"While you guys wallow in this commercialized version of Balintawak, please remember that the guy who began this all, died a very poor and uneventful death. He never got a penny (or centavo) from this. Remember this while you're making money as a "Balintawak Successor"
The above said was for DATU Tim Hartman, not Ted Buot. I said this because I was pissed off that I was duped into a very unassuming little thread about Balintawak, only to find out that it was an elaborate advertising ploy for his “Atillo Seminar”. There are atleast 5 others who felt this way who subscribe to this forum, although I am the most vocal and irrate.
Since the beginning, I have always appreciated the information I have received from this forum. Because of this, I’ve tried to reciprocate by sharing information I’ve learned. My interest is in history and culture, not politics. I care not whether one is a Datu or a Successor of a system, or whether he trains with a Successor of a system. I’ve said my piece about “Successorship” in FMA, obviously DATU Tim Hartman feels there was and always has been “successorship” in FMA (or maybe even colored belts and titles?).
I, personally, prefer the cultural and historical version I have been told… That FMA, prior to it’s commercialization, was just about fighting efficiency, not lineage. Lineage leads to the deep BS we are now swimming around in. Lineage leads to more than 100 people getting the “you’re my successor” speech in public, only to bicker when the top dog dies. Lineage is a big waste of time. Lineage is politics. Lineage is business. Lineage is money. Lineage takes away from fighting efficiency. Fighting efficiency only asks one simple question: Can you fight? It doesn’t ask what your title is, or who you train with, or how many seminars you can promote. This is what Balintawak and FMA is to me.
So, when I get duped into an advertisement “discussion”, I get pissed off and make my opinion heard. I have found my little niche in Martial Arts. It is free from BS. And then one day, I learn that my little niche has been pissed on and commercialized.
"I would have you know that while teaching WITH Noy Anciong (as in when he wasnt present - not while he was in jail) Nong Ted did not take payment at all, but on the other hand guys like Villasin, Velez, Maranga, Mongcal & Chiuten all made $$ on Balintawak while Venancio Bacon was alive & teaching in Cebu, but for some reason Noy Anciong didnt see any of this cash."
And this is exactly what I mean by pissed on. You’ve successfully crapped on Atillo’s name in public several months ago. Now, you’re doing it again, by insinuating that they (Villasin, Velez, Maranga, Mongcal & Chiuten) are mere ingrates, to be disrespected. The discussion, up to this point, was only about an advertising scam, successorship, a seminar and about Atillo. There was no hint of even disrespecting these elders, or even mentioning them. But, you chose to do so. It was your choice to make.
Allow me to inform you about their side, as best I can (although you have already crucified them on the net, as you did to Atillo). Villasin was said to be one of the best fighters. He was an attorney, but had close to 15 kids, so he wasn’t rich by any means. Maranga lived in a squatter area in Cebu, his son Drigo is still there. Mongcal worked as a security guard, also of very meager means. Chiuten runs a little bakery in a small town in Bantayan Island, Cebu. Teofilo Velez was a salesman of various office equipment. Since I know more about Velez, and less about the others, I’ll tell you more about him. He died in the late 80s. He also lived in a squatter (slum) area of Cebu. He began with Doce Pares, until he was bested by a Balintawak fighter, at which time he devoted all his energy into training in Balintawak. He didn’t “make money on Balintawak”, because he was more passionate about imparting his knowledge to others. If Villasin was known for his fighting prowess, Velez was known for his passion in teaching Balintawak. If he did charge for his tuition, he would only do so for a few sessions, when he sees that the student is as passionate, then he considers all fees paid through their sweat (and sometimes blood). Velez never made money, because of this habit. But, then again, I guess money wasn’t that important to him, it was the art. So, he died a poor man. His sons live in a slum area. Nick Elizar, one of Teofilo Velez’s top students, also lives in a squatter area in Cebu, called Barangay Luz. So, as you can see no one really made money off Balintawak. Because in a third world nation such as the Philippines, no one would ever dream of paying for a martial arts instruction that would cost more than the next meal. So, Balintawak stayed as it is, a Club.
This is also true in the present. I began my training not so long ago, at 15 dollars per session, but as soon as my teacher noticed I was really passionate about this art (which was about 5 sessions later), he gave me a free ride. This is in keeping with Filipino, or Cebuano, culture I was told, since it would be wrong for him to charge me having equal passion as he did when he started out with Teofilo Velez. So, Balintawak had never been about the Money. It had never been about Seminars for 125 dollars. It had, and still is, always been about the passion for this Art. So, for you to sit there and piss on the Elders of Balintawak is sad to say the least. You did this to Atillo and now to the rest of the Balintawak clan, but again this was your choice. As Americans we tend to be very disrespectful, we tend to see things from our own cultural paradigm, hence you have successors, and lineage, and all this disrespect among people who have died. This was theirs to sort out, not ours. And especially, not ours to talk about in the internet!!!!!!!