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Martial Arts |
Of Nobility, Titles, and Ranks in Filipino Martial Arts Another hotly contested topic that is a constantly debated, rehashed and rethreaded in Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) forums is the issue of title or rank in FMA styles or organizations. My own observation is that the use, or alleged misuse or abuse of titles is not unique to FMA, but may be found in other martial arts as well. If you are a novice student or at least have a passing interest in FMA, you are probably aware of the usual titles that are in common use, like lakan, guro, master and grandmaster. The first two terms are Tagalog or Filipino words.Lakan is usually the term used for the equivalent of an FMA black belt. In the olden times, lakan meant chieftain or elder of a tribe.
Guro literally means teacher or instructor, and any FMA practitioner that now has the knowledge, fighting experience and authority and blessing of his own instructor or master to teach may now carry the rank of guro. This is a huge milestone in the life of an arnisador and the title whence comes all other titles denoting rank higher than an instructor. Occasionally, some styles use the term maestro instead of guro. These styles are usually from the Tagalog or northern region of the Philippines, and in this context, maestro has the same meaning and equivalent rank as guro, no more, no less. In some systems, though, either mistakenly or deliberately, they use the term to mean the equivalent of master, and therefore something higher than a guro. This now brings to the terms master and grandmaster. Most internet debates start with the innocuous question as to what qualities or qualifications entitle one to the title of master or grandmaster? Should he be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, dispatch multiple opponents without breathing hard, practice levitation, meditation and tantric sciences as part of his art?
These titles are obviously Anglicized terms. A Korean style lays claim to the fact that it was the first to “invent” or use this title in a martial arts context sometime in the early 1950’s. Be that as it may, these titles were in use for centuries before that time by military, fraternal and even sports organizations. Military organizations include the Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller and other religious military organizations way back during the Crusades. Fraternal organizations include the Freemasons and sports organizations include the international chess federations that pre-date the traditional martial arts organizations.
At any rate, both these terms are now in regular usage both in traditional martial arts like the Japanese, Chinese and Korean martial arts, as well as the Filipino martial arts. One disturbing aspect of the use of these two words, at least for me, is the supersizing of these terms. I thought that Grandmaster was as high as you could get in the martial arts, or in any organization for that matter. Now you have a proliferation of titles such as Supreme Grandmaster, Super Supreme Grandmaster, Eternal Grandmaster and the like. You may have heard of a rapper known as Grandmaster Flash. Wait till the other hip-hop artists discover that they can supersize that title. But what is really worthy of comment about titles in FMA is not so much the proliferation as the uniqueness, inventiveness and creativity of these titles that add to the flavor or ambiance of FMA. True, many of them are ethnic words with historical meaning, but not all. Some are pure inventions, as you will see. One of my favorite titles is gatpuno. To me, this title is so historical, ethnic, particularly descriptive and evocative of the olden times of FMA. Etymologically, the title comes from two words, ugat meaning root and puno meaning tree. Taken together, gatpuno is the root of the tree. In its historical or political use, it has come to mean “chieftain,”and in the context of FMA, the head or the founder of the FMA system. Mayor Antonio Villegas, a former mayor of the city of Manila, Philippines in the 1970’s, originally from the province of Laguna, a Tagalog province in northern Philippines, preferred the title Gatpuno to his official title of Mayor. The real life FMA gatpuno that I know personally is Gatpuno Abundio “Abon” Baet, head of Garimot Arnis originally from Paete, Laguna and now based in Florida in the USA.
A related title is Punong Guro, literally head teacher or in the FMA context, either the chief instructor or founder of the system. Several prominent FMA masters who have used or currently use this title include the late Edgar Sulite, founder of Lameco Eskrima and Amante “Mat” Marinas, Sr., founder of the Pananandata system and prolific FMA writer.
Another jaw-dropping Tagalog FMA title is Hari, which literally means king. Before you raise your eyebrows, let me point out that in the olden times, the Hari earned his title in either mortal or full-contact combat. Abon Baet recounts that his own father was Hari ng Pitong Kabundukan or King of the Seven Provinces (Laguna, Quezon, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, Bataan, Mindoro) for 37 years, from 1950 to 1987, as an undefeated fighter. He had to be one hell of a fighter to keep that crown for so long. The only FMA guro who currently uses the title of Hari that I am aware of is Osias Banaag of Northern California, who lays claim to that title as inherited from the previous Hari of Sikaran from the town of Baras, province of Rizal, Philippines. One title whose use has spawned controversy in FMA in the United States is the title of datu. Datu is a hereditary title from both Moslem (also spelled as Muslim in the Philippines) and ethnic tribes in the Phil. that denotes royalty or political power. In point of fact, datus still exist in the Philippines, with varying degrees of political power and religious suasion. That is the reason why that the use of that title has met some resistance both in the Philippines and the United States.
It is generally believed that Prof. Remy Presas, Father and Founder of Modern Arnis, was responsible for introducing that title in the United States by conferring it to several students in the United States. While he may have been the most visible, another FMA pioneer in the United States, Punong Guro Amante “Mat” Marinas, Sr. of the Pananandata system, pointed out to me that he brought that particular title as well as several other titles of his system when he immigrated to the United States in 1973 (before Remy Presas came to the United States himself and bestowed the datu title to his students).
I found this mixture of titles interesting. While three of them are Tagalog, (rajah, datu and lakan), the other two are Muslim, with certain connotations attached to the original title. From what PG Mat tells me, for reasons of their own, both he and GM Gaje refrained from using the first and the last title. Datu and lakan eventually found some measure of acceptance here in the United States. Several systems have created their own titles and ranks with ethnic or dialectical derivation. Examples of these would include systems like Inayan Eskrima and the San Miguel Eskrima founded by the late Momoy Canete. The Inayan system uses titles with a distinct Ilocano flavor, Ilocano being a northern Philippine dialect. It uses the title Mangisursuro for its late Founder Mike Inayan. The title cannot be used again by any other member of the organization. Their other titles include suro, katalungan guro, masirib guro, and others.
My friend Ramon Rubia, head of a San Miguel Eskrima system here in the United States, uses the title Magtutudlo, which is simply Cebuano for teacher. His style, founded by GM Filemon “Momoy” Canete formerly of Doce Pares, has roots in Cebu, in the southern part of the Philippines.
As you can see, there is no lack of historicity, ethnicity, inventiveness and creativity in FMA titles. After all, ranks and titles, even uniforms and belts, are a manifestation of one’s pride in his arts, progress in his development and a manifestation of his ongoing legacy.
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