Balila: Weapon of self-defense (English Version)

 

Balila

 

I'm excitedly waiting for the 'balila' I requested, it will come from the Mindoro province. I thought of doing a blog on this topic. The Balila refers to a flat wooden weapon in some parts of Ilocandia, also called the brokil, a weapon for self-defense, it has a length of 30 inches, a width of 1.5 inches, and a thickness of half an inch. It is wide and has a design on the handle, like a wooden sword, only that there is usually no point at the end of it.

The balila is usually made from hard wood such as mahogany, bahi, or gijo. I first saw it when I was a kid around the early 70s, from the typical Batanguenos hawking and selling mosquito nets and blankets. Their product is wrapped in a common white blanket, the products are folded properly, and they carry it on their shoulders with the help of a wooden handle, this is brokil or balila. Apart from its use in carrying products, it is also definitely used to defend against possible robbers.

 Even in some places in Cavite and Laguna back then, it was usually seen carried by barangay tanods or placed next to the walls of the house. It is also called estocada in some parts of Batangas province, and garrote in Bicol province.

Balila

I heard this word from a friend, in the 90s, after I conducted a 'training the trainors' to my fellow PE teachers on how to teach arnis to our students at the Philippine Science and Technology Center. One of my companions brought it, and I was glad because I knew this tool was part of the history of arnis. I heard from him that he called it 'balila.'

 There is a weight to the wooden weapon that he carries, which is made from a bahi of the anahaw tree, it has been spent a long time, he inherited it from his father who used to be a barangay watchman in their area in Isabela in the 70s.

                                                          A 3-generation-old Balila from a family in Batangas

 We call him 'Tata Rollie' or 'Sensei Rollie' because he is a certified aikido and shorin ryu karate instructor. But it was the first time he was able to train formally in arnis, modern arnis is the system we use to teach in schools. He couldn't show any flashy moves on how to use his father's blade, all he could show was how his father used to practice it.

 

Use of Balila

 According to him, the balila is usually carried just by the barangay tanod, sometimes tucked into the back of the clothes. It is said that the typical attire of the barangay tanod was jeans, a white shirt with the barangay tanod or Bagong Lipunan logo, a bull cap with the barangay tanod logo, and sometimes a tanod vest, either with shoes or slippers.

I decided to make a blog of what I remembered from what he shared with me because I might forget. I demonstrated it to a Fil-Am friend, but he didn't seem interested because there were no flashy moves, no drills, and no twirling. The moves are typical of how they would be used against anyone who would attack them. But for me, this is a piece of historical information about how it is used.

 

Striking

Haklis

The balila can be used immediately from the rear attachment, and it is struck in an “x” manner, from the upper right down diagonally to the left, and again struck from the upper left down diagonally to the right.

Another way to hit from behind is to go down from the right diagonally down to the left and can be hit again from the lower left and diagonally up to the right.

Pagsaboy

This is the method of hitting with the balila in its typical carry held from the right. It will be struck diagonally upwards as if scattering a grain of rice. It can be struck back from the top left down diagonally to the right side.

Paghawi

The balila is hit horizontally or horizontally from right to left or from left to right.

 

Dos Manos

This is a way of holding the balila at both ends. This can be used to block and be followed immediately by butting or stabbing the attacker's body.

Safety

The use of the balila has two ways of hitting the attacker. The beating with the flat width of the balila is to hurt only and to control a person who needs to be arrested or prevented from attacking.

                                                    The edge part for bone breaking, he flat with for slapping

The striking with the edge part of the balila is more to restrain or disarm a person by hitting the bony parts of the body such as the hand, forearm, knee, shin, and shoulder. The most avoided is hitting the head because it is fatal.

 

Epilogue

              This is how simple he shared with me, no complicated drills, one-on-one techniques, and stories. Which I think is enough to be used in self-defense and take responsibility in terms of dealing with crime in the community.

 He also mentioned that his father had a name for this knowledge, it was called 'cinco teros.' He did not say where his father learned it. Someone may have taught them or his grandfather may have taught his father.

This story may also have inspired the comic novel titled “Kamagong.” The original comic novel by Carlo J. Caparas in the 70s is not similar to the movie “Kamagong” starring Lito Lapid. The balila is the weapon used here, which is called 'kamagong' because the arnis (balila) is made of mahogany wood, kamagong.

                                                                 Comics pages on the novel 'Kamagong'

Such knowledge and what has been shared by people who have had experience regarding the use of weapons of self-protection is an important piece of the historical puzzle of how we can see the image of Filipino martial arts in the past decades.

 

 

Joel D. Anajao

12/22/2024

4:30 A.M

Indang, Cavite

 

Sources:

Pages of Filipino Komiks (n.d.) Aquatica, Pages of Filipino Komiks. Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/284311875069134/posts/2081639772002993/

Acknowledgment: For Allan C. Guanlao and Wendel B. Marzo for the photos

                        To Noel Lopez who showed the 3-generation-old balila as part of their family heirlooms