Grandmasters in the Philippines

One of Kuntaw Kali Kruzada's goals is to help bring international recognition to the respective styles of the Masters and Grandmasters in the Philippines that Maestro Rico Acosta has studied with. Many of the Grandmasters in the Philippines are / were contemporaries of many of the icons of the FMA in America and have an incomparable knowledge of the combative arts of the Philippines.

Grandmaster Jose G. Mena (Doblete Rapelon) was a sparring partner of Felicisimo Dizon, among other notables in Manila, and was one of the famed Grandmaster Angel Cabales' teachers. Grandmaster Benjamin Luna Lema (Lightning Scientific Arnis) fought in the legendary NARAPHIL "Masters sparring division" in 1979, remaining undefeated in both competition and actual combat throughout his entire life. Grandmaster Jesus Pallorina (WEDO Combat Arnis) was a street fighter, in his youth, who traveled throughout the Philippines to fight in underground full contact, unarmored, Arnis competitions. He also fought many close quarter battles against the Japanese in WWII. Grandmaster Vicente Sanchez (Kali Arnis International) is one of the highest-ranking Senior Masters of both Lightning Scientific Arnis and Modern Arnis and has dedicated much of his life to propagating both arts. He was also formerly a Grandmaster of Arnis Philippines (ARPI). Grandmaster Roberto Presas, the late Grandmaster Remy Presas' brother, is the highest-ranking Modern Arnis Master in the world, promoted directly by Grandmaster Remy Presas himself.

All of these great men and many more have sacrificed so much to keep the embers of the Filipino martial arts burning in the land of its birth. Everyone who practices the FMA should acknowledge and respect the sacrifices of the Masters and Grandmasters, past and present, that have spent their entire lives propagating the FMA in the Philippines, and recognize the significance of their respective achievements.

The founder of Kuntaw Kali Kruzada

Maestro Rico founded Kuntaw Kali Kruzada in 1993. He was born in the Philippines in the late 1950's and has studied the martial arts continually since the age of five. He has over 30 years experience teaching the martial arts. He is a recognized Master of several styles of Filipino martial arts. In the year 2000 he received an award for "Best Maestro/Guro" from PIGSSAI, at the DIGMAAN competition in Luneta Park grandstand, Manila. In 2001 he produced a video on Lightning Scientific Arnis with Paladin Press. This past June he was officially appointed as the IMAFP coordinator for New York. He recently taught at the IMAFP seminar tribute for Grandmaster Remy Presas' death anniversary, held in the Philippine Department of Tourism this past August.

Maestro Rico has lived in the Philippines until recent years and is now focused on propagating the Filipino martial arts here in the U.S. and abroad. He is currently working on producing two books on the Filipino martial arts to be published in 2006. He returns to the Philippines regularly to continue his study of the Filipino martial arts, continually developing and improving his system. It is his hope that through the propagation of the Filipino martial arts, his system can be an impetus towards a deeper understanding of the cultural heritage of the Philippines.

Maestro Rico Acosta has received extensive personal instruction in the Philippines under many notable Masters and Grandmasters such as Grandmaster Benjamin Luna Lema (LSAI), Grandmaster Vicente Sanchez (KAI), Grandmaster Roberto Presas (Modern Arnis), Senior Master Samuel Dulay (Modern Arnis), Grandmaster Jose Mena (Doblete Rapelon), Grandmaster Florendo Picate (Picate Style Crossada Espada y Daga), Grandmaster Charlie Villanueva (Lao Lan - Doce Generales), Grandmaster Jesus Pallorina (WEDOCA), Master Frank Sobrino (WEDOCA) and Grandmaster Ric Esteban (Kuntaw Combat Escrima). His experience in Judo, Jujutsu, Karate and Aikido has complemented his knowledge of the Filipino martial arts.

Grandmaster Vicente Sanchez and Senior Master Samuel Dulay are advisors to our system, we are grateful to both of these great men for their continual support and guidance. Kuntaw Kali Kruzada supports the efforts of the organizations that we represent in the Philippines, International Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines, Kali Arnis International, W.E.D.O. Combat Arnis and Doce Generales, to promote unity among the different styles/systems of Kali/Arnis/Escrima.

Training in Kuntaw Kali Kruzada

Kuntaw Kali Kruzada practitioners are taught anti-grappling techniques, counters and escapes from the ground just in case they do end up grappling. Deceptive, and more importantly stable, low-line kicks to sensitive nerve clusters and other vulnerable areas are taught in conjunction with close range empty hand fighting methods, utilizing every available part of the human anatomy. Kuntaw Kali Kruzada practitioners are taught how to strike, control and throw their opponents. Treating every scenario as a possible encounter involving multiple attackers.

A typical training session in Kuntaw Kali Kruzada covers single stick and double stick techniques, moving on to empty hand defense against boxing, kickboxing and grappling followed by defense against a knife attack. We do have pre-patterned drills in our curriculum, but our goal is to enable our students to break out of the set patterns and feeds. Training reflexively in un-patterned freestyle drills where the feeder can start out slowly and work their way up to full speed attacks from random angles. This can be practiced with single stick, double stick, stick and dagger, empty hand, knife against empty hand, knife to knife and in multiple attack scenarios both armed and unarmed.

Our goal is to keep the training in our system as close to what might happen in a real altercation, incorporating unexpected angles of attack from all sides. Simulating both the speed and aggression of a real attack. This is a very difficult method of training that our students have to steadily work their skill level up to, but we believe that the more mistakes our students make in the training hall, the fewer mistakes they will make outside where it really counts. The Kuntaw Kali Kruzada curriculum has been designed to provide beginners and advanced practitioners alike with a complete set of armed and unarmed self-defense skills.

Many students that have studied with us have had to use what they have learned to defend themselves and others. Our students have successfully defended themselves in knife attacks, bar fights, mugging attempts and mass attacks. One of our Black Belts survived an altercation involving 20 plus-armed assailants against himself and eight of his cousins in the Philippines, unscathed. Most recently, one of our newest members prevented a woman from being raped by five assailants in the subway on the way home to Brooklyn from his very first lesson with us, using a single rattan stick.

Aside from its focus on effective combat techniques and principles, Kuntaw Kali Kruzada is also a traditional system of Filipino martial arts that places great importance on moral and ethical development, with equal emphasis on imparting knowledge of Philippine culture and traditions. We are a system that prides itself in our connection to the Philippines, staying true to our cultural roots by propagating the FMA as they are taught in the Philippines.

http://www.kuntawkali.com

Senior Master Bambit Dulay visits NYC

Senior Master Samuel "Bambit" Dulay (7th Degree) recently visited our group from the Philippines in June before his scheduled appearance at the IMAF (Modern Arnis) Summer Camp in Lansing, Michigan. I organized a four hour seminar for Master Bambit to teach our group in NYC. Everyone was in awe of his speed, skill and his seemingly unending wealth of knowledge in Arnis.

He covered classical Sumbradas, Corto-range Solo Baston, Tapi-Tapi, Stick locks, Doble Baston, Amara, Knife flow drills and disarms. He also taught semi-private group lessons where he expanded on these topics and taught Mano Mano applications against multiple attackers.

After the seminar he surprised us all by announcing that all Kuntaw Kali Kruzada instructors would be offered equivalent rank in Modern Arnis recognized by IMAFP. This decision was approved by the Council of Masters in the Philippines. Many of our students, in the NY/NJ area, also became formally registered members of IMAFP.

I have received word from Master Bambit that he plans on returning to New York for 2-3 weeks around August 2006. He will be holding a series of seminars during his stay, and will also be available for private/semi-private lessons.

International Modern Arnis Federation Philippines - http://www.imafp.com