On Tuesday, March 1st, the Russian Federation of Filipino Combat Arts had a workshop seminar with GM Yuli Romo, founder of Bahad Zu’bu.

GM Yuli was a senior student of Tatang Ilustrismo. Whilst Bahad Zu’bu retains Ilustrisimo concepts at its core, it is an evolutionary art which is the result of GM Yuli’s lifetime of research into the Filipino Combat Arts.

The workshop seminar was part of the Alliance’s seminar tour and cultural visit to the Philippines. The tour was organized by Daniel “Mumbakki” Foronda, a man who has done much to pioneer the popularity of the Filipino Combat Arts and Filipino Culture in Russia.

At the start of the seminar, GM Yuli arranged all participants into a circle and taught Bahad Zu’bu’s “Pugay” (salute).

The constituents of the Pugay are “Knowledge, Honesty and Justice”. In the art of Bahad Zu’bu, the participants also learn “The start is the most important”.

GM Yuli showed this concept with the body positioning and footwork of the Pugay. He then developed this and taught one of the frameworks of Bahad Zu’bu – Antau Skikit.

Antau Sikit is a framework (or “basket” as GM Yuli describes it) to develop certain attributes that are key for Bahad Zu’bu practice and indeed all martial arts – footwork, body motion, timing, targeting and monitoring the opponent.

“Antau-Sikit” translates to “Open and Close-range” and focuses on closing the gap and retreating.

The exercise was performed with a single stick and followed the exact same footwork as the pugay. GM Yuli emphasized striking the knee when retreating and using footwork and body-shifting to finish in a safe zone.

The practice started in typical linear fashion and then when the participants became more comfortable with it, lateral movement was introduced.

GM Yuli also gave examples of “Close in” work and how the exercise is also applied to the blade before a quick lunch break.

After lunch, GM Yuli demonstrated some knife work. The seminar participants were shown the “Abierta Serrada” (closed / open) knife exercise which in concept is similar to Antau Sikit.

It is another “Basket” in which the student can again develop the general principles as well as “Kappa” (the landing of the hand) and Enganyo (Baiting), which along with “preparation” and “monitoring” is one of the key concepts of Bahad Zu’bu.

Gm Yuli also treated our Russian guests with a selection of disarms which he is world renowned for.

The seminar was brought to a close after 5 or 6 hours with another Pugay and a traditional warrior’s ceremony.

GM Yuli also presented the Russian Alliance of Filipino Combat Arts an official document in which he endorsed their selection of Filipino Combat arts.

GM Yuli also endorsed the eligibility of Daniel “Mumbakki” Foronda and the Alliance’s senior officers to propagate the arts in the Russian Federation.

On behalf of all your Bahad Zu’bu brothers, we would like to wish the Alliance of Filipino Combat Arts in the Russian Federation the best of luck for the future.

We would also like to thank-you all again for making Bahad Zu’bu part of your visit and look forward to the next time.