I
first met Bruno Cancho back in 2008, while on my honeymoon to Barcelona.
Previously I had asked one of my arnis/eskrima instructors Dan Lamac about
anyone to see for some lessons in that part of Spain, and owing to Dan’s
recommendation and contacts Bruno agreed to see me. He happened to be a great
guy and an excellent proponent of medio-corto approach, due to his training in
Koredas Obra Mano and Balintawak systems of FMA.
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| Bruno Cancho... |
Far forward another decade, and Bruno has spent so much time
in the Philippines in the meantime that one has to wonder now if that has not
become his actual homeland. His extensive study of Visayan styles of arnis and
eskrima turned him into a top notch instructor in his chosen field, i.e. medio
and corto ranges of combat. It was, therefore, with great joy that I saw the
publishing of his instructional DVD about his school, titled “Bisaya Eskrima,
vol.1”.
According to Bruno himself, his system is comprised of 20%
long range material (largo distance), so naturally he chose to focus the first
video on closer range, as he refers to it corto
serrada, utilizing single stick. Even more importantly, this material, to
my knowledge, is the first commercially available instructional video on the
not widely known school of Arnes Diablo which stresses empty-handed defense
against knife attacks.
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| ...and his new work |
Regarding the stick, the material covers the basic angles of
attack and corresponding blocks and counters, 5 ways of attacking/hitting
(nothing to do with the JKD methodology of the same name) and accordingly the
five types of counters. Everything is shown as solo and partner practice, plus
the very important training method of palakaw.
When it comes to the knife material, shown are the 6 basic
angles of attack and their defensive responses, with emphasis on disarming the
opponent. Especially interesting is the drilling of follow-up actions after
potentially failed primary responses, intertwined with retention options for
the knife wielding person.
The quality of the instruction, however, is not the only valuable
thing here. Namely, the video is beautifully edited to show the life in the
Cebu region of the Philippines, and it gives the viewing experience a special
flavor. To top it off, the author features two guest local masters, Rodrigo
Maranga of Combate Eskrima Maranga and Danny Vedua of Askal Hybrid Arnis (both
offshoots of Balintawak), who demonstrate certain aspects of their respective
arts. Complementing these aspects is the fact that the entire footage is
recorded outdoors – stick portion either in the parks and woods of the Philippines; knife segment in the back alleys of Cebu, thus giving it
additional air of authenticity. NOTE: with the exception of guest instructors,
who speak English in the video, the instruction is done in Spanish. Still it
did not diminish the viewing and learning experience, because everything is
done in such a clear and precise manner (I do not speak Spanish, but maybe my
speaking French was of some help in understanding everything).
Going back to my comments of Bruno Cancho’s being a great
guy and adopting the Philippines as his second home, the entire profits from
the promotional sales of the digital videos were directed to the Doors of Hope organization that deals
with prevention and stopping of the sexual abuse of children and women in the
Philippines. As if the actual quality of the product were not enough to make
you happy about purchasing it, he really did the extra step to make you feel
even better about it. You can order the video and see the trailer here:
In conclusion, this is one of the best FMA instructional
videos I have seen produced in the past few years, and I look forward to the
second volume.
