Tweet
As a Filipino-American teen, I've always been really interested in watching how my relatives involved in Arnis have trained. My dad has never had any formal martial arts training, but growing up in Paco, Manila...he was prone to getting into fights and was fond of a local pastime which he simply refers to as "street boxing". Back in those days, there was no ring...there was only two pairs of boxing gloves and an empty ally way. He and his friends would simply don the boxing gloves and go at it almost every day after school.
The one punch my father swore by was the Filipino bolo punch. The popular version of the bolo punch today is a long, swinging uppercut that depends on arm strength as opposed to body mechanics (As popularized by Cuban boxer Kid Gavilan). However, THIS bolo punch, as beloved by my father and practiced in the Philippines, is a hard-hitting, swinging hammerfist strike targeted for the temples, nose, chin, collarbone, and the back of the neck. According to my old man, he'd employ this technique after parrying his opponents left jab. The moment the opponent returned his left arm to the guard position, my dad would launch the Bolo Punch to the oppnents chin or nose, resulting in a bloody knockout. On one occasion, my father was tackled by a bigger kid in the neighborhood. Not knowing any wrestling or judo, my dad simply bit the guy, pulled his hair, and worked his way behind the bigger guy, launching repeated Bolo Punches to the back of his head and neck.
In my own personal experience, I've found the Bolo Punch to be a useful tool when an opponent is crouched with his chin tucked into his neck as a means of defense. Whenever that happens, I land the Bolo Punch on the back of the neck as well as the forehead (my dad's fave target). Does anyone out there have any other suggestions as to how to apply the Bolo Punch in different ways?
The original Bolo Punch was invented by Filipino champ Ceferino Garcia. Read about him here: http://www.geocities.com/rolborr/cgarcia.html. They refer to "street boxing" at a certain point.
I know there are a lotta fellow Filipinos on this Msg Board...do you guys have similar stories? Feel free to share em'. :-)
The one punch my father swore by was the Filipino bolo punch. The popular version of the bolo punch today is a long, swinging uppercut that depends on arm strength as opposed to body mechanics (As popularized by Cuban boxer Kid Gavilan). However, THIS bolo punch, as beloved by my father and practiced in the Philippines, is a hard-hitting, swinging hammerfist strike targeted for the temples, nose, chin, collarbone, and the back of the neck. According to my old man, he'd employ this technique after parrying his opponents left jab. The moment the opponent returned his left arm to the guard position, my dad would launch the Bolo Punch to the oppnents chin or nose, resulting in a bloody knockout. On one occasion, my father was tackled by a bigger kid in the neighborhood. Not knowing any wrestling or judo, my dad simply bit the guy, pulled his hair, and worked his way behind the bigger guy, launching repeated Bolo Punches to the back of his head and neck.
In my own personal experience, I've found the Bolo Punch to be a useful tool when an opponent is crouched with his chin tucked into his neck as a means of defense. Whenever that happens, I land the Bolo Punch on the back of the neck as well as the forehead (my dad's fave target). Does anyone out there have any other suggestions as to how to apply the Bolo Punch in different ways?
The original Bolo Punch was invented by Filipino champ Ceferino Garcia. Read about him here: http://www.geocities.com/rolborr/cgarcia.html. They refer to "street boxing" at a certain point.
I know there are a lotta fellow Filipinos on this Msg Board...do you guys have similar stories? Feel free to share em'. :-)
Comment