Balintawak Grouping Systems

soncen

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Helo Guys,
I was wondering if anybody can give me detail on the 5 Grouping system.
Hello Mr. Lightninghand,

I want to give you some of the detail of the five Basic Forms on Grouping!!!

But first, let me clarify to you something. Grandmaster Teofilo A. Velez contrary to what had been published by some writers was first conceptualized the Grouping of moves. He discovered that the easiest and the best way for the student to quickly absorb and understand the lesson is to guide him through grouping of moves and responses from attacks on varied angle situations. Being the dummy/opponent, the Instructor will create a fight situation such as stick-arm seizing, holds and controlled hitting to develop instinct reaction on the part of student, guiding him to loosen the holds by way of lifting opponent’s arm wrist, remove obstacles by uncovering opponent’s blocks, dejection of stick arm with simultaneous blow strikes on his retaliation. The student also developed technique when to execute bobbing and weaving, hip and shoulder twisting to evade strikes, slumping or fading away and leaning to the right or leaning to the left. There were around twenty-five basic moves to be mastered in this drill exercises. The student has to be reminded that every opponent is very dangerous so that every time he face his Instructor in the training, the student must threat them as a real enemy and must have to take into consideration all figure of action as real life threatening situation. The student must apply the correct and proper execution on the basic moves on varied responses and the projection or anticipation of counter responses on every recurring situation.

The move was clustered into five grouping figures and the series was to be taught first in a slow motion and from time to time guide the student and make some correction once the exact form was not properly executed. The mechanics on applying the figures is first to be done in the basic form and in a slow motion to easily guide the student on the proper execution on how and when it is to be delivered. The drill is to be repeated over and over again until it would be implanted on the muscle memory of the student. Constant repetition would be a good exercise until he will get use of it and he will develop good reflexes, quick responses, speed and stamina. However, the student will just wait for the Instructor when to initiate and feed for him the grouping figures while at the at random drill exercise (palakaw) or “corridas”. The signal for execution of the grouping figure is that when the Instructor grasps and hold to immobilize the student’s stick-hand either with the Instructor’s empty hand or of his own stick-arm and that is the time the student move to apply the grouping of moves to free himself from the clutches of the opponent.

Be reminded that retaliation blows were to be in controlled manner although the Instructor has to block and take the defense for himself. But the Instructor is not always aware of his own defense because his concern was focused on guiding the student. Sometime some wild blows would hit him but that was only a part of the risk he is going to take as an Instructor.
Grope # 1 – is a four-count move action figure putting the student under the situation of its opponent’s control by clutching the arm of the student while in the act of attacking? Let the student loosen the grip by its empty hand to push through its second offense. The instructor blocks this move in the second time, checking its cane down and let the student clear the way for his third attacking motion to the rib cage. This time, the instructor blocked the student’s offense using his cane in a vertical position. The student pushed the cane, which was blocking and executes his fourth offense on the way to its opponent’s head. The instructor aborted the move and continue to play the at random order.

Grope # 2 – is a series of three offensive action move initiated by the instructor directing to the chest, the forehead and the hipbone by an arnis butt stroke while controlling the student’s cane with its empty hand. The student blocked this simultaneous attack in three-action move loosening its controlled cane by grasping the arm pulling it up at the same time deliver the blow on the rib cage of the opponent. The instructor blocked this offense with his cane in this action and let the student push the blocking position down and for the second time let him deliver the blow on the head. Exercise the move by doing it over and over again and continue the play of the at random figure.

Grope # 3 – is a move grasping the arm of the student at the same time applies the thrust on the navel, the chest and the face. Checked the body movements and the blocking form weather the rod is in the vertical position and of the correct execution of its retaliation blows.

Grope # 4 – is a move attacking the student with left and right blows on the head, guiding him to block and push the opponent’s arm to clear the way for its return offense.


Grope # 5 – is a two separate action figure. The starting move was to grasp the students cane while in the at random play, controlling it over the top of its arm situation by the opponent’s cane at the same time jab him off with a fist blow on the face, butting its chest, the forehead and the hipbone simultaneously. Let the student parry, blocked and evade in a triple action move. Loosen its controlled cane pulling up the opponent’s arm and deliver a blow on the rib cage, the instructor blocked this move by its cane in a vertical position and let the student pushed it down and deliver his last offense move on the head in this action figure. The instructor applies the “pakgang” system in this bit of action, to distract the student’s attention and to test his focus of concentration of the lesson’s figure, guiding him of the correct execution and of his retaliation blows. In the second figure of action is a reverse move from the first action figure.

Note: The lessons in basic grouping figures are to be learned only on actual and personal one-to-one instruction where a qualified Instructor has to guide the student to see to it that the exact execution and application of correct moves is properly delivered.

I hope this will help you. But if you really want to experience in actual personalized training, you can visit us in our club gymnasium in Basak North road, Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines.


Respectfully,

Wilson R. Ceniza
 

manhattan1

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Helo Guys,
I was wondering if anybody can give me detail on the 5 Grouping system.

GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin made the first Grouping System, later GM. Velez made a Grouping System of his own, but not the same as GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin did teach. GM. Velez did never complete his studies within Villasin Balintawak, so he could not know the same grouping system as GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin did teach according to GM. John Villasin (the son of GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin).
You can see a simple youtube video of it here:


Sincerly yours,

Jan Jensen
http://www.fma-arnis.dk
 
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Rich Parsons

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GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin made the first Grouping System, later GM. Velez made a Grouping System of his own, but not the same as GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin did teach. GM. Velez did never complete his studies within Villasin Balintawak, so he could not know the same grouping system as GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin did teach according to GM. John Villasin (the son of GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin).
You can see a simple youtube video of it here:


Sincerly yours,

Jan Jensen
http://www.fma-arnis.dk


Question?

What about other people who were alive at the time period?

Do their comments matter?
 
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manhattan1

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Since we are talking about other people then lets quote some, this is from Sam Buot's Website:

http://www.buot.net/History/jose-villasin.html said:
Jose Villasin (deceased) was a lawyer and labor leader. He and his wife Juliana had fourteen children, only four of who were boys, two of who are surviving, Joey and John. As a lawyer and officer of the Allied Labor Union, laborers respected his intellectual skills but dockhands also understood force, might and physical violence.
Villasin taught eskrima and martial arts at the University of the Visayas. He tried to organize his course by making mimeographed notes for his students. Thus, this attempt to organize the thought process of the Grandmaster: by dissecting and breaking down the art into understandable and digestible morsels for beginners. It was an outline with sketchy descriptions of moves. Incorporating it in demonstrations, varied the demonstrations to make it more exciting, appealing and less monotonous. It was under the personalized tutelage of Joe Villasin that the author had a quick start and understanding of the basics, intermediate and advanced studies of eskrima. Villasin’s study simplified the lessons for faster understanding.

He says GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin did make the Grouping System, besides that he also mention something about the children of GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin and very similar to what GM. John Villasin, my self and GM. John's sister Telling did say.... :)
Next is something from Visayan Martial Arts, who according to their website teaches [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Balintawak as taught by Teofilo A. Velez and the method of instruction of Timoteo Maranga's form of Balintawak:

[/FONT]
http://www.visayanmartialarts.com/balintawakarnisescrima.htm said:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One of Venancio’s successors to Balintawak was a Lawyer calle[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]d 'Attorney Jose Villasin'.[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]He set about to ‘systemise’ and ‘group’ the style into its various categories so that his students could master one set of related techniques and then move onto the next set of related techniques. This is the juncture where several distinct schools of B[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]alintawak emerged. Many of Venancio’s Balintawak students and some of Venancio’s and the Saavedra's older Doce Pares students continued to teach in the old style of random instruction, while Attorney Villasin’s family and close friends/students used his unique ‘grouping’ method.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Some instructors from the different instructional styles state the grouped method is ‘modified’ Balintawak. This is not so. The techniques and principles of Grouped Balintawak have not been made different in form, restricted, varied, or limited in any matter and have been observed to be still, all the same. It is simply the ‘method of teaching’ that has been examined and refined. Even [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]some older Doce Pares Grandmasters (whom we have had the privilege to have trained with), whose lineage comes from Bacon and/or the Saavederas all have the same style and moves, (if their instructor had any length or high degree of training) but they simply do not have the same teaching system.[/FONT][/FONT]

Even that they teach GM. Velez's style they also seem to know that GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin made the grouping system.... :)
Its the same thing i hear from many people down here in Cebu, where i live....

Sincerly yours,

Jan Jensen
http://www.fma-arnis.dk
 

manhattan1

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fangjian

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Well it is kind of what it says, that GM. Velez is not teaching the Villasin Grouping System (because he did not learn it), but his own grouping system and its different from ours......

Here you can see ours:

And i guess this is Teovels with Master Monie Velez: http://www.fma-arnis.dk/MASTER_MONIE_VELEZ_AND_TEOVEL_BALINTAWAK

Sincerly yours,

Jan Jensen
http://www.fma-arnis.dk
It says GM Velez never completed his studies with Atty Villasin. What do you mean?
 
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fangjian

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I think the problem is you are not offering a lot of information.

For example, if I said to you
'Teofilo Velez created the groupings '.
You would probably say 'WHAT. I've never heard that. Could you explain?'
Then I would explain the story, and then you should say
"Hmm interesting. Thanks.' (or something like that)

When you say something like
'GM Teofilo Velez didn't complete his studies in Villasin Balintawak'. It makes us say
'WHAT I've never heard that. Could you explain?'

You have not explained anything, and those of us who go on these forums are very interested in learning and sharing information. So if you know more about this we'd love to hear it.
 

manhattan1

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'GM Teofilo Velez didn't complete his studies in Villasin Balintawak'. It makes us say
'WHAT I've never heard that. Could you explain?'.

First of if GM. Velez did learn his Grouping System from GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin then why is our Grouping Systems not the same and why does he not have any proof of ever completed the Villasin Style under GGM. Atty. Jose Villasin?

I think when a Grandmaster within a style like GM. John Villasin says that GM. Velez did not learn the complete Villasin Style, its up to GM. Velez (or his people) to prove his/their claims.....

Sincerly yours,

Jan Jensen
http://www.fma-arnis.dk
 
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