Martial Essence - Arnis

"WHY I PARTNERED WITH THIS BOOK

Before this book came out, my co-author the late Dr. Ned Nepangue has been pestering me to partner with him as co-author, when he read one of the articles I wrote for the Rapid Journal Magazine, titled "New Theories on the Origins of Eskrima". One of my reasons why I hesitated was my dismal academic background. I told Ned: "I'm not a credible author and my high school teachers won't believe me, except perhaps my English Professors."

For almost a year, we haven't seen each other and never talked, not because we had a quarrel, I guess we just took a respite from the tiring field trips and interviews we did for almost two years. Not to mention the field trips we did to Bantayan Island and to the South of Cebu. Fortunately at that time, I was still employed with Nestle and recently got promoted as Sales Supervisor in my home town Cebu City after 22 years in Mindanao. My role in the book just to be clear about it is to find the answer that boggled Ned for years, He pinpointed the WHO taught us eskrima - the Spaniards. But didn't know the WHY, until I found historical sources one of them came from my English professor Erlinda Kintanar Alburo one of the founders of Cebu Studies Center. They big question WHY? Because the Spaniards were desperate to retake Sulu, but the Moro resistance was relentless, that's why they had to recruit and train Cebuanos to finally capture Sulu. They never did, the Americans failed, the Marcos government failed and the administrations that followed also failed. They're just fierce efficient warriors.

My new area of responsibility with Nestle gave me the opportunity to travel during my trade visits to the areas that Ned and I identified as rich sources of old eskrimadors that could
give us a good narrative of the eskrima history of those places. Those trips were extensive and fortunately a lot of the old folks already in the twilight of their years were still around. We caught up with Baltazar “Iti” Gumapon along the hills in his humble home in Oslob and Aling Facunda Sabanal Berro in her daughter’s
home in Cebu City just near where Dr. Ned once worked at the Vicente Sotto Hospital. Aling Facunda is the daughter of Pablo "Amboy" Kidlat Sabanal, the legendary hero of the south who repelled Moro pirates in the early 20th century.

And one of the most interesting fellow we interviewed in the eastern town of Balamban was the late Julian Goc-ong a dauntless World War 2 veteran and father of Nestle colleague and Milo Sports Manager Pat Goc-ong. It was finally published around 2007 by then Xlibris now renamed Author’s Solutions. The initial angry flak we got mostly from the “Kali Baloney” believers was enormous. But as the years passed it fizzled down primarily because, the supporters of our “kali baloney bullsh*t” narrative gained a lot of ground.

During my powerpoint presentation at the Glendale Community College during my U.S. Tour in March-April 2024, I was getting ready for any nasty reaction from Kali believers. There was none, and the applause was very inspiring."

By Celestino Castro Macachor

Eforturile și consecvența mereu vor da rezultate! Felicitări tuturor, acesta este doar începutul!
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Antrenamente de arte martiale filipineze in fiecare miercuri de la 19.30 si sambata de la ora 08.30 la sala Unique Fitness Gym din str. Ramuri Tei nr. 12, Bucuresti.
martial.ro

Atunci când Balintawak Grandmaster Ramon Franco 'Monie' Velez a fost invitat de G**o Dan Inosanto să predea în cadrul Academiei de Arte Martiale Inosanto!