Arnis/Kali/Escrima is a form of Philippine
martial Arts and can be dated back to many centuries ago. History
Fragments have shown that the Empire of Indonesia dating to the 7th and 8th
century A.D. referred to Kali(Kalis) as a form of martial art of the Philippines.
The word “Kali” and the reference to “Kalis”
may be the “Oldest Name” of Kali. This martial art was later influenced by
people moving, wars and trading activities with countries like India, Malaysia,
Spain, Indonesia and
so on.
During the Spanish 400 year of occupation of
the Philippines,
they banned the teaching of Kali. Luckily, these restrictions were only
carried out in major cities and villages. As a result, Kali have a chance
to be practiced in the rural remote areas which were not guarded under the eyes
of the Spanish Army. The Philippine people eventually found a very smart way to
practice Kali under the watchful eyes of the Spanish Army; they expressed the
Combat Techniques in Kali in a form of native dance and spiritual dancing
activities. During the war with Spain,
the Philippine Fighters employed some techniques from the Spanish Weapon
Fighting (Espada y Daga), which refers to a “Sword with a Knife”. Later
on, the art”Kali” evovlved to some other names like Arnis de Mano, Kalis de
Mano, and Dos Manos.
In the old days, Arnis was not practiced in
a “martial art school”; it is rather like a Master and Apprentice way. A master
trains with a handful of students in a very close relationship. Usually,
this relationship is life long, and the master will teach everything he knows
in “Real Life Combat Situatoins” to his students, which makes Kali a very
combat effective art.
Nowadays, the traditional form of Arnis/Kali
are still being taught in some areas in Manilia, mostly in remote villages. The
training session is the “Closed Door” type, which is very much like in the old
days, with one Master and a very few Apprentices. This Old Way of training perserved the old
techniques and culture of Arnis/Kali.
Nowadays, there are many styles of
Arnis/Kali/Escrima being taught and developed all over the world, and the art
is also widely practiced by the general public.
Grandmaster Bert Labitan
Grandmaster Bert Labitan & Siete Pares Escrima
Combat is older than Man himself. Even
animals have their own way of defending themselves.
The Philippines have more than 7,000
islands and inhabited by different tribes and are bound by their own dialects.
These tribes, from the lowlands to the highland were warlike and tribal war was
common. To expand their territory and to capture slaves to work for them or to
sell to foreign traders. This warlike atmosphere developed into different
ways of fighting skills to protect themselves and the existence of their
tribe. Thus, the filipino martial arts was born and evolved. The fighting
arts of the Chinese, British, Dutch, Russian, Spaniards, Americans, Japanese
and other foreign traders and conquerors influenced the Filipino Martial Arts.
The fighting arts of Siete Pares Escrima can
be traced to a certain town in IloiloPhilippines, as
practiced by seven brothers, each one fights with a different style or way from
each other. They were the defending champion in their town for so many years,
unbeatable and undefeated, until one day a young man named Sozimo Labor or
Sossing as known by his townmate of Janiway came into the picture. A prodigy of
Carlos Jaranella, an adventurer and fighter who earned his skills from Cebu who
travelled back to Iloilo as guerilla, a soldier of World War II and also a
tournament of death fighter.
Sossing Labor learned his Arnis/Escrima
basics from his father, Zacarias Labor, a De Campo and Disalon fighter whose
favorite weapon was the bamboo lance or bankao. Sossing was taken by Caloy
Jaranella under his wing and trained him for tournament fighting.
When the town fiesta was a few weeks away
and the Americans, Filipino soldiers and guerillas were fighting with the
Japanese Imperial Army in the surrounding cities, towns and islands, Sossing
Labor was also honing his skill on the upcoming tournament.
The big day arrived and the tournament was
bloody. Sosing Labor fought and defeated the seven brothers, thus becoming the
youngest tournament of death champion in their town.
The war was over, the oldest of the seven
brothers died and Sosing Labor was asked to take the leadership of the 7 Pares
Escrima system. Sosing Labor then incorporated his sytle of fighting, the De
Campo, Disalon and Orabis system.
Sosing Left his province
of Iloilo to seek the greener pastures
of the city of Manila.
Working as a handy man for the Magsaysay family, in which one became president
of the Republic, Ramon Magsaysay. Sosing then settled in the town of Subic or SubicCity as known to U.S. servicemen. It’s about
65 miles north from the city of Manila and 8
miles north of the U.S.
naval base in Subic Bay. Here he settled into
a quiet life, blessed with a wife and 2 sons.
Tired of the hustle and bustle of the big
city, he came home to Subic and became a
driver of a community transportation, the tricycle, a Filipino innovation made
of motorcycle with sidecar that can carry up to 7 passengers. Nobody knows that
we have a champion among our midst.
Bert Labitan, born in the Visayas, the province of Cebu,
grew up in SubicCity, his father’s hometown. As a
son of a poor family, Bert learned hardship in early life. Their livelihood was
fishing on the Bay
of Subic. That barely
supports a family of 5, so Bert the eldest of the children learned illegal ways
of fishing, like dynamite and the use of poison to bring home more fish. Like
his forefathers before him, he also sought greener pastures and was blessed
that he was recruited by the U.S. Navy.
In the early part of 1976, Bert stationed on
board the U.S.S. Dixie and was in Subic Bay
for R&R. As a new black belt of Arnis Batangas, as taught by Master Babao,
presented an exhibition of the art during the town’s celebration for the
farmers. Assisted by his compadre, Reggie Probst, a brown belt of the art, he
brought the people into wild applause. When the celebration was over,
Bert and Reggie, like triumphant gladiators walked in the town street with
heads up and chest out. Sosing Labor was in the audience and walked with them
toward Bert’s house a few hundred yards from the celebration. Sosing then
said to Bert that it was a good show, but can be made better. He then told
Bert, who regards him as a distant relative, that he’ll see him that night.
Bert’s house also served as a small gym in the first floor. At 7:00 that
evening, Sosing arrived at Bert’s house with a coconut leaf center rib shaped
like a sword. He then instructed Bert to strike. Bert only remembered his one
and only strike, the rest he was not able to remember. He gained
conciousness while his mom was applying medicinal coconut oil to his
bruises. Thus started Bert’s lesson in 7 Pares Escrima. After a
couple months in Subic Bay, the U.S.S. Dixie went back to the United States in San Diego, California.
Two months later, Bert was on his way back to Subic Bay
and reported to his duty station at Naval Supply Depot, oil farm as a new
maintenance chief. For 3 years, while stationed in Subic,
Bert trained daily with Maestro de Maestro Sosimo Labor in the fighting art of
7 Pares Escrima. On the 3rd year of their training, Bert was able to
differentiate and isolate each style of the Siete Pares system. Bert was
wondering throughout those years of training why he can’t figure out where was
the number one strike of 7 Pares Escirima coming from. Each day starts from a
different angle. On November 30, 1994, Maestro de Maestros or Grandmaster Sosim
Labor passed the stewardship of Siete Pares Escrima to Bert Labitan, Maestros
or Grandmaster of the system.
Maestro de Maestros Bert Labitan’s martial
arts knowledge is composed of Okinawan karate as taught to him by a relative,
Army Ranger Demit (Ibon) Sobrepena and Loreto (alias ‘Bulog’), Dumog,
Panuntukan, Pulahan Arnis/Escrima, Combat Judo and Jiu-Jitsu by his uncle Rito
Barnayha, boxing by Joey and Roy Barnayha, his cousins, Kajukenbo, from his
shipmate onboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Fred Cauteverio, Sphinx Karate by Chen
Almazan, a disciple of Grandmaster Galez, also an Ilongo, Arnis Batangas as
taught by Mater Babao, and Siete Pares Escrima from Grandmaster Sozimo
Labor. Bert also learned other forms of self defense in the streets of SubicCity
and Subic Bay. Being poor was the
punching bag of every bully in both city or town, 20 years in the military
exposed Bert to many forms of self defense, which he also incorporates in 7
Pares Escrima.
Seven Pares Escrima is composed of the
following styles: Sinawali, Di Campo, Tinulisan, Figura 8, Orabis, Disalon,
Binukidnon, Kapakapa or Pupog, Pabilog, Combate Heneral, Cruzada, At Iba Pa.
Belief and Love of God is encouraged.
Master David "Big Dave" Modzak
Today Pure Force Martial Arts continues the
Siete Pares tradition under the direct instruction of Master Modzak and with
the fullest respect and honor to GM Bert Labitan.
