History
“Simhota Ko Dong” — Anciong Bacon What is Balintawak Arnis?
Venancio ‘Anciong’ Bacon Balintawak Arnis is a combat system developed by Anciong Bacon in the 1940s. Believed to be named ater a small street in !eb" where its #rst cl"b was o"nded$ it was developed by Anciong to enhance and preserve the combative nat"re o arnis which he elt was being watered down by other styles. Vario"s orms o the art o Arnis$ which incl"de %oce &ares$ %oce '"sa$ &"nta y %aga$ and Amara$ "tili(e long range #ghting skills and an d ar are e ge gear ared ed mor ore e to towa warrds an o) o)en ensi sive ve st styl yle e o #gh ghti ting ng.. Balintawak varies rom most martial arts in that it "ses close range #ghting e*ercises$ applying all the known o"l blows conceivable
to street #ghting. +t was conceived to s"pplement and correct the missing deensive "ndamentals o Arnis. +ts primary training tool is the single olisi or garote , eschewing the traditional do"ble sticks and espada y daga. -owever$ it is not "st a stick/ or blade#ghting art. Balintawak #ghters are e"ally adept at both weapons and emptyhand #ghting. +n Balintawak$ the arnis or garrote is only "sed to enhance and train the individ"al or bare hands #ghting$ and to achieve perection in the art o speed$ timing and re2e*es necessary to ac"ire deensive post"re and 2"idity in movement. Balintawak aims to harness one’s nat"ral body movement and awaken one’s senses to move and react. +t g"arantees that its practitioner will e*perience a revelation in the "ndamentals o street #ghting. &ractice o the art is independent o bodytype$ be it at or thin$ big or small. +ts goal is to eliminate the nat"ral h"man instincts in #ghting and replace it with p"rpose"l re2e*es re#ned with speed and timing. Balintawak also promotes well being and good relations among practitioners. Balintawak is battleproven. 3ights o Balintawak practitioners against #ghters o other styles and martial arts$ whether empty hand or weaponbased$ are "s"ally over in seconds. +ts strikes are direct and ast$ its ootwork nat"ral and short$ almost like walking$ or mobility. +t has no ancy movements and ass"mes at once that an adversary is skilled and has a strong attack$ th"s necessitating a strong deense. 3or this reason$ deense is ta"ght #rst to all Balintawak practitioners.
Why Defense First? Balintawak aims to develop a deensive post"re beca"se one sho"ld always ass"me that one’s opponent is skilled. 'ost practi tioners o other arts are ta"ght speed and timing in o)ensive moves$ with the ideal o downing an opponent with s"ccessive attacks$ whereas only a ew arts practice speed and timing in the realm o deense. Balintawak bridges the gap between o)ense and deense. nce speed and timing in the deense are developed$ the o)ensive attack ollows a"tomatically. 5he contrary is tr"e when one only practices o)ensively. 6ince Balintawak is deensive in nat"re$ it allows mental$ as well as motor movements to develop and synchroni(e. +t also constantly places the practitioner in highpress"re sit"ations$ by means o deensive sparring$ which also makes or good cardiovasc"lar e*ercise.
What makes Balintawak Arnis dierent from other Arnis! Kali! and "scrima? Balintawak "ses a "ni"e method to train its practitioners. Ater learning the basic o)ensive and deensive techni"es$ the Bal intawak st"dent is$ rom day one$ placed in harm’s way. -e is given random and contin"o"s attacks7strikes by his instr"ctor$ generally at a speed "st beyond his 8or her c"rrent ability to deend against. 5he st"dent’s mission is simple: to deend and co"nter the attacks. 5he res"lt is an instr"ctorled training ramework , called agak , that immerses the st"dent in a dynamic state o attack and co"nters that he m"st strive to overcome. 5his ree2owing d"el programs the st"dent to respond instinctively to random attacks$ with crisp$ e)ective o)ensive and
deensive techni"es e*ec"ted 2"idly and$ i called or$ contin"o"sly. ;"ickness$ power$ and economy o movement are emphasi(ed. As the st"dent improves in this co"ntertoco"nter play$ the attacks become stronger$ aster and more comple*$ progressively
vent"ally$ the st"dent’s deense$ timing$ speed$ body mechanics$ and techni"es improve to a level where he is able to overcome his instr"ctor’s attacks. -owever$ as the st"dent improves$ so does the training level. 5he higher the skill o the instr"ctor$ the higher the st"dent can go. A good Balintawak instr"ctor constantly keeps the st"dent in a state o eopardy$ challenging , b"t witho"t overwhelming , him to strive to match the instr"ctor’s intensity and skill level. At the highest levels$ the distinction between instr"ctor and st"dent diminish as both attack and deend with e"al vigor and skill. 5his is known as c"entada. Beca"se o this$ Balintawak can only be ta"ght one on one$ by an instr"ctor more skilled than the st"dent. +t cannot be ta"ght ‘en masse.’ +t is this personali(ed t"telage that disting"ishes Balintawak rom other arnis7kali7eskrima and martial arts styles. &ractitioners o other styles might think this is e"ivalent to what other styles call reestyle or labanlaro. 5his is not so. +t has been observed that the reestyle and labanlaro e*ercises o other styles are choreographed. +n Balintawak$ the
What are Balintawak#s Systems of $nstr%ction? 5he gro"ping system o instr"ction was developed by Atty. ?ose Villasin in an e)ort to systemati(e the random teaching style o Anciong Bacon. @nder the gro"ping system o instr"ction$ a st"dent is ta"ght twelve basic strikes$ and the corresponding twelve basic blocks and co"nters. nce the st"dent is amiliar with these basic movements$ the instr"ctor attacks the st"dent with a series o basic strikes$ #rst in se"ence$ then later randomly$ to which the st"dent m"st respond with the basic blocks and co"nters. As the st"dent’s ability to deend and co"nter progresses$ the instr"ctor increases the speed o the attacks$ varies the timing$ introd"ces einting$ ootwork$ twisting$ etc. and introd"ces more sets o attacks$ co"nters$ co"nters to the co"nters$ and so on. 5his advanced set o attacks$ co"nters$ and co"nters to the co"nters which are called