Hello guys, Kuntao or kuntaw silat, I am not good at writing but I can show it to you personally there in Manila. Soulguru, I will see you soon probably this saturday(sept 24). I want to know how great you are now.......
I had the good fortune to train under Boggs (Roberto C Lao) in 1997. Here is a bit of my story. My wife and i worked in the Casino Industry for many years, and in 1997 worked for Hyatt Hotels that helped open the Mimosa Regency Casino in Clark Field. Hyatt partnered with Antonia Gonzales from Mondragon and we transformed the former officers club into the casino. I had heard from some of my colleagues that they were training with one of the Chefs from the restuarant, and having done Karate in my youth I decided to join up. I spent the whole of 1997 doing one-on-one sessions with Boggs twice a week. We would start our session off with some warm-ups, move onto Kuntaw forms and techniques, then onto Arnis, and finish off with some sparring and general Kickboxing. The "Kuntaw Arnis" style is exactly what it says it is, Kuntaw and Arnis taught together. One thing Boggs tried to portray was how some of the movements in Kuntaw mimic those found in Arnis, and emphasized how the two styles complement one another. Boggs was one of the Martial Arts instructors when US still had their base in Clark. Those were prosperous time for him and i believe he was well respected by those he trained. Some took those skills back to the US and went on to start their own schools. I think one of the reasons that the grading was introduced was to satisfy the western need for getting something "material" in recognition for skills. Well, for those in Angeles, you were probably in the same boat as Boggs when Pinatubo erupted. He basically lost everything, His home, his job, and the future didn't look so bright. Thats how he ended up as a chef, and taught us foreigners his beautifull art to supplement his income. I have lost contact with him, although i could probably trace him through some friends in Angeles. I also have a phone number, although it is 8 years old, so not sure if it is still valid. I truly hope he is well. He taught his style with such a passion, and such a pride, that it would truly be such a great pity if his contribution goes unnoticed. Here is a picture of Boggs(Green and Blue stripes), Myself and two colleagues. Here is the last certificate Boggs gave me:
Kuntaw arnis you can contact Boggs at his Yahoo group http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/KuntawArnis/ tell him Buzz sent ya
This post was way back in August, my apologies, I don't read often but would like to add a few things... In 1570, during the 1st incursion of the Spanish conquistadors in Luzon, there were pockets of Muslim communities along coastal Southern Luzon as well as Mindoro. The reason for this was the seafaring Muslim missionaries naturally started their conversions from the coast. Some communities along Manila bay were Muslim, like Manila, coastal Bulacan & Pampanga. Batangas was Muslim, back then it had the towns of Bonbon & Balayan. I believe there were also Muslim communities in the Bicol area. While the inland tribes were most likely pagan. So the Muslims in Luzon then were a minority group. The reason Luzon was easily conquered was due to a treacherous act by a tribe against Rajah Sulaiman (of Tundo, Maynilad) & his Tagalog warriors. When Marcial de Goiti (under Legaspi) threatened Manila with less than 200 Spaniards and 500-600 Visayan warriors, this treacherous tribe instigated Rajah Sulaiman to fight the foreigners or loose face. Unknown to Sulaiman, his "allies" already made a deal with the conquistadors! Sulaiman's "allies" only wished to show a token fight, to gain bragging rights that they "fought" the foreigners before surrender. The innocent Sulaiman attacked the enemies the following day & lost. After this incident, the towns fell like dominoes. There were no record of any united resistance among the tribes around Luzon. Maybe the tribes were concerned of suffering the same fate as Rajah Sulaiman. With the aura of suspicion hovering over the land; tribes were divided; villages fought alone and easily defeated. Some of the remaining Muslims who didn't want to surrender moved back to Mindanao & Sulu. Concerning the Visayans, their reason for assisting Spain against the Muslim Tagalogs was the Visayans then were still pagans. They were hostile against the Muslim Tagalogs.
I visited the Philippines in 2010 and 2012 and did a lot of research on the history given by GGM Lanada. I have found out many interesting facts from old Kuntaw people in Naga, Legaspi, Santo Domingo, and Tabaco. I am curious if anyone has anything else to share on that topic. I found out that GM Lanada was representing Shorin ryu under Latino Gonzales in 19 65 and was representing the Karate Brotherhood ( Shotokan) under GM Meliton Geronimo in 1966. The first mention of Lanada Kuntaw came out in 1968 just after an article was published by one of GM Geronimo's students in Black belt magazine mentioning Kuntaw as a Muslim Filipino art. I am curious as to how this all happened , tho I have my own theories and testimonials by his old students
Sounds like an interesting topic. Just bear in mind that nobody has posted in this thread for the past 9 years. So we'll see what happens.
Perhaps. I certainly hope so. It'd make for interesting content. But, sadly, it's not one of the styles that gets a ton of mention on this forum.
Since I am probably the only american on the board who studies exclusively in the Pampanga region, I'll try to help when I can.. Ive been training in the Pampanga region since the early 70s and make trips back there at least once or twice a year for visitation and upgraded training with the remnants of the groups I trained with back in the day..
