Grand Master Danny Vedua’s Filipino martial art
Grand Master Danilo S. Vedua and the history of Askal Hybrid Arnis
Grand Master Danilo S. Vedua
Grand Master Danilo S. Vedua known under the name of GM Danny Vedua was born in Cebu City and grew up from the age of five at Cagayan de Oro. Now aged 64, he started training in martial art at the age of 10 with his uncle Willy Iking Solon thanks to whom he discovered boxing. The inability to buy food and hunger motivated Danny to train and enter fights he won in order to secure a living, but the prizes were petty and could only allow him to buy a banana. He perfected his boxing in different fights and competitions where he would only win a few cents. In 1966, at the age of 17, he joined the Diamond Glove, a boxing organization which allowed him as an amateur to show his skills and to become champion of the organization. After a time in boxing, he eventually gave up his career, boxing being not sufficient enough to afford a decent living.
Bruce Lee’s films being very popular in 1974, karate became the new fashionable martial art in the Philippines. Danny, aged 24 by then, started karate with M. Jimmy Prodinciado before practicing under the supervision of M. Roy Paguidapon in Sikaran karate, a Filipino version of karate. Even though he was one of the best students of the discipline, Danny was against the idea of katas which, to him, a proper vision of reality and were therefore deemed useless. This however did not prevent him from winning many competitions: three times winner of the Xavier University games, Ateneo de Cagayan and Ogamis, two times national champion (once in Makirina City and the other time at the Folk Art Theatre), elected and crowned best fighter. His skills as a warrior with his medals and belts won by hard work allowed him to later on work as a security head for the commercial centers of Cagayan de Oro. We have to admit that, at the time, violence was common and he had to use force. Later, Danny Vedua was promoted and became the mayor of Tagolean’s bodyguard (Vincente Emano) for 7 years. His seriousness and his skills allowed him to be hired as Pablo Magtajs (mayor of Cagayan de Oro)’s own personal bodyguard for 15 years.
Danny does not really talk about it out of decency but he used to be a gang leader, with no less than forty members. They had to fight every day to survive in poor places such as the markets (full of many shops). Brawls were common and Danny’s reputation was matchless, he was nicknamed « King Askal », Askal meaning Aso Kalye (street dog) hence the name given to his style many years after: « Askal Hybrid Arnis ».
Danny and Arnis
Danny and his GM Rico Ragaas Carino in Balintawak
Danny’s encounter with Filipino martial arts happened four years later with GM Rico Ragaas Carino (a former police officer)’s Balintawak in the 1980’s. Danny was offered a free training session and he was at first not very interested by this discipline focusing on stick fighting. But after his hesitation, he changed his mind thanks to the many martial arts discussions he had and his newfound awareness that many street fights usually involved weapons such as knives or sticks. With GM Rico Ragaas Carino’s constant persuasion, Danny finally went to the training sessions before finally fully considering Arnis.
His constant learning and his determination allowed him to meet GM Nene Gabucayan and GM Bobby Tabimina, the latter living in the same region of Mindanao in Iligan. From now on, his learning curve in traditional Balintawak happened with and without groups (learning method created by Venancio « Anciong » Bacon, founder of Balintawak, born in 1912). Groups in Balintawak allow the students to have a clear grasp of his progress. On the other side, the advantage of working without groups allow for more freedom in work sensations (less codified work).
Hence, those diverse encounters with multiple GMs made Danny realize that traditional Balintawak was lacking somehow and sometimes not applicable in reality even if it remains a reference in the world of Filipino martial arts. This had the consequence of making him leave his alliance with Balintawak and to create his own system (and not style), Askal Hybrid Arnis. His life experience in the street with his learning of many diverse styles such as boxing, Sikaran karate and traditional Balintawak motivated him to only keep the foundations of Balintawak with its assets and to modify certain aspects of the style in order to make his techniques more open and better adapted to different levels and different types of work, giving it a realism and an efficient vision.
The general principles of Arnis Kali Escrima (Filipino martial arts)
Tata Yang Baz et Danny Vedua exhibition Iligan Tournament in Arnis
The levels of practice are arranged depending on the different levels of practice, the different types of work in general are:
-Solo baston (single stick work)
-Doble baston (double stick work)
-Pangamut or mano mano (empty hand work)
-Kotsilio or Baraw depensa (defence knife work)
-Layog-Dumog (body control on joints)
Explicative notes and further details:
-Dumog, close combat and joint locks
-Hubud lubud or hands chain, sensitivity and developing work at a short range
-Panantukan, Filipino boxing with limb destructing (also for the joints)
-Sikaran, kicking wich alo includes kneeing
Variations empty hands against knife, stick or other weapons.
The specificities of Askal Hybrid Arnis
Askal Hybrid Arnis concept is materialized by a work of construction:
Mental and physical development
-reflex, natural gestures, flexibility, rapidity, precision and instinct
Weapon work
Main part of the Askal Hybrid Arnis method in order to develop a complete mastery of reflexes, concentration and agility in order for the body and mind to become one. Most important phase in order to train our senses and muscle memory and thus having a flawless quality of work. This development eases the transition to empty hands
– 55cm short stick: strikes on nerves, bones and close combat
– knives, long blades, karambit, etc. : control and mastery with different approach depending on weapon used.
Empty hands
-getting away from wrist, elbow, front and back shoulder holds
-strikes with open, closed hands, shaped, pokes, elbows, forearms
-methodology to apprehend striking and countering phases, combos, sensations in order to get control on strikes, locks or other.
-control, blocking on joints and nervous system
-disarmament on stick and knife attacks at different levels.
-strangulation, arm locks and lashing
Kicking
-Kicks are always low, below the waist
-focused on body anchor, balance, particularly on the knee joint axis
-kicks essentially done on muscles and nerves
Definition of the Filipino martial art Askal Hybrid Arnis
Askal Hybrid Arnis is defined by three words:
« Askal » from Danny’s nickname « King Askal » which means « Aso Kalye » (street dog).
« Hybrid » reflects his experience in Filipino martial arts and others, the fundamental base being Balintawak with its characteristics and his learning of other styles like boxing and street boxing, or Sikaran. Danny’s working is the permanent harvesting of his art in order to better adapt it and make it more efficient. It is a process of constant questioning towards the infinite.
« Arnis » is used to signify Filipino culture and its martial art.
Askal Hybrid Arnis and its foundation
Nothing could ever lead us to imagine that Danny could one day become the person he is with such a reputation in the world of Filipino martial arts. He is a man with the life he had,very discreet, humble and charismatic who entirely deserves our respect. A man known by his martial fathers such as GM Nene Gabucayan, GM Bobby Tabimina or Rodel Dagooc whom he met during a martial arts show in the region of Batangas miles away from Manilla. The birth of Askal Hybrid Arnis is purely accidental and follows a KO he got in training. It triggered a questioning of his old style which made him understand that he needed to transform traditional Balintawak and to add to it subtleties in order to make Askal Hybrid Arnis as close to real fighting as possible. It therefore focused on close and mid-range fighting as opposed to other styles where the stick used measures 70 cm (between 53 and 55cm in Askal Hybrid Arnis). This is a well thought characteristic since it allows a better penetration in the face of the opponent. It triggers a different psychology, better anticipation and muscle memory, things that can only be acquired with long trainings. The whole brain reacts without thinking, based on instinct.
Nothing is repetitive and the training drills sharpen our mind, our body and our aptitudes. It is a permanent awakening as can be seen in the logo with the number 8 (Danny’s favorite number) representing infinity since nothing is finite or infinite. This is how the founder Danny Vedua develops his art, continuously.
Askal Hybrid Arnis Progressive Way
Level 1 (Beginners):
- 8 Basic strikes and defence
- 18 foundation techniques of Askal Hybrid Balintawak (1-18)
Level 2
- 8 basics disarming
- Hitting points
- Defence against most common strikes on the streets
- Defence against most common stabs on the streets
Level 3
- 8 Pin-downs
- Counter pin-down
- Power blows
Level 4
- Counter disarm
- Sweeps
Level 5
- Gapos (Locking)
- Counter-locks
- Counter-sweeps
Level 6 (Advance)
- Knife Defense
- Knife to knife fighting
- Hand to hand combat