated myself to the art of Combat Karate, wherein everyday is a sparring day and everyday one has a blackey. This went on until I finished college wherein I started learning the internal art of Tai chi chuan. After college I went to work in a fertilizer company and I still pursue my Tai Chi lesson. In my line of work as an assistant warehouseman, I have under me co employees who are experts in arnis. I had one co-employee who is an arnis expert and we would spend a lot of time practising during breaktime. Milleng is his name and a resident of Talisay. It was through his tutelage that I polished what my grandfather taught me about knife fighting and defense.
This went on, after I got married and had two kids. My son, I would bring him to a local Judo club in YMCA and have him trained there. Since I have nothing to do I would join them just to pass the time. Later on, I became an enthusiast and practitioner of Judo as well as aikido because the teacher of my son is also an aikido teacher.
When I was retrenced from my work, I joined an educational institution as an employee and a teacher. During my stay in the University I was instrumental in bringing Judo to the school and open a martial arts club in the school with the help of my friends in the Aikido school.
Later on, I resigned from my mother club and seek further knowledge in aikido with people from Manila coming here to give seminar and sometimes I and my partners would travel to Baguio just to attend a promotion seminar for higher belting.
Then together with my aikido friends we put up our own school called the Conceptual Martial Arts Society. This is where our paths crossed wherein our goals are of the same wavelength. Thanks to them that up unatil now we believe that Negrense/Ilonggo martial arts is still developing and and is changing and is going in line with the signs of the tims.