Hi Jerome,
You told Brian VanCise to do his research. I decided to do some of my own. Your research is flawed. You quote only one book, Cebuano Eskrima Beyond the Myth – Ned Nepangue & Celestino Macachor. That is minimal research.
Cebuano Eskrima Beyond the Myth – Ned Nepangue & Celestino Macachor
pg. 167 – “Anciong Bacon, considered being the “Mozart of Eskrima,” separated from Doce Pares in 1952. Many well known Doce Pares old-timers, like Vicinte Atillo and Delfin Lopez, followed him. Together they established the Balintawak Self-Defense Club in 1953.
Vivencio “Bebe” Lopez Paez” (b.1928) is identified with Delfin Lopez but actually learned his eskrima from Vicente Atillo, one of the Balintawak pioneers. Crispulo “Ising” Atillo founded the Philippine Arnis Confederation (PAC) on April 24, 1975 in Cebu City.”
Other than the two pages you referenced earlier (pgs. 168 & 170) the only other mention of Ising Atillo is on pages 114-117 having to do with his match with Ciricao Canete.
There is other reference material:
Warrior Arts of the Philippines–
Reynaldo Galang
pgs 1&2 - “After the death of Tatay Ensong, internal bickering and politics rocked Doce Pares. Anciong bacon, one of the disgruntled instructors, later dropped out of the society, reportedly after a bitter feud with the Canete clan. He decided to break away and start his own club, opening his first gym in Balintawak Street in Cebu city in 1951.” [note: the balintawak people featured in his book include Sergio Arcel, Johnny Chiuten, Nick Elizar, Timoteo Maranga, Rodrigo Maranga, Bobby Tabimina, Bobby Taboada, Teofilo Velez, Pacito Velez, Jose Villasin, and John Villasin. Nowhere in the histories of these balintawak masters do they mention the names of Vicinte or Ising Atillo. DA]
Filipino Martial Culture – Mark V. Wiley
pgs 267-268 – “In the late 1920s, Lorenzo Saavedra organized the Labangnon Fencing Club, whose name was later changed by Ansiong Bacon (a student of Saavedra and founder of Balintawak Eskrima) to what is now known as the Doce Pares Club. Under the direction of Bacon the art grew in popularity and the Doce Pares Club gained students by the hundreds. In 1939, the club was jouned by Eulogio “Euling” Canete, who now runs the club. As a result of philosophical differences with Canete, Ansiong broke away and established the Balintawak Self-Defense Club.” [note: Wiley continues on with the history of the club and no mention is made of either Atillo, father or son. DA]
Eskrima Filipino Martial Art – Krishna Godhania
pg. 12 – “But with war comes casualties on both sides, and a number of Eskrima Masters lost their lives, among them the legendary Doring Saavedra (who was captured and killed by the Japanese kempe-tai); this left a void in the Doce Pares, although it regrouped with Ansiong Bacon as its top fighter. Unfortunately, personalities and politics soon divided the club. As a result, Ansiong Bacon left and founded the Balintawak Self-Defense Club (see p. 11). He later went on to train such notables as Delfin Lopez, Teofilo Velez and Jose Villasin.” [note: No mention of the Atillos. DA]
Arnis Self-Defense – Jose G. Paman
pg.24 – “Frustrated by the internal politics of the original group, Venancio “Anciong” bacon, a top pupil of Lorenzo Saavedra, moved to another part of Ceby and established the Balintawak Club.” [no mention of the Atillos. DA]
So, where are the Atillos mentioned?
Arnis – Reflections on the History and Development of the Filipino Martial Arts – compiled by Mark V. Wiley
A History of Eskrima in Cebu and Negros (Essay) - Krishna Godhania
pg. 55 – “In 1975, Crispulo “Ising” Atillo formed the Phillipine Arnis Confederation. Atillo, who learned the art from his father and Venancio Bacon later participated in the infamous duel with Ciriaco Canete in 1983.”
Black Belt magazine online
FMA Up Close: Arnis Grandmaster Crispulo Atillo
by Keith Vargo
– June 6, 2013
Few people in the world can truly be called a grandmaster of
arnis. Fewer still have studied with the original Filipino masters or fought in stick-fighting challenge matches. Crispulo “Ising” Atillo is one of those rare people.
History
Crispulo Atillo was 14 years old when he began his formal training in 1952 under
arnis legend Venancio “Anciong” Bacon, but his first fighting experience came at a much younger age. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the early 1940s, Crispulo Atillo’s father was a member of the resistance, and more than once both father and son narrowly avoided capture. It was also during these war years that he witnessed Venancio Bacon and another legendary
balintawak master, Teodoro Saavedra, fight in challenge matches.
These early experiences left a deep impression on the young Crispulo Atillo and made him a lifelong devotee of the original style of balintawak arnis. After World War II, the only surviving balintawak master was Venancio Bacon. It was from him that Crispulo Atillo learned most of this single-stick style. But Crispulo Atillo’s father was also a student of the late Teodoro Saavedra, and the senior Atillo passed those skills along to his son. The result was a style of arnis that made the junior Atillo one of the best ambassadors of arnis in the Philippines.
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/t...a-up-close-arnis-grandmaster-crispulo-atillo/
[note: anytime I have worked with Black Belt magazine, they usually contacted me first hand to verify data was correct. DA]
And here is how the title “Original Balintawak” came about…
"ESKRIMA"
This article were taken from Grandmaster Dionisio Canete's book 'Filipino Martial Arts Espada y Daga'. I found that this was the most informative and comprehensive discription, of the history of the Doce Pares, and revealed many things that was never written down before.
“The tension brought about by the rivalry between these two groups [balintawak & doce pares – DA note] had considerably eased in the beginning of 1970, and it was about this time the Cebu Eskrima Association (CEA) was born. Spearheaded by lawyer Dionisio "Diony" Canete, the youngest son of Eulogio, all the fourteen Eskrima groups/organizations in Cebu joined as members. "Diony" was subsequently elected as charter President with Jose Villasin of Balintawak as Vice President, and event considered by many to have virtually ended the bitter rivalries among the eskrimadors in Cebu.
Shortly thereafter Balintawak had split into four different factions. Bacon headed one group called the Balintawak original while Villasin and Teofilo Velez named theirs as Balintawak Internatinal Self Defense Club. Timoteo Maranga who then held the rank of Major in the Cebu City Police Force baptized his club as Tres Personas Eskrima.
Vicente Atillo and son Crispulo headed another one known as New Arnis confederatin of Visayas an Mindanao (NACVAM) and was later changed to Atillo Original Balintawak Eskrima Association.
Subsequently, Villasin and Velez also parted ways with Villasin adopting the name Joevil Balintawak and that of Velez, the Teovel Balintawak Eskrima.” [note: italics are mine and I left the misspelled words alone. DA]
http://www.bandalan.com/History/doce-pares_history.html
My point? Simple. You’re apparently using only one book as a reference point to base your entire premise. This is sloppy research, especially since there are other reference materials out there. Now, unfortunately, the written history of FMA is nowhere as complete as Japanese martial arts or martial arts in America so the
total accuracy of any of these references are in question. History is written by…the writers, if not by the winners.
Yours,
Dan Anderson
