Filipino Martial ARTS ARCHIVE
Remembering the individuals, systems, and traditions that helped preserve and transmit the living heritage of Filipino martial arts across generations.
Overview of the 3-Part System
of Kabaroan Filipino Martial Arts
Kabaroan is one of the rare Filipino martial arts systems that preserves the use of long, heavy, and traditional weapons while also teaching practical methods of timing, distance, defense, and counterattack. In Estalilla Kabaroan Eskrima, Grandmaster Ramiro U. Estalilla Jr. presents the history, structure, and combative logic of this Ilocano martial art through a detailed overview of its three-part system.
This book is ideal for students of Filipino martial arts, Eskrima, Arnis, Kali, traditional weapons systems, martial arts history, and practitioners interested in understanding how Kabaroan organizes single weapon, double weapon, and long-weapon methods.
Price: $32.95 Print | $9.99 Kindle
About the Book
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Kabaroan is a Filipino martial art and system of fencing and self-defense. It is especially known for its use of hand weapons and hand-arms, including bolos, swords, spears, ironwood sticks, and fire-hardened staves. Unlike many modern stick-centered systems, Kabaroan preserves a broader weapon culture rooted in traditional Filipino martial practice. In this volume, GM Ramiro U. Estalilla Jr. explains Kabaroan through its three major subsystems: Sencilla, the one-handed single weapon system; Bambolia, the two-handed single weapon system; and Compuesta, the two-handed double weapon system. |
Illustrated with more than 400 photographs, Estalilla Kabaroan Eskrima offers a rare look into the methods, terminology, history, training practices, and combat principles of this distinctive Filipino martial art.
Why This Book Matters
Kabaroan is not merely another stick-fighting method. It is a traditional weapon system with deep roots in the Ilocos region of the Philippines. The related overview article explains that Kabaroan uses bigger, longer, and heavier weapons without excluding smaller, shorter, and lighter ones.
The book also preserves GM Estalilla’s teachings on training ethics, control, and martial responsibility. One quote from the overview article should be featured prominently on the page:
“No matter how deadly your art and style may be, you must control your strikes within the sphere of good motives against a background of peaceful intentions.”
— GM Ramiro Abellera Estalilla Sr.
The 3-Part System
Sencilla – One-Handed Single Weapon System
Sencilla introduces the use of single-hand weapons and develops the foundation of weapon handling, striking, defense, timing, and control.
Bambolia – Two-Handed Single Weapon System
Bambolia focuses on heavier and longer weapons used with both hands, preserving a powerful part of Kabaroan’s traditional weapon culture.
Compuesta – Two-Handed Double Weapon System
Compuesta develops the use of double weapons, including equal and unequal length weapon combinations. The double weapon article explains that Kabaroan organizes double weaponry by weapons of equal length and unequal length, including double daggers, double bastons, spear-and-shield combinations, sword-and-dagger, and other pairings.
What You Will Learn
Readers will gain insight into:
Traditional Kabaroan history and terminology
The three-part structure of the system
Single weapon and double weapon methods
Long weapon and heavy weapon principles
Tiradin and Todasan defensive concepts
Sinawali striking patterns
Weapons of equal and unequal length
Kabaroan training methods and practice goals
The cultural preservation of a rare Filipino martial art
About Ramiro Ramiro U. Estalilla Jr.
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Ramiro U. Estalilla Jr. is a minister, writer, martial artist, and respected teacher of Kabaroan Eskrima. The current page notes that he began compiling notes for an Eskrima handbook in 1946 and later founded organizations connected to Kabaroan and Filipino martial arts preservation. He has taught under the names Kabaroan of America, Filipino Interstyle Eskrima, and Portable State University, and has contributed to the preservation of Filipino martial arts through books, articles, and instruction. |
Praise for the Book
“I have had the privilege of being Grand Master Estalilla’s student for more than 20 years. It is rare you find a man, martial artist, and expert in his field who is so genuinely humble, kind, and giving.”
— Guro Dan Inosanto
“Kabaroan Eskrima is unique among Filipino martial arts. It uses weapons of traditional cultures used throughout the Philippines, not just the modern-era stick and bolo methods.”
— Mark V. Wiley
Learn More About Kabaroan
Origin and Overview of Kabaroan Eskrima
A deeper introduction to the history, meaning, and practice goals of Kabaroan.
Kabaroan: FMA Double Weapon Art
A focused article on Kabaroan double weapon methods, Sinawali patterns, and equal/unequal weapon combinations.