{"id":5442,"date":"2016-12-07T23:11:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T04:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tambulimedia.com\/?p=5442"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:54:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T18:54:44","slug":"maestro-macapagal-expounds-way-blade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tambulimedia.com\/maestro-macapagal-expounds-way-blade\/","title":{"rendered":"Maestro Romy Macapagal Expounds on the Way of the Blade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Romeo Macapagal and I have been friends for nearly 25 years. He is my senior in the FMA style of the late Antonio “Tatang” Ilustrisimo, but we trained together on many occasions with Tatang, and our late friends Tony Diego and Christopher Rickets. Romy shared with me this interview with him that was originally published in The Manila Times<\/a> on July 19, 2014, and I thought his insights were worthy of a republish to bring them to a fresh audience of enthusiasts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Romy<\/a>
Romy Macapagal and Mark Wiley enjoying breakfast, Manila, Philippines, circa 1994<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Full\u00a0interview\u00a0from The Manila Times<\/em>…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I met Maestro Romy Macapagal, one of the original students of the legendary Antonio \u201cTatang\u201d Ilustrisimo, in 1998, at a party organized by Daniel Go publisher and editor of the now defunct Rapid Journal<\/em>. It was a meeting of martial arts writers and researchers and I remember Maestro Macapagal, looking scholarly and dignified, discussing the relationships of the fighting arts of Southeast Asia. I consider Maestro Macapagal a master of both the sword and the pen.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is among the few Filipino martial arts (FMA) masters who, besides being adept in physical techniques can also articulate intelligently and eloquently the underlying principles of martial arts. In an interview with FIGHT Times<\/em>, Maestro Macapagal tells of his relationship with the late \u201cTatang\u201d Ilustrisimo as well as his understanding of the way of the blade.<\/span><\/p>\n

FIGHT Times:<\/strong> Please tell us your personal background and your relationship with the late Antonio \u201cTatang\u201d Ilustrisimo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Romy Macapagal:<\/strong> I grew up in a squatter, refugee barrio in Tondo. World War 2 had just ended; the Hukbalahaps were sowing terror in Pampanga and my folks escaped to this community. My grandfather taught me arnis at an age where I had to stand on a stool. His movements were very similar to those I saw in Tatang as I took a paseo in Luneta one morning. I asked to be taught. Tatang graciously said yes and that started a very long and warm friendship with this Grand Old Man of the sword. He had no airs, he was one of the boys, and he shared unstintingly of what he had, whether it was food that he had gotten on credit from the sari-sari store or his extensive knowledge of life in general and fighting in particular. My gratitude is best expressed to this Great Filipino by preserving his system as part of our living national heritage. It is historical anthropology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Romy<\/a>
Romy Macapagal, Raymond Floro, Tatang Ilustrisimo, Topher Ricketts, Tony Diego, Edgar Sulite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FT: How would you differentiate the martial art you\u2019ve learned from Tatang Ilustrisimo from other FMA styles?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

RM: Tatang Ilustrisimo\u2019s system was typically lauded as scientific, technical, efficient, elegantly brutal, and sophisticated. It has an intelligent approach to combat.<\/span><\/p>\n

His system appears to be heavily influenced by Spanish and other European sword work. Tatang\u2019s system has a strategy that follows more closely the philosophy of Spanish fencing which has a focus on applications of geometry and physics for efficiency. There are very distinct derivations from Florete y Sable Espa\u00f1ol in the same way Garrote Venezolano has especially in the footwork which is not found in other FMA. Ilustrisimo also contains movements which have a strong similarity to the historical, now revived Italian cut-and-thrust sword fencing.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the other FMA have retained Spanish terms such as songkite and crusada or redonda, they are applied to single techniques and not to the general strategy of fighting. In these, the closer to the main towns the more Hispanized the terms and movements; the further away the more indigenous the movements become where a lot of athleticism, agility, and speed are prominent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Close-in work, especially with that of the knife, shows simplified silat movements including grappling and joint dislocation techniques. Except for the simplification, Ilustrisimo is not much different from the bare hand of other FMA.<\/span><\/p>\n

The strong European flavor may have come from the Spanish garrisons on Bantayan Island, Tatang\u2019s birthplace, being a main bastion of the Spaniards against marauding Moro pirates. Historically, Spanish garrison officers commanded the local Christianized Filipinos utilizing these bantayans and churches constructed as forts. The friars also appear to have been responsible for military training of Christianized Indios (Filipino was reserved for the Spaniards). Thus, a set of techniques known as media fraile or semifriar.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other FMA appear to be movements of direct blocks against strikes with emphasis on speed and craftiness. In Ilustrisimo, the emphasis is on deflections and evasions to reduce edge-on-edge contact and a reduction of the number of preliminary movements required to deliver multiple strikes. Its techniques are quite simple and straightforward.<\/span><\/p>\n