Carlito Lanada
Kuntaw Lima-Lima

I am of course the organizer of Kuntaw
because nobody else did that.
But I do not claim the right
to all Kuntaw.
-C. A. LAÑADA

Introduction

Yoyong Hueño was said to be a well known expert of both kali and kuntaw. He lived in the Bicol region of Luzon, Philippines, and was the son of Amang Hueño of Mindanao. Yoyong died at the age of 107 but not before imparting his knowledge of the Filipino fighting arts to his son, Yong Iban Hueño. It was during the time of Spanish occupation in the Philippines that a decree was passed mandating that all Filipino families change their surnames to Spanish. Yong Iban Hueño became Yong Iban Lañada, the father of Carlito A. Lañada.

Grandmaster Carlito A. Lañada is the founder of kuntaw lima-lima, an art whose techniques are reminiscent of Okinawan Shorin-ryu and Shito-ryu karate styles, with underpinnings of Chinese kung-fu. Grandmaster Lañada is adamant about not placing Filipino kuntaw in the same category as Chinese or Indonesian kun-tao. In fact, as used here the term kuntaw is an acronym comprised of the root words kunsegrado and hataw. Kunsegrado is a misspelling of the Spanish words con segrado (with sacredness) and the Tagalog word hataw (to strike). Lima-lima, in Tagalog, refers to the number five. Therefore, the meaning of kuntaw lima-lima is the art of "five sacred strikes," and truly has no connection to Chinese or Indonesian kun-tao.

An Interview with Carlito Lañada

Kuntaw is the art of Filipino hand and foot fighting which can be traced back as far as 1365. The art was so deadly that it was outlawed in 1849 when Governor Narcisco Claveria passed a decree that anybody caught practicing kuntaw would be prosecuted. He also inserted an addendum that all native Filipino families had to change their surname to Spanish. In kuntaw we use hard and soft ways. Speaking about soft, it means open-hand. When we say hard it means closed fist. Kuntaw uses both hard and soft, hand and foot, and even weapons for defense.

MW:		Grandmaster Lañada, how would you best describe Philippine kuntaw?
CL:		Kuntaw is sometimes misinterpreted or misunderstood by people because there are many ways to spell this art. If you art talking about kuntaw spelled with a "w", that is where I am concerned. Kuntaw spelled kun-tao I also know about but do not have any authority to discuss.
MW:		Where, then, does the Filipino art of kuntaw originate?
CL:		Some people spell kuntaw as "kun-tao". The way I understand it from the instruction my father gave to me is that "kuntaw" is proper. The way I understand it if you practice "kun-tao" then your art derives from Taoism, Confucian's time. It is different than "kuntaw." It is like the Filipino terms araw, which means sun, and kalayaw, which is like a carabao. We use the "w" in Filipino which is the only one I am concerned about. I organized this art in 1960. Then in 1970 Colonel Nacalos tried to merge all organizations that existed in the Philippines into one. Most of these styles were borrowed or patterned after other countries.
MW:		At what age did you begin your formal kuntaw training?
CL:		Because my father was a commander of the guerrillas, there were many people under him. We practiced sometimes as a sport, sometimes just to stretch. About the age of nine or ten years I began to train. Back in the southern Philippines martial artists would gamble. They would place sacks of unrefined rice on top of one another and draw a circle on the ground. It was for personal needs only. If I came from this or that barangay (sparsely populated town), and I won, the rice was ours to keep. They call this paligitan (circle fight). When I grew older I would go to other places to exchange ideas. There are some instructors that would meet me and I would tell them, 'You already have this kind of martial art. Can I see it because I, too, have my own?' Afterward he would consider me as his student. Sometimes I go to some place in Manila just to look at the similarities of the instructors. Suddenly they say my name, especially when I started teaching at the Philippine Air Force and Subic Naval Base. That is why in the Philippines I do not begrudge. They are all good. But they still have that crab mentality: when you are crawling to get somewhere they are going to pull you back.
MW:		How often, then, did you train? Could you also share with us some of your training methods?
CL:		There were so many ways. I didn't even know, sometimes. There were ways in which I was training and did not know it. My father would tell me to get some water. We lived not far from a lake. When I would return he would be disappointed, drop the bucket, scream, and send me back for more. It was sort of a physical training. Other times he would tell me to get some stones. I would then go and get some. It is not like today where you can call up and order a truck load of stones delivered. Before, I could only carry two to five stones at a time. Often he would tell me to return them. There were other times when my training was obvious. My father would tell me to go to him. We had no formal uniforms then, just short pants. He would then instruct me. Sometimes he would hit me and I would cry. He would then tell me I shouldn't cry and would teach me the correct methods of defense. But, for us now, you train just to maintain your physical endurance once per day. If you want to be an expert you train three times per week. But like me, I am over age sixty, or even when you are forty, you should limit your practice. As you become older your stamina decreases. At the older ages it is experience that counts.
MW:		Does your system of kuntaw stress the training of sayaw (forms)?
CL:		Many people have won competitions with my naga form. Now people may not recognize the name. Naga is the place where I was born but I changed the name to sagayan which is a shifting action. Sampaguita, our form named after the Philippine national flower, is another. Mayon, one of the seven wonders of the world in the Philippines, is a name of another of our forms. We also have the bulsinara form in the advanced levels. Afterwards there are no more forms. We also have balangkas or basics which are based on the shapes of the figure-8 and letter X.
MW:		The name of your style is kuntaw lima-lima. Could you explain its meaning?
CL:		Lima-lima means five-five. Some other systems have twelve or seventeen strikes, we have five. In this art we have five disarms, five thrusts, five strikes, and five throwing techniques. Everything is in five. Even in empty hand we have five soft blocks and five hard blocks. It is easy to learn this way.
MW:		What is the concept behind your principle of agos (flow)?
CL:		Sometimes in arnis there are three categories to blocking. When somebody strikes you, you block to the hands. It means stopping the momentum in one strike. There are some styles that block first and then counter. In kuntaw lima-lima your primary objective is to stop the moment force then go where you want. We also have agos which are going-with-the-force and then countering. Some styles call it ocho-ocho or the figure-eight. I use my own version. It is like if you are going to shoot me. If I don't know the principle of agos then how can I stop the bullet from killing me. It will go through me. If you stab me your knife will also go through me. A straight line is hard to break so you must go to the outside of the force. This is agos.
MW:		What is your concept concerning joint locking techniques and their valid applications?
CL:		We view locks in two ways. A joint can either move side-to-side or up-and-down. The locks that I teach are very common. What I try to emphasize is the patience in training. Reflexes, too, are a must. The mind and body must move together. The daily training will develop your reflexes. An example of our training is when you step into a forward stance and someone taps you on your left shoulder. Become you turn to the left you must first look to the right. If I want to move to the right, I look to the left. This is for 180-degrees turns only. If I want to turn ninety-degrees I first turn my head in the desired direction to scan it first. The eyes must always be ahead of the body. There are some Filipinos who do not accept the term "sportsmanship." That is why we always look by turning in the opposite direction when approached from the rear. Otherwise you may turn into someone's punch. In this way we prevent trouble.
MW:		Footwork seems to be an integral aspect of virtually every Filipino martial arts. Does kuntaw lima-lima base its techniques on specific footwork patterns?
CL:		We put our footwork into two triangles, inverted and regular. In the arts I am very practical, especially in kicking. The person that kicks high may have his bottom taken out. Why should I kick you high when I can strike you instead and keep my balance? If I kick high for the magazine I will have many admirers but if I kick low and fast nobody will know what happened. Low kicking is more efficient because of balance. That is why people don't like to kick high to the kuntaw practitioners. Even with our eyes closed we can block.
MW:		You claim that you are the legacy and grandmaster of kuntaw. How is it, with so many styles of kuntaw, that it is you who are the sole heir to this art-form?
CL:		How do I fight professionals or survive with the many other styles? I was asked to join a certain association that wanted kuntaw. Maybe if I did not have faith, nor courage to stand on my own, depression would set in and there would be no more kuntaw. I am of course the organizer of kuntaw because nobody else did that. I was the one to form the first national organization. But I do not claim the right to all kuntaw since it has been around since 1365. So, I do not have any right to claim the kuntaw style but I am claiming the kuntaw organization, Kuntaw ng Pilipinas, (Kuntaw of the Philippines). I then expanded into the International Kuntaw Association. That is why I am the founder and executive director of the IKA. As of now we have members in a number of countries adopting our style of kuntaw.
MW:		How did you go about opening so many kuntaw schools?
CL :		In the Philippines I started schools in small communities outside of the cities. My father's philosophy was to go from the outside and work your way in, not inside to out. Other instructors had money and therefore began their clubs in the city. When there was a tournament in the different barrios (towns) these instructors are surprised that there are so many kuntaw clubs already.
		It was very hard. I sacrificed very much. I started from the Visayas, Leyte, and San Jose. I taught at the home of the [former] first lady Marcos' father. I then toured the Philippines demonstrating kuntaw. That is why the masters of Manila were surprised. I am also the only person to promote our own Filipino culture on Clarkesfield Air Base and Subie Naval Base. My father already brought the art to another country. I have the largest amount of members in Saudi Arabia. I say members because I don't like the word student. It is to strong. We also had schools in Iran and Lebanon but our government forbid my further instruction there.
MW:		What do you consider to be a requisite for one to become a master of kuntaw?
CL:		There are three categories to becoming a master in kuntaw lima-lima. We don't believe in awarding master's levels to those who win a tournament five times. It is wrong. To hold a master's rating you should have fulfilled at least the time and age requirements. You must be at least fifty years old so that you have developed a legacy. It is the experience. By being a master you should be well respected internationally; you don't only play in your own country. There must be exposure on an international level. And so, the three categories are time, age, and international respect.
MW:		Do you have any last words that you wish to share with us and all future kuntaw practitioners?
CL:		As a Filipino I want to talk straight to the Filipinos. Others should be made aware of what is happening in the Philippines. There are people who have never been to the Philippines and they will tell you that they know the way. They do not. I would also like to thank you, Mark, for taking the times to interview me and helping to further spread the art of Philippine kuntaw.