hi, rich... i've received a few similar inquiries since i posted the word "agak", a few threads back:
agak in cebuano/visayan simply means to aid someone along (like when someone sprains his ankle, the other guy carrying his injured side is doing the agak). in balintawak specifically, it's the aiding of the less knowledgeble fighter by the more advance one, and guiding him thru balintawak. in time, the lesser eskrimador learns how "to agak", thus continuing the teaching cycle.
and if a fellow balintawak eskrimador comes upon another, both are encouraged to 'play' ('dula' in visayan, 'duwa' in cebuano). this way both fighters can determine who the best out of the two is automatically, so the better fighter can "agak" his fellow balintawak eskrimador, thus ensuring quality within balintawak.
this is "agak" in general, as i know it. i am still wondering though, if this teaching method (in which one advance eskrimador guides the lesser eskrimador thru, purely one on one) is specific to balintawak, or if other systems, or styles, also train this way.:asian:
