Post 5 – In Memory of a Stick Fighter (Balintawak)
Post 5 – In Memory of a Stick Fighter (Balintawak)
Last updated: 5/30/14
I wrote the article below at the request of the Buot family to memorialize my teacher of 11 years, Teodoro “Ted” Buot of Balintawak. Balintawak is a Filipino stick fighting system.
In 1994 I met a man who I had heard much about. Training with him meant no rank, no titles, no certificates, just pure skill for the sake of knowledge. Exactly what I was looking for. Modern wars and most violent crimes are not fought with the skills practiced in the majority of martial arts programs today. That means a lot of what is practiced in martial arts today is (a) a form of recreation and (b) not vetted in violence to filter false information. That opens the floodgates for a lot of counter productive distractions like ranks and titles, and debates over authenticity and differences between “styles”. None of which has anything to do with winning a violent encounter. And none of which had anything to do with training with Teodoro “Ted” Buot, who I always called Mr. Buot as a personal gesture of respect.
I was exposed to violence at a young age and I lived a violent lifestyle for a long time. I was a ward of the State as a youth, and as an adult I removed dead bodies for the Medical Examiners in two Counties, several of whom were murder victims that were shot, stabbed, choked or beat to death. I was caught in the middle of a shooting as a youth and I watched someone die from gunshot wounds as an adult. I’ve watched people get physically hurt. I’ve injured many people, and I’ve been injured many times myself. I once held a girl in my arms who was kicked in the head so hard she almost died, and I’ve listened to the stories of countless victims brutalized and abused by violent criminals. Some of those victims were children. Even as a young man only a few years out of the boys home I had no tolerance for false information that could get innocent people hurt because I knew the consequences of losing a violent confrontation. When I met with Mr. Buot the first time I was evaluating him as much as he was evaluating me. That meeting was the beginning of 11 years of weekly training. I did not know anything about the system of Balintawak, but I knew Ted Buot was the man that I wanted to train with.
Of course, it did not take me long to respect the system of Balintawak or its founder Venancio Anciong Bacon. Balintawak is powerful and efficient, but it is also executed shrewdly and with an emphases on timing. Like a boxer, skills are delivered with force, speed and aggression. But skills are also executed with timing and intelligence. The goal is to out think your opponent. The cognitive aspects of application were every bit as important as the physical aspects. Timing was every bit as important as power. The method of Balintawak is to out fight the brain to out fight the body.
But for me it was never about the sticks. I respect my brother stick fighters, and appreciate all the benefits that come from training with sticks (for which there are many). But spontaneous stick duels do not happen on a modern battlefield, or appear in crime statistics. For me, the sticks were just a tool to practice concepts. I was surprised when I first heard some people say Balintawak is just a stick system. Mr. Buot taught me many unarmed application of stick techniques, which I’m sure he taught to many others as well. He also taught me knife applications of the techniques, which again I am sure he taught to others. I also spent many lessons asking about other aspects of combat, including gun disarms, the use of chemical defense sprays and even the use of a walking stick. I would sometimes go weeks without picking up a stick while training with Mr. Buot. When I was first starting my school Live Safe Academy, LLC I reviewed our entire curriculum with him. I was always deeply impressed by Mr. Buot’s insights and practical approach. His roots are deep inside of me, and I am a much better teacher and practitioner because of his open, honest and patient teachings. I cherish those years in his basement and I miss them dearly.
Today I teach through my school Live Safe Academy, LLC. We are a safety and self-defense school that specializes in the training of first aid, assault and crime prevention, unarmed force methods, and the use of chemical defense sprays, sharp and impact weapons, Tasers, and firearms. We are also an approved Criminal Justice Training Provider by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (Michigan’s version of POST). Every student we help is touched by the hands of Mr. Buot. He is one of the few men that I call teacher. I still hear his voice when I am training others, and I still think of our time together when I teach private lessons in my home.
You are much missed Mr. Buot. I would give so much for just one more lesson together.
With love and respect, your student Ian Kinder.
