My Mentors

 Master Norman Z. Suanico was appointed by the late Great Grandmaster Antonio A. Ilustrisimo as the representative of Kali Ilustrisimo to Canada.
     He was the late Great Grandmaster Ilustrisimo’s personal assistant who trained and lived with him for several years. However, his training is not limited to the Ilustrisimo System. When he was in his hometown Iloilo City, he has trained in bolo, knife and bayonet fighting under Manuel T. Suanico. Zosimo Flores shared him the style Pangamot (Empty hand combat) and Kali weapons. Largo Mano Style under Raul Villaluna who was the grandson of Pedro “Walis” (left handed) Villaluna. Cruzada Style ( De Salon) of Master Antonino Agi of Silay Negros Occidental from Mario Taleon, who was a Kali instructor in the Philippine Scout of Bolo Brigade. Trancada Aldabon Style and Agi Style he learned from Agustin Hinojales. Ilisio “ Seong” Haliky ( Pastolero) added Master Norman’s training in the Trancada Aldabon Style and the Larga Mano Style . Fabian de la Paz Mananon tutored Master Norman in the Pluma Style of Leyte. Jesus Bayas who was a Bolo Battalion Philippine Scout Kali Instructor during World War II was another important guide and teacher for Master Norman. Master Norman also trained in the deadly Balintawak Style of Cebu under Ceazar Turoy. As well as his vast knowledge of the FMA, he has trained also in Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Yawara, Hapkido, Seven Star Praying Mantis, Five Animal Kung fu, Tai chi chuan and Iaido in Japan. Master Suanico has tested his art as a bouncer and entertainer in many rough bars and Nightclubs. He is a veteran of many conflicts.
     

It was Gerry “Nonoy” Gallano who first introduced Master Suanico the Ilustrisimo Style, before he went to migrate to Toronto, Canada in 1983. In 1986, Master Suanico went to Manila with his band to play in nightclubs ( Master Suanico is also a world class singer and pianist ). So, he took the opportunity to stay and study with “Tatang” ( Great Grandmaster Antonio A. Ilustisimo ). He told him that the husband of his aunt Rizalina is Col. Gabriel Ilustrisimo. “Tatang” answered that Gabriel is his cousin. “Tatang” offered him to stay in his house and he accepted it. Living space was tight, so, “Tatang” shared with him the same double deck bed (bunk bed) together. He slept on the upper deck and “Tatting” on the lower deck. When “Tatting” realized that Master  Suanico had a background in Arnis, he would spar with him a lot. He said to him,” You learn fast”. He would always correct his technique and when he was open. “Tatang” did not repeat his technique if he did not trust you. He would hit you hard. Master Norman usually took notes after their practice. Usually during those times, “Tatang” would let Master Suanico spar with some of the students. Sometimes, his sparring partner would get angry and their sparring became more realistic and they would hit with hard contact. Before, they used live stick without any body armor. In 1997, Arsenio “Sonny” Padilla went to Rizal Park (Luneta) Philippines. He asked “Tattang”, “Who among your students you want me to bring to Canada to teach?”Tatang” answered, “You bring Norman”. Master Suanico first arrived in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada on December 25, 1999 and he started teaching Kali together with Arsenio “Sonny” Padilla regularly and on scheduled seminars around Canada.

 Arsenio Suguitan Padilla better known as Guro Sonny Padilla started in his back yard training in martial arts in 1965 with a classmate who had a brother that was taking a Bachelor of Science in Criminology at the Philadelphia College of Criminology and by watching a neighbor, which was a Scout Ranger, practicing his hand to hand combat.
     In 1968 Guro Padilla joined the YMCA Karate Club at the Pope Pius center, under the leadership of Sensei Charlie Villanueva, a 5th Degree Black Belt who after years of training granted Guro Padilla his Shodan.
     In 1971, he joined the Karate Federation of the Philippines through Captain Gil Gonzales of Shotokan Karate-Do and under the leadership of Dr. Guillermo Lengson who also became his first teacher in Arnis. Guro Padilla obtained his Nidan in 1975.
     Guro Padilla also studied Aikido under Sensei Robin Adiong, Estokada Kali under G.M. Dan Rutano, Shibume Karate Jiu-Jitsu under Sensei Randy King, and Kali Ilustrisimo and Hapkido under Master Norman Suanico.
     Currently Guro Padilla is also taking lessons at this time in Ground Fighting and Joint Lock Manipulations under Sensei Perry Stokalko.

K.A.M.A. KALI ILUSTRISIMO

Reverse grip blade.

At Nemesis Athletics, we have a sub set of our Kali program that I prefer to call Pintados Blade Concept program. The emphasis in Kali Ilustrisimo on reverse grip blade is fairly minimal. PBC generally fills the void that I felt was left in this area.  In my humble opinion, KI generally emphasizes a longer range duelling dynamic, as opposed to closer range defensive or multiple opponent scenarios. While using the techniques common to Kali Ilustrisimo such as Pugong and Sinawali Blocking, we are able to develop funtional drills to incorporate reverse grip applications.


A reverse grip blade is often commonly considered more of a "defensive" grip, but we content that while a standard sabre style grip is more often used to slash,  the reverse grip emphasis (at least in the Pintados program) is primarily a thrusting style. Thrusting causes punctures that tend to reach a greater depth than slashes, and the increased potential of hitting vital targets as opposed to superficial external structures. This depth and potential lethality tends to erase the "defensive" myth. 

Hooking and trapping techniques with reverse grip blade have a greater increase of succeeding on non compliant opposition than those with a standard grip. These obviously are more functional with a straighter blade than with a curved or hooked blade such as a Karambit.


"The karambit or kerambit is a small hand-held, curved blade from Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Archipelago. Called karambit in the Philippines, it is known as akerambit in both Indonesia and Malaysia....The weapon is held by inserting the first finger into the hole at the top of the handle so that its blade curves forward from the bottom of the fist. It is primarily used in a slashing or hooking motion. The finger guard makes it difficult to disarm and allows the knife to be maneuvered in the fingers without losing one's grip.." -WIKIPEDIA

Conveniently, the Pintados Blade Concept program transfers easily to applications using this specialized weapon, and turns the esoteric tool into a knife as usable as any reverse grip blade. Relying on K.I.S.S. (Keeping It Simple and Smart), we try to remove the exceptionally unrealistic show business and keep reverse grip training as functional and realistic as possible.

RESOLUTE Threat Assessment and Neutralization program

Dustin Silzer is the creator and head instructor of the RESOLUTE Threat Assessment and Neutralization program, a tactical martial program for hands-on security and high risk personal protection. I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend one of Dustin's seminars. Resolute T.A.N. is essentially a distilled version of combative Aikido applications geared towards situations where there is no option for retreat. Either your job description demands that you confront any threats directly, or you are in a situation where there is no chance for a safe escape, and you must be able to incapacitate an opponent regardless of size, strength or experience.

Areas we covered included body language, threat recognition, use of force, and a number of attack negations, neutralizations and restraint techniques.

Anyone interested in a hard contact, functional Japanese based tactical program would be well off to look into the program:

RESOLUTE: Threat Assessment and Neutralization

Origins of the Filipino Fighting Arts.

The fighting arts of the Philippines were influenced by many different cultures and migrants. There are at least 3 very clear martial influences to the Filipino fighting arts: Indonesian Pencak Silat, Malaysian Silat Melayu, and Chinese (Hakka) Kuntao.

Chinese martial arts were introduced during a trade era with the Tang Dynasty of China (AD 618-907), and also by the migration the Hakka soldiers who bring with them their fighting art of Kuntao. Today, almost every Southern Asian country can find Kuntao influence in its local martial arts. It is believed that Kali is the oldest Filipino martial art. The word Kali is an old expression of the Visayas and Mindanao for blade-oriented Martial Arts, which is almost not in use any more in the Philippines. In Mindanao they say the name Kali comes from the Malay sword Keris, which became Kalis, then Kali in the Philippines. Many linguists think that Kali may be a mix of the words kamut (hand) and lihok (movement), which was contracted into to KALI: movements of the hands.

The influences...

In the 5th and 6th centuries in Indonesia, an empire was formed due to the migration of the Buddhist tribes of India to Sumatra and Java. The Malay Srivijaya Empire, as it came to be known, eventually spread as far as the Philippines. Their martial arts skills, advanced weaponry and superior organization made it possible for them to conquer the earlier settlers. Some fled to distant islands, others stayed and the two cultures merged, creating varieties of Malayo-Polynesian cultures and languages, ancestors of the Tahitians and Hawaiians. The Srivijayas brought the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism philosophies, arts, and combative forms to the Philippines. They introduced laws (the famous Code of Kalantaw), a calendar, written alphabet (Sanskrit, on which the future Alibata alphabet will later be developed), new religion, and a system of weights and measures. This new culture developed a social unit called the barangay.

The next major incursion of foreign ideas and culture occurred in the late 13th century. The Majapahit Empire of Java, which eclipsed the Srivijaya Empire, spread throughout Southeast Asia and into the Philippines. At its height, the Majapahit Empire included areas that are today Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and the Philippines. Deeply influenced by a Hindu-Buddhist culture, the Majapahits brought their styles of Pencak Silat to the Philippines where they settled most heavily in the South (Mindanao and Sulu). This was when the Bugis warriors of Sulawesi have introduced the Keris sword (Kris) to the Philippines. It is thought by many Filipinos that the islands of Mindanao and Sulu were the birthplaces of Kali (the "mother art" of Filipino Martial Arts) during the Majapahit Empire.

In 1543 the Spaniards started colonizing the Maharlikas islands (ancient name of the Philippines), and named those the Philippines after Philippe the 2nd, king of Spain. When they arrived to the Philippines in the 16th century, the Spanish found a mixture of local, Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian fighting methods. The first known Filipino hero, Lapu Lapu, was believed to be one of the foremost masters of Kali, a terrible fighting art inherited from the ancient Silat of the Madjapahit Empire. Lapu Lapu's Kali subsystem was known as Kali Pangamut. Lapu Lapu and his Kalista warriors are famous for having given a hard time to the Spanish conquistadors.

Lapu Lapu had vigorously trained and prepared his men for "Showdown" fights against his enemies long before his historic battle with Ferdinand Magellan on April 27, 1521, in Mactan Island. When the first Spaniards tried to subdue the recalcitrant Lapu Lapu, they were met not with fire harms, but with wooden sticks, spears, Kampilan swords and bolos. It was ironic that when the smoke of that epic battle cleared, the Spanish conquistadors "modern" weapons were no match for the traditional weapons of Lapulapu and his warriors. In this battle, Magellan was slain by Lapu Lapu with a Kampilan sword by a blow to the leg and then a thrust to the neck.

When Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in the Philippines and established the first settlement in 1565, he and his men noted that the local warriors were a class by themselves in the art of stick fighting and swordsmanship. He had his first glimpse of the natives' exceptional skill and ability during his landing in Leyte in 1564 when he was entertained with a Kali demonstration by the warriors of Raja Malitik. Similar demonstrations were made upon visits in Limasawa, Camiguin, Cebu and other places.

When bladed weapons were declared illegal by the Spaniards, Filipinos focused on wooden hardwood sticks. These sticks were said to be so hard that they could break a sword blade with one blow. Before long Filipino fighters had become so accomplished with their sticks, they centered entire fighting systems around stick fighting alone. Through time the Filipinos began to realize that because the stick had different handling qualities, certain lines of attack were open to them that were not available with the sword curved and snapping strikes. Once they began to appreciate the combat effectiveness of the stick the use of the knife also changed and began to be used more aggressively in terms of blocking, parrying, checking, scooping, thrusting and slashing.

Following the Spanish invasion, the name Eskrima replaced the word Kali in several islands. The term Eskrima is derived from the Spanish term Esgrima (fencing). Spanish fencing had a strong influence on the fighting arts of the Philippines, with the introduction of angles of attack, and the use of Espada y daga (sword and dagger). After WWII and the "stay" of the Japanese, Jujitsu techniques were included to certain Eskrima styles, especially in the northern islands. The term Arnis became more popular at this time.

More information, videos, pictures and resources can be found at Kali Majapahit

About the Author

Kali Majapahit Singapore Website:www.kali-majapahit.comEmail: contact@kali-majapahit.com Phone: 6534 5254 Address: 43 Carpenter Street #02-01 Singapore 059922

Filipino Boxing

The history of the Filipino boxing is mired with myth and half truths. Regardless, the style forms the bridge between classical filipino arts and the contemporary combatives such as sport muay thai. I have heard it called Suntakun, Panantukan, Panuntukan, Pugamut, and a number of others. There is a great deal of conjecture that western boxing evolution was influenced greatly by American Sailors witnessing traditional blade-aware kali empty hand sparring while stationed in the Philippines. The essential differences between Filipino boxing and Western style, is that the filipino art is a no-holds-barred style. Based off knife techniques, the filipino style of boxing emphasizes, stop-hit striking to limbs, body and head manipulation, headbutting, and eye, groin and throat targetting. Pinning the foot is common as are elbows, knees, and low line kicks.

Essentially, Panantukan is a street based combative striking style. It represents a finishing skill set alternative to breaking or more severe techniques commonly found in the Filipino arts. The goal is swift and efficient elimination of the opponent. Panantukan specifically is the variation of filipino boxing founded by "Lucky" Lucay lucay and propogated by his son Ted Lucay lucay.  Through the father and son, the "panantukan" style was adopted by Dan Inosanto, and has slowly gained popularity in North America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panantukan

Dan Inosanto Demonstrating Filipino Boxing

As a skill set, Filipino Boxing is easily summed up as a number of street effective supplementary techniques and variations on traditional Boxing. Emphasis is placed on limb injury and body control, and an avoidance of trading hits "blow-for-blow", in favour of angled footwork and strategic targeting. 

At Nemesis Athletics, our variation of Panuntukan is heavily based on the KAMA Kali Ilustrisimo Panuntukan program, with elements from other Filipino arts added for functionality. Most notable additions include heavier emphasis on Elbow and Hammer-fist techniques. We also heavily emphasize the principle of  blade awareness with our boxing drills. Techniques should be easily adapted to blade use with little modification.

Our own Panantukan program logo emphasizes the 

CROSS and HAMMER as striking techniques.

Dumog Training

Dumog is Filipino groundfighting. It is kind of like Kali's answer to Jujutsu. As Grand Tuhon Leo T Gaje says, it is the "science of dirty tricks" and "Bone and Tendon Destruction".

Often the techniques are more gross motor movement than fine, but they are battle tested and definitely debilitating. I have had the occasion to train Dumog and Pangamut variations for a few years, and incorporate a number of principles into the Pintados Stickboxing program.

for more info check out my movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbYhtA_lXYM