The Secrets of Kalis Ilustrisimo by Tony Diego and Christopher Ricketts, Diego stated:
?The Ilustrisimo system of escrima is known by the name of the family that rightly deserves the honor: ?Ilustrisimo. We prefer to call it kalis Ilustrisimo (kalis means sword), but it is also known as olistrisimo escrima (olisi means stick) and Ilustrisimo arnis. By whatever name we call it, it still is and ever will be, the fighting art of Antonio Ilustrisimo.?
SECRETS OF COMBAT
The secret is that there are no secrets. According to Ilustrisimo, ?I do not specialize nor favor any combat range. Everything depends on my opponent and the development and evolution of the fight?. However, his use of the thrust was a distinguishing characteristic of Ilustrisimo?s personal style that became immediately apparent to me. In fact, from all of the basic blocks and deflections Ilustrisimo would simply thrust the tip of the stick forward into the appropriate ?soft target?: eyes, throat, diaphram, groin, armpit, etc. As he demonstrated this on me he simply said ?For combat.?
The Ilustrisimo style is based on the use of the blade. Many different sizes and shapes of blades are used, but the barong was a personal favorite of Ilustrisimo. The barong is a ?leaf shaped? blade that has been known to take off a limb if necessary. Ilustrisimo should know, as his first life and death encounter came at age 15, when he was accosted by a Muslim fanatic who took offense at Ilustrisimo buying beer. According to Tony Diego ?When Tatang ignored him, the Muslim cursed him vehemently and advanced on Tatang, drawing his kris. As he prepared to slash at Ilustrisimo, Tatang drew his own barong, and cut off the attacker?s head in one motion called tumbada.? As Ilustrisimo himself related the tale for Mark Wiley in his book Filipino Martial Culture, ??he strikes at me but I beat him (to the strike). His head is cut off by me and the body run away. It did not go down right away and the blood was still running everywhere. His eyes were intense and staring at me from his head on the ground, so I thought maybe he has anting-anting (spiritual protection). Wiley (who has made a series of ten research trips to the Philippines) also reports in his book that Ilustrisimo?s reputation as a fearsome fighter and participant in several of the infamous ?death-matches? of the Philippines is recognized by other master-instructors throughout the islands. ?? Along the way, Ilustrisimo encountered martial arts masters from around the world and fought in more ?death-matches? than perhaps any other Filipino martial arts master. Ilustrisimo is among the most respected and feared kali masters that the art has ever known ? as indicated by his nickname, ?Tatang?, a Tagalog term of respect.? Wiley met Ilustrisimo at age 87. I met him 15 years earlier at age 72 and he was quite ready to mix it up with anyone at anytime.
While there are no ?secret techniques? in the art of kalis Ilustrisimo, there are two very important fighting strategies. One is termed enganyo or feint. The enganyo is designed to fake or make the opponent create an opening that can be attacked. Connected to enganyo is prakcion ( or fraction) which involves ?beating him to the punch? using more timing than speed. Other strategies that are emphasized in this style are:
Keep calm and relaxed.
Know your distance.
Use the shortest path for your trajectory.
Put the weight of your body behind your strikes
Guide the opponents force rather than meet it.
Be an honest and good man, free of guilt and clear of mind and conscience.
Know when to break the rules.
?GIVE ME HALF OF YOUR MONEY?
During the month I was training with Ilustrisimo in Manila I shared with Roberto my plan to travel to other islands to meet different instructors and view their styles of escrima, arnis and kali. One day, Roberto came to me and said ?Tatang has agreed to accompany you on your trek to the other islands. He will act as your interpreter and bodyguard. You will need them both.? I was surprised and frankly a little stunned at this offer. My first plan was to go on this island trek alone, but after talking with both Roberto and Ilustrisimo, we decided that Roberto should also go with us to act as the ?advance man? and make the initial inquires whenever we arrived at a new location. By the end of the evening we had a three man team and we dubbed ourselves ?The Three Musketeers!?
We planned to be gone for about a month and the only payment Ilustrisimo asked me to make was to provide enough rice for his family while he was away and to pay his expenses while he was on the road with us. Roberto asked for the same thing and I agreed. Then Roberto said ?You should give me half of your money. I will hold it for you?. This really surprised me and I asked him why. ? Because you are considered a rich American and will be looked at as a target as we travel. If you get ?rolled? and have all of your money stolen, we will all be stuck somewhere without anyway to get home. You are the only one of us that has any real money!? After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized that Roberto was right and I really needed to do just what he said. I did so and through out the trip Roberto would give me a daily money report about expenses and what needed to be spent. He was an honest man.
TREKKING
The first island we visited was Mindoro located just south of Luzon. Roberto ?made the way? for us and knew of a mountain tribe known as the ?Mangyan?. As we hiked up the mountain, Ilustrisimo kept up with us easily. He just took it slow and steady and surprised us by saying the last time he ?walked in the mountains? was when he was 17!
We made contact with a tribe called the Mangyan Hananoo. We entered their village of thatched huts and quickly became the ?big news? of the day: Outsiders from down below and a white man is with them! The children gathered around us laughing and trying to touch us. We met the head of the village and Tatang was able to communicate with him and explain what we were doing. The ?chief? asked us to demonstrate ?your arnis? and we all did so. The elders of the village were present for our demonstration and expressed interest in what we were doing. They showed us their ?jungle bolos? that they carried and said that the weapons the Mangyans used were all for hunting. They used the bow and arrow, the spear and the blow gun. There are no specialized systems of training for these weapons other than the hunt itself with the children going out with the more experienced men. They further explained that all of the Mangyan tribes used to live near the coast, but over the years ?civilization? has pushed them farther and farther into the mountains. They were concerned that this might keep happening, but when I asked them if they would fight to stop that, the chief told me that ?fighting will only bring bloodshed, pain and suffering. We will retreat further into the mountains.? I asked him ?What if someone was coming to harm your family?? The chief answered me that he would ?wait in a tree and use my blowgun?.
After our demonstration and discussion, we played some games together. I asked them to show me some ?competition games? and they showed me how to ?foot wrestle?. I exchanged that with arm wrestling and everyone had a good laugh.
We decided to move on, said our goodbyes and worked our way down the mountain to a lagoon where we all took a much-needed bath in the middle of the jungle.
A SPIRITUAL MAN
As we continued our trek through the islands, we visited Cebu, Negros, Mindanao, Bantayan, and even the small island of Jolo at the southern tip of the Philippines. We traveled by banca (boat), bus, jeepney, and on foot. Along the way I had unique opportunity to interview Ilustrisimo about many topics, train with him privately and gain more insight into his history and background. He was a spiritual person who prayed twice a day. A practicing Christian, he also integrated Muslim beliefs and the Filipino concepts of oracyon and anting-anting. Oracyon are prayers that are said to contain special powers and are usually written on small scraps of paper and kept with the individual. Ilustrisimo has an oracyon tattooed across his chest says that this prayer makes people tend to be nice to him and not know why. Anting-anting are little amulets that have been imbued with special, protective powers. Ilustrisimo is adamant that the powers of both oracyon and anting-anting have kept him safe in his battles, especially when he fought against the Japanese.
We also discussed the mental and emotional qualities that Ilustrisimo felt were critical to his style. The mind-set is called Dakip-Diwa and according to Ray Galang, Ilustrisimo?s most senior student in the United States, ?Dakip-Diwa is the secret behind the reputation, the art, the skill of the Filipino warrior, The Mandrigma. In the practice and cultivation of this mind-set, the Mandrigma develops, trains and controls his mind for combat situations until Dakip-Diwa takes supreme and absolute control of his body emotions and spirit.?
The concept of Dakip-Diwa seems most similar to the Japanese concept of mushin or ?no-mind.? There is no preconceived idea of what is to happen in a combative encounter. Your mind is much like a mirror that simply reflects what is happening and you respond spontaneously and appropriately.
JUDO IN CEBU
We made our way to the Visayan island of Cebu which many practitioners consider to be the ?home of escrima? and located the famous Doce Pares school of the Canete Clan. It was a Sunday and while I waited outside the school I learned that Cacoy Canete required that all of his students practice judo on Sundays as a pre-requisite to participate in his escrima training. He felt that the throws, takedowns, joint locks and grappling techniques were all applicable in the ?close quarters? of a fight and in fact integrated them into his own style of escrima he called ?Eskrido?
I worked out with the judo club and had some good tussles with the young men that showed up that day. I met Guro Cacoy Canete and he invited us back the next day to watch their regular escrima training. In fact, they prepared a big demonstration for us and we were shown a variety of techniques for training with single and double sticks, stick and knife, staff, bull whip and many empty hand techniques. Several of Guro Cacoy?s uncles were there - they were also in their 70s and contemporaries of Ilustrisimo. I saw them talking off to the side and they were all laughing and showing each other their different ?battle scars?.
GOING HOME
The ?Three Musketeers? had many more adventures as we visited Ilustrisimo?s home island of Bantayan and he was ?welcomed home? by the entire village; then we made the long boat ride down into the southern Philippines, the land of the Moros, visiting the cities of Davao and Zamboanga; and finally down to the little island of Jolo where Ilustrisimo also spent many years as a youth. In each of these places we were successful in finding instructors of various styles, interviewing them
and seeing demonstrations of their own personal styles and systems. It was for me ?a martial dream come true?. After our month of trekking, Ilustrisimo announced that he had to return home to his family. I also realized that it was time for me to return to the United States and see what was waiting for me back home.
My ?fantastic luck? was there for me that day when I stepped off the bus in Manila and was taken to meet this Grand Master of the Filipino fighting arts ? Antonio ?Tatang? Ilustrisimo. Born in 1904, Ilustrisimo finally passed away in 1997 at the age of 93. He was a strong man, a fighter, a good teacher and most of all, a kind man who was willing to help a stranger. The story I have related in this article is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Ilustrisimo?s amazing life and his personal style of combat. If you are interested in learning more about him I encourage you to locate the following books:
The Secrets of Kalis Ilustrisimo by Tony Diego and Christopher Ricketts
Filipino Martial Culture by Mark Wiley
Filipino Fighting Arts by Mark Wiley
