FMA Informative Issue No #79

Latigo
Gareth Rodgers
Grandmaster Canete
Bill Lowery
Informative Issue No. 79
2013
Grandmaster Pableo
The Momoy Canete San Miguel Eskrima System
Techniques
Laban Baston Eskrima Club
The FMA Informative knows there are a few pratitioners tha practice the Latigo. At the present time only two
people in Europe are qualified to teach the Grandmaster Andres T. Canete lineage San Miguel Latigo subsystem
- Bill Lowery, European Representative of the San Miguel International Latigo Association, and Gareth Rodgers; both men are 1st Degree Black Belts, trained and certified in the Philippines by Grandmaster Andres T.
Canete himself.
The FMA Informative was fortunate to have Mr. Bill Lowery share with us a little about his knowledge
of the latigo.
Bill S. Lowery
Bill began training in Eskrima in 1993 under Ian Andrews in Sunderland whilst studying Applied Physiology at Sunderland University.
He also studied under Jimi McAvoy (Founder of Blind Princess Escrima, a Serrada based system).
Bill met and trained under Danny Guba and Percival Pableo in Luton in 1997, one year after starting
his own club (The Laban Baston Eskrima Club). Converting to a Guba Doce Pares club, Bill trained and taught
under Grandmaster Danny Guba for 14 years, reaching the grade of 5th Degree Black Belt. During this time
he travelled to the Philippines twice, both times training under Grandmaster Andres Canete in the San Miguel
Eskrima System.
Workshops covering the three basic strikes, and a course covering the three in one go, are available to
any school wishing to gain experience in this most fascinating of weapons.
Plans are afoot to connect to Tom Meadows system of Latigo y Daga in order to expand the use and
experience of the whip in both general training as well as combat usage. I would recommend the purchasing of
Tom Meadows book Advanced Filipino Bull Whip - an excellent book which covers the Filipino whip in some
depth.
For more information about the purchase of the only certified Latigos as handmade by Grandmaster Canete,
training in the Latigo or training holidays in the Philippines under a selection of Doce Pares Grandmasters, as
well as Doce Pares Eskrima Multistyle system training in County Durham
Contact: Bill Lowery at: (0783) 446-5817
Email: [email protected]
Website: labanb.moonfruit.com
Each issue features practitioners of martial arts and other internal arts, other features include historical, theoretical and technical articles; reflections, Filipino martial arts, healing arts, the culture of the Philippines and other
related subjects.
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labanb.moonfruit.com
Latigo: The Momoy Canete San Miguel Eskrima System
Filimon “Momoy” Canete, the legendary Eskrimadore who’s name
appears in the lists of most of the
top Filipino martial arts Masters,
taught few the Latigo (Cebuano
for Bull Whip), but believed it
was a very important part of his
system due to the many benefits it
bestowed the student.
A first trip to the Philippines in 2007 led us to train with
some of the top Doce Pares instructors, including Grandmaster
Andres T Canete (Cano). Training
under “Cano” Canete (Momoys
son and sole heir to the San Miguel
system) has been enlightening and
a joy, whether covering the Latigo, the San Miguel Form, or the
Espada y Daga (stick and knife)
sections of the system. Cano is a
man who can obviously take care
of himself; when first meeting the
man, even when his martial arts
back ground is unknown, it is clear
you are dealing with a fighter; a
man who has used his skills to survive on the street of Cebu. Solidly
built, Cano moves smoothly due to
his training in his fathers’ system
which is known for its elegant and
flowing strikes.
Despite the belief in some
quarters, San Miguel is not just a
beer; it’s a whole fighting system.
Knife, single and double
stick, devastating empty hand,
espada y daga and Latigo are all
components of the San Miguel
system. This article looks at the
last of those elements, one which
enhances the others with its focus
on body mechanics.
The Latigo we’ve trained
with is approximately eight feet
long (including the wooden handle), and has been made either of
sisal rope or carabao leather. The
The difference between Momoys Latigo and the more
familiar California Bull whip (see Indiana Jones) is the
way in which the whip material is attached to the handle.
The California whip is braided directly onto the handle:
Momoy attached the whip material to the wooden handle
with a piece of nylon rope. This allows the Latigo to be
manipulated in a wider variety of angles than the California whip.
Momoys Latigo
L-R: Gareth Rodgers, Grandmaster Canete, Bill Lowery, Grandmaster Pableo
whip is made up of two or three
braids intertwined; which is used
is dependent on the physical size
of the proponent. Being of the
smaller size, I found that the two
braid was more than enough for
me to handle. Gareth was more
comfortable with the three braid,
thanks to his larger frame and his
solid stance due to years of Karate
training.
The difference between
Momoys Latigo and the more
familiar California Bull whip (see
Indiana Jones) is the way in which
the whip material is attached to
the handle. The California whip is
braided directly onto the handle:
Momoy attached the whip material to the wooden handle with a
piece of nylon rope. This allows
the Latigo to be manipulated in a
wider variety of angles than the
California whip.
Forward, circle and reverse circle are the three basic
strikes taught to beginners, each
involves the correct stance (left
leg forward if the whip is held in
the right hand), the whip is then
swung around the head, the hips
turn sharply to bring the weapon
forwards and the wrist turns in the
prescribed manner to generate the
“pop” - actually the tip of the whip
California Bull whip (Indiana Jones type)
becoming supersonic, it does, when
manipulated correctly break the sound
barrier!
A full matrix of strikes has
been developed covering the three
above strikes in combinations. A Forward strike which turns into a Circle
Reverse takes a little time to perfect;
when the two strikes are then required
to be performed at differing heights
the skill and dedication of the student
comes to the fore.
Not only the tip is used in
the system; the body of the whip can
be used to block strikes and tie the opponent up. The handle can, likewise,
be used to block strikes, as well as being used as a short stick and a projectile weapon - although one which can
be hurled repeatedly!
Getting the whip to pop,
or crack - you choose the description
Grandmaster Pableo
Grandmaster Andres T Canete (Cano) demonstrating striking
of the noise! - is relatively
easy. Getting it to do it
repeatedly when you want
it to takes time, training and
an element of pain. Safety
glasses and upper body
clothing are recommended
– speaking from personal
experience hitting yourself
with a whip which you’ve
failed to crack correctly...
Hurts!
Once trained in the
whip, the other elements
of the Eskrima system you
train in clearly improve.
Your strikes with a stick become more powerful, your
techniques with the empty
hand become more effective
due to the increased power
and shorter range needed
to deploy the strikes. The
speed at which your opponent attacks seems to
decrease – when you have
a whip returning at high
speed, whether the strike
has cracked successfully or
not, your reaction time improves. As does your ability
Early whip training without shirt
Techniques
Techniques are very difficult to discribe in stationary photographs, the explanations below are Bill S.
Lowery first attempt to describe the two most basic techniques. He suggests you find yourself a certified instructor in any of the Latigo systems out there and have fun.
Forward
This is just as the name implies – a straight forward strike to a target directly ahead.
Basic stance – left leg lead, whip held in right hand.
The whip is laid out straight ahead, then drawn towards the rear in a smooth movement, turning the right hip to
the rear as you do so.
The whip hand is raised to head height and punched forward, turning the right hip to the front, and snapping the fist palm downwards so as to accelerate the tip of the whip.
to squeal like an eight year old girl
the first time you realize you are
NOT going to get out of the way!
The training is highly addictive - getting the whip to crack
is a joy, then you just have to do
it again, and again and again! You
find out quite quickly that to get
the Latigo to pop involves relaxing and channeling the power into
the end of the whip. This improves
other areas of training; indeed anything which helps you to relax will
enhance the rest of your training,
including the self defense element.
Staying calm during an aggressive
situation increases your chances of
coming out the other end relatively
unscathed.
Circle
A circling strike aimed at the side of the target.
Basic stance – left leg lead, whip held in right hand. The whip is circled to the left, overhead, three times, turning the hips to follow the circling of the whip. Then the left hip snaps to the right as the whip hand snaps back to
the right in a tight circular motion (a small “C” shape should be imagined).
basic techniques and is aimed at
street self defence.
Empty Hands - Boxing, Kickboxing, Trapping, Locking, Grappling
Single Weapons - Stick, Knife,
Sword
Double Weapons - Sticks, Knives,
Swords, Sword and Knife (Espada
Y Daga)
Flexible Weapons - Latigo (Bullwhip), Sarong
Laban Baston Eskrima Club
Founded in 1996 by Bill
Lowery, The Laban Baston Eskrima club teaches Doce Pares
Eskrima and Blind Princess Escrima. Bill is also the European
Representative for the San Miguel
Latigo (Bullwhip) sub-system
under GM Andres Canete.
Doce Pares Eskrima: Founded in 1932 by a group
of Eskrima Masters headed by
Eulogio Cañete, Lorenzo Saavedra
and Teodoro Saavedra.
The name Doce Pares
means “Twelve pairs” in Spanish, and was meant to honour
the twelve people who originally
formed the organization.
Doce Pares is an umbrella
organisation, involving systems
which cover Corto (close range);
Medio (medium range) and Largo
Mano (long range) fighting systems.
The system covers Forms
and two person drills; sparring in
armour as well as sensitvity drills.
Jimi McAvoys Blind
Princess Escrima is a close range
system based on Cabales Serrada
Escrima, a system often likened
to Wing Chun as it is cut back to
The empty hand section
of Eskrima relates closely to the
weapons art. Most of the drills
performed with weapons translate
directly to empty hands applications. There are three areas of
empty hand work:
1) Panuntukan (Pangamut): this is
known as Filipino (or dirty) boxing. Within this art headbutting,
arm wrenching, the knees and elbows are used along with both the
closed fist and the open hand. The
use of the elbow for destruction of
the opponents weapons (either fist
or leg) replaces the knife which
would be held in the hand. Strikes
which are considered unfair or
‘dirty’ in Western Boxing, ie kidney shots,rabbit punches etc, are
held to be reasonable in Panuntukan. A recognisable technique is
the Gununting, or scissor motion.
This involves striking a target,
such as the biceps, whilst parrying the incoming strike. Trapping
is an integral part of this section.
The close range, or Corto range,
is the most dangerous as there is
the least time to react to an assault.
The trapping art is often taught using knives to give an added incentive to get the technique right!!
2) Pananjakman (Sikaran): this is
the kicking art within Eskrima. It
uses ballistic stomps and low line
strikes to distract and disable the
opponent whilst giving them less
time to register, and therefore react
to, an attack.
Pananjakman is also considered
a separate art and is sometimes
called Sikaran. There are many
games played around this art, all
of which are aimed at improving
the students balance, timing and
accuracy. Students will recognise
some of the kicks as the South East
Asian continent has very similar
terrain and so the resulting arts
tend to display similar attributes.
As an example, some systems of
Eskrima and Silat (an Indonesian
martial art) have the practitioner
drop to the ground the moment
combat begins. In our concrete
floored cities this may appear foolhardy, however when the nature of
the ground in the areas where such
systems develop, a strategy for
dealing with muddy, and therefore
slippery, land makes a lot of sense.
Bill S. Lowery
3) Dumog (Buno): this is the grappling art within Eskrima. Dumog
has only attacking manoeuvres,
no defensive ones. Most of the
dumog techniques are based
around a standing fight, based on
the idea that going to the ground
when being attacked by more than
one person is not a good strategy.
Techniques involve taking the opponent off balance so as to leave
them in a poor position to counter
the follow-up (a headbutt, punch,
kick, throw).
The Filipino Fighting Whip: Advanced Training Methods and Combat Applications [Paperback]
By Tom Meadows
Bill began training in Eskrima in 1993 under Ian Andrews in Sunderland whilst studying Applied Physiology at Sunderland University.
He also studied under Jimi McAvoy (founder of Blind Princess Escrima, a
Serrada based system)
Bill met and trained under Danny Guba and Percival Pableo in Luton
in 1997, one year after starting his own club (The Laban Baston Eskrima
Club). Converting to a Guba Doce Pares club, Bill trained and taught under
Grandmaster Danny Guba for 14 years, reaching the grade of 5th Degree
Black Belt. During this time he travelled to the Philippines twice, both
times training under Grandmaster Andres Canete in the San Miguel Eskrima System.
At present he is teaching at The Chester le Street Community Centre,
Newcastle Road, DH33TS, building up the latest generation of Eskrima
enthusiast and making connection with people around the UK, Europe and the World who are truly dedicated to
the promotion of the Filipino martial arts.
Gareth D. Roberts
Gareth has trained in Karete before discovering the Filipino
martial arts. His grounding in Karate showed through in the strength of
his stances and power generation which helped him pick up the whip
techniques quickly.
At present: Gareth is no longer training in martial arts, his life going
through one of the many changes we have all experienced. We wish him
well in all his future endeavours.
This is a comprehensive guide for advanced whip training methods and
combat applications as practiced and taught by the best fighters and whip
practitioners in the world. It features chapters on the evolution of whips
and their fighting techniques; the various types of whips, including the
Western bullwhip, The Doce Pares rope whip and custom self-defense
whips; manipulation skills and range-control techniques; self-defense
theories and sparring drills; cracking and slashing with the whip; safe handling techniques; and construction, care, maintenance and repair of whips.
labanb.moonfruit.com
Order: www.amazon.com/Filipino-Fighting-Whip-Advanced-Applications/dp/1581604777
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