Teddy Buot and “Anciong” Bacon

     Venancio “Anciong” Bacon was born October 15, 1912 in Carcar, Cebu, Philippines, He lived in Labangon, Cebu City. He studied under Lorenzo "Tatay Ensong" Saavedra in the 1930’s in a style called corto linear. "Tatay" is an affectionate term for father as in the American term "pops” or “dad". "Tatay Ensong" organized what was then known as the Labangon Fencing Club, which evolved as the Doce Pares (twelve pairs). After the death of Tatay Ensong, through club rivalry, Anciong seceded from the club. Bacon was frustrated with internal club struggles and politics. He and Teodoro “Doring” Saavedra were Tatay Ensong’s most outstanding students. Doring Saavedra died during the Second World War at the hands of the Japanese kempetai.
     Several other skilled eskrimadors such as Delfin Lopez, Timor Maranga, Jesus Cui, Ationg Abella, Jugo Milan and Vicente Atillo later joined Anciong or studied under Anciong, as Anciong innovated and revolutionized the art. He advocated direct, efficient and effective moves. Nothing was lavish or fancy; nevertheless, it was graceful and elegant. The other stylists brought their own basic training methods and were picked up by the young masters, were tested at workouts and thus the evolution and progression of the art.
     Anciong was not only innovative and original but fearless. He was the proponent of the cuentada method, often mouthed by many but seldom understood. Part of his training was as a wrestler and boxer. The man was small in stature, probably only 5’2” or less in height and no more than 120 pounds, soaking wet. Anciong was a proponent of the single stick, using the free hand in what is known as tapi-tapi, checking hand or literally translated as the rebuking or reproving (badlong) hand. The left hand was used to push, pull, clear, parry, punch, stab, poke, slap, distract, chop, lift, raise and swing and swing over the opponent’s stick. It was used in lieu of the daga or dagger that was used in earlier training. This was at first ridiculed by his detractors since the double stick was the standard of the day. The rumor is that Tatay Ensong took the short stick or daga from him when he would stab his sparring partners. Whether that is a fable or the truth is beside the point. Anciong created and mastered the single stick and stuck to its practical usage. Today it is widely imitated and copied by rival clubs who in the past advocated that two sticks were better than one. Anciong abhorred the fancy stick twirling, a signature of the "rival club", as impractical in real fights. An apocryphal story is that he did not know how to do the amara. This sounds preposterous since there is no mystery in the move. Even my little boy can do it. Bacon’s moves were music in motion – direct, graceful, balanced, elegant, effective and powerful – even mysterious and baffling. He preached balance and was the master of the mind game or psychological warfare. He called this “taking the power” away from your opponent.
     Bacon established a club in the very small backyard of his student Eduardo Baculi. This was at the back of Baculi’s watch shop on a side street known as Balintawak Street in downtown Cebu City, thus the name Balintawak. Balintawak is a place in Caloocan, Rizal, known as Pugadlawin, where the patriot Andres Bonifacio made his famous cry for an armed struggle in revolt against Spain. This was later known as later Sigaw ng Pugadlawin (Cry of the hawks nest).
     Bacon had several students and he had to make the rounds before he could spend valuable time with a student. Often, a student spent training time with his senior students or head instructor. Anciong would supervise instructions and executions were done correctly. When a student was waiting for an instructor, a student had to listen amid the din of clicking sticks, to what the Grandmaster was teaching other students. A diligent and attentive student could pick up and overhear valuable lessons. Therefore, although a student may have spent years at his club, he may not have spent that much time in personalized instructions with the Grandmaster. That is not to say his instructors were not proficient and capable. They were excellent. In later years, Bacon’s body started to deteriorate from a wasting disease. Many times, he took time outs through long lapses of conversation that would interrupt the workouts. To this day, Balintawak is still a one-on-one teaching method. That is, if you have to understand the nuances and fine shades of the art. Commercialized mass workouts just don’t work that well.
     Anciong was a genius of his art, certainly a daring claim, not by Anciong but by me, his pupil. He was fabled and legendary - loved and respected by his students but hated and feared by his rivals and lifetime enemies but never disrespected. He was the single most deadly practitioner of the art with verifiable battles (bahad - full contact duels) to his name, including one that landed him in jail for homicide. He killed a man who waylaid him in the dark among the coconut trees in Labangon. His lawyer failed to convince the judge that what he did was done in self-defense. His lawyer apparently failed to prove that he used necessary deadly force to defend his life. Until his death in his seventies, this little man was known to humiliate young, strong and disrespectful karatekas, martial artists and eskrimadors. Often landing them on the seat of their pants with him hovering over them in a menacing manner. His talent was esteemed, admired and even romanticized and embellished by his students and admirers. He was also shunned or avoided by his rivals. Regardless, he was a prodigy and master of his art that gained the respect and admiration of both friend and foe.
     So few have deserved the title. As far as the author is concerned, there is and will always be only one Grandmaster of Balintawak, that is, “Anciong” Bacon. Many sophomoric eskrimadors have used the title “grandmaster” or “supreme grandmaster” in a trivial manner as if attaining a self-anointed black belt. This is true, not only in Balintawak but especially in other styles. It seems that those who have the temerity and audacity to make the claim just make their stake on the title. The term has been trifled and cheapened - it has become worthless. Who grants these grandiose and spurious titles of grandmaster anyway? Is it just bald-faced egotism and immodesty? Have any of these so called grandmasters developed a style, theory that is different, independent or original? Have they written a book or a treatise on the art? Have they promoted the art beyond their own clubs? ‘Just asking. None of Anciong’s students during his lifetime dared call themselves “grandmaster”. A precious few today have come close to the title.