EskrimaSpace.com for Escrima - Eskrima - Arnis - and Filipino Martial Arts

The first Filipino Martial Arts Katipunan 2009 was held successfully in Ty Park, Hollywood, FL on Sept. 5th-6th, 2009 hosted by Gat Puno Abon Baet of the Garimot System of Arnis.  The event initially attracted 12-FMA instructors slated to teach, but John Malmo was unable to attend due to a family emergency.  The participating  instructors included: Abundio Baet, Bram Frank, Nate Defensor, Roberto Torres, Dan Medina, Felix Diaz, Lee Peacock, Shaun Burley, Chad Bailey, John Kovacs, & Greg Alland..  The event drew over 180 plus attendees for both days.  Photos and videos of the event are now available at Facebook, YouTube. MyFma.net, and FMAPULSE.COM.  Key in the word Katipunan 2009 and enjoy the images.  The goal of this whole organization and its participants is to unite the Filipino Martial Arts world devoid of politics and to give something back to the world by showcasing various systems and styles of Filipino Martial Arts.  The intent also is to network all participating instructors and attendees and provide a referral service to the public.  The plan also is to spread a Katipunan-type of gathering throughout USA & the global community.  In the first Katipunan, the format was setup so the day is divided into three two hour instructor-led sessions, one demonstation session,, and one lunch break.  The two hour intruction sessions were divided into four groups so attendees in each group were able to participate in a seminar-like environment.  The FMA systems  and its instructors showcased were the following: Garimot System of Arnis/Gat Puno Abon Baet, Talio Triangular System/Professor Roberto Torres, Defensor Method of Filipino Martial Arts/Mahaguro Nate Defensor,  Common Sense Self Defense Street Combat/Grandmaster Bram Frank, Pambuan Arnis/Guro Shaun Burley, Doce Pares Multi Style/Guro Felix Diaz, Derobio Escrima/Guro Dan Medina, Sina Tirsia Wali/Mas Guru Greg Alland, Cadena de Mano/Guro-Sifu Chad Bailey, Inosanto-LaCoste System of Kali/Guro-Sifu Lee Peacock, Arnis-Jujitsu/Guro-Shihan John Kovacs. 

Highlights & short synopsis of material covered & demonstrated:

Garimot System - 7-Animals of Buno, Locking concepts of Dog, Butterfly, & Motorcycle, Laguna Largo Mano, Siete Colores, Cinco Teros, & Moro-Moro. Showed pressure points & Buno leverage.

 Talio System - Kuntao-Silat takedowns, Silat Sambut principles, Gayong applications, Kuntao-Silat Leg Maneuvers. Discussion on importance of space, attitude, fighting psychology.

 Common Sense Self Defense Street Combat/ - Blade flow drills, blade disarms, blade hand placements, shared stories of Prof. Remy Presas, showed models of various blades GM Bram Franks designed.

Defensor Method of Filipino-Indonesian Martial Arts - double stick Largo Mano,warmups & disarms, DM angles of attack, single stick counters, 4 bamboos, Stick Dumog, Flexible weapon shokes & disarms, hubad lubad variations, demo numerada/sumbrada/panatukan & dumog-silat finishes.

Derobio Escrima & Majapai System - Dan Medina showed the disarm reverses and locks of the late GM Braulio Pedoy, illustrated multiple attacker drills and going to his left, & also taught importance & effectiveness of leverage.

Pambuan Arnis - Guro Shaun Burley demoed and taugh 8-Bigay Tama( means to give and hit in Tagalog) drills of Pambuan Arnis.  Importance of close range & how to communicate and feed the UKE was stressed.  Spoke of various influences to the Pambuan system.

Cadena de Mano - Guro/Sifu Chad Bailey demonstated the integration of FMA with his Internal Martial experience, he demoed ground tactics, taught flexible weapons, and sigle stick drills.

 Sina Tirsida Wali - Mas Guru Greg Alland demo'ed various double stick combinations (up in the hundreds in this system), shared experience with his many trips to the Philippines & how to interface w/  Luneta Eskrimadors.  Taught Dekiti-Tirsia versions of Solo Baston Tapping and mental attitude in a blade/weapons fight.

Inosanto-LaCoste System of Kali-Guro/Sifu Lee Peacock covered and demo'ed the 12-areas/training weapons of Kali, taught sumbrada, espada y daga, counters, and empty hand moves.

 Doce Pares Multi-Style - Guro Felix Diaz covered plenty of Espada y Daga toggling between material from Cacoy Canete, Diony Canete, and Momoy Canete, showed locks & throws, demo the ability to flow from contact to locks, chokes, and akedwons. Showed Doce Pares nuances in entries to the dagger in an Espada y Daga 1-2 attack rhythm.

Arnis/Jujitsu - Guro John Kovacs showed and demo'ed Largo Mano Range and the importance of distance and power.  Demo'ed the integration of locks, takedowns and good leverage.  Showcased how effective Jujitsu can be at close range after initial weapon engagement.

The Katipunan 2009 is hoping the movemnet will catch on and many other localities have already expressed interest in hosting their own Katipunan.  On the radar for the next gathering are St. Louis, Chicago, and the West Coast.  For those willing to host such an event, please contact Gat Puno Abon Baet at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . The officeal website of the Katipunan Global is at: http://katipunan.weebly.com

Peace and Mabuhay,

Nate Defensor