Eat, Sleep, Train FMA: Balintawak Eskrima Training in Cebu (July 2015)

To be able to eat, sleep, train for a time is probably every ardent martial artist’s dream. This is the second time I joined a mini Filipino martial arts training camp like this. Back in January 2015, some of my teammates and I had a first taste of a 3-day Balintawak Eskrima Training… And we’ve been even hungrier ever since. This time around, we came back with two more Eskrima devoted teammates so they can also experience it.

Day 1 was action-packed. We started with the usual sightseeing in Cebu City, marveling at the Magellan’s Cross, Santo Niño Church and Fort San Pedro. A little trivia: Fort San Pedro is where GM Anciong Bacon used to train his Balintawak Eskrima students.

Magellan’s Cross with Applied Eskrima Manila

At Fort San Pedro with Applied Eskrima Manila

Next, we visited SGM Cacoy Cañete at the Doce Pares HQ in Cebu. This is my second time meeting him and a first for two of my teammates. As always, it was such a joy hearing his stories, most especially his witty jokes. On my first time meeting SGM Cacoy and buying his book.

With Cacoy Cañete at Doce Pares HQ Cebu

We then headed to the legendary Balintawak Street, where Balintawak Street Self-Defense Club was originally formed and Balintawak Eskrima style of Filipino martial arts was born. Shallow as it may sound, seeing the street signage and being on that spot was in my bucket list. It’s certainly a big deal for Balintawak practitioners like me and my teammates!

On Balintawak Street with Applied Eskrima Manila

After 2-3 hours of land trip, we reached AE HQ in Catmon, Cebu. We had a sumptuous lunch at a nearby beach, where we also trained last January. Since it’s monsoon season in the Philippines, the sea was not the calmest. But that didn’t prevent us from training in the water and having oodles of fun! We practiced various sparring and disarming drills. As expected, it’s doubly hard to train in wild waters. Yet great for resistance and strength.

We went back to AE HQ and rested a bit then trained some more ‘til dinner time. Coming from a regular Eskrima training in Manila the prior night plus a sleepless night chasing a deadline and an early morning flight, exhausted is an understatement. Tired but happy! 😀

Day 2 was a full-day Applied Eskrima training. We usually start at 6 am on the dot and end at around 7 or 8 pm. With yummy meal breaks in between, of course.  Aaaah, what a perfect, worry-free life (even for a few days)!

 

Day 3 was just a half-day training. It’s our last day, which was also the Cebu Lechon day everyone had been excitedly waiting for. This was sort of a reward for the intensive training we went through. And folks, it was worth-it!

Keep calm and eat Cebu Lechon!

Also, some of us took our Module 1 Balintawak Eskrima Certification Test under Applied Eskrima Global. Watch out for my next post to find out how it went down. Here’s the link: Balintawak Eskrima Certification Test under Applied Eskrima Global.