Christopher Ricketts
Sagasa

Like a door, once you go in don't go back out
or you'll just to have to go back in again.
Therefore, you must continuously
attack your opponent.
-C. RICKETTS

Introduction

Master Christopher Ricketts was born in Manila, Philippines, on March 21, 1955. Known as "Topher" by his friends and students, Ricketts is at once well known and respected throughout the northern Philippines as a competent fighter, as the founder of a Filipino karate/kickboxing system, and as the chief instructor of Bakbakan International. In his younger days Topher was known to have bested a number of high-ranking and respected karate and kung-fu instructors in challenge-matches, only later to earn their mutual respect and friendship. After years of informal training in various traditional Japanese karate styles, and formal instruction in various Chinese kung-fu systems, Ricketts was in a fight which left him battered. He pursued a new approach to martial arts training through helping to sponsor the first open-challenge, full-contact sparring tournaments. From this experience and a number of subsequent street altercations, Ricketts went on to develop a full-contact karate/kickboxing system known as sagasa.

From Karate and Kung-Fu

Growing up on the tough streets of Manila, and not having an older brother to protect and look after him, Ricketts was determined to pursue the martial arts. "I was scared one day when I had to fight five people," remembers Ricketts. "I told myself that I did not want to be scared anymore. I believed I could [overcome my fear] by gaining self-confidence from martial arts." Although he continued to get beaten up after learning various controlled sparring styles of martial arts, Topher feels that this training did help to foster a sense of self-confidence that he had not previously experienced.

In 1963, Ricketts began training informally in his backyard with a group of school mates. During his years in grade school and high school, he and his compadres held little concern for style-loyalty or tradition. "Although I started with friends," recalls Ricketts, "it was my own hard training that made me good. I went to different schools to spar with them. I went from one school to another, and then to another. During that time, if you knocked on somebody's door and they know you are a karate practitioner, they will invite you in to spar. This was during the early 1960s. Everybody wanted to learn karate. I also saved money to buy lots of books." Tohper studied the forms and techniques from his favorite books, which included Nishiyama and Brown's Karate: The Art of Empty Hand Fighting , Masutatsu Oyama's texts, What is Karate?, and This is Karate , and Robert W. Smith's, Secrets of Shaolin Temple Boxing. He was also an avid reader of Black Belt magazine, and remains so to this day. Although Ricketts studied the forms in various books and magazines, he was solely concerned with their immediate application in sparring, and little more.

While claiming to have had no formal karate instruction, Topher is quite proficient in a number of Japanese styles. Conversely, in 1969, Ricketts began formal training in choy li fut kung-fu in Manila's Chinatown. "During grade school I had a classmate from the Tsing Hua Athletic Association who I used to spar with. This guy always took me to Chinatown to see the various kung-fu styles of northern praying mantis, monkey boxing, Hung-gar, and white crane. I really liked the Chinese forms."

During his frequent visits to Chinatown, Ricketts befriended Sifu Jose Chua, an author of books on Chinese martial arts. Chua is fondly known as the Philippines' "Kung-Fu Dictionary," for his proficiency in over fifty empty-hand and weapons forms. Where Chua taught Ricketts the Chinese forms, he became Ricketts' student in sparring. Chua was a member of Chinatown's infamous Hong Sing Athletic Association. "Everybody talked about that school," recalls Topher, "so naturally I wanted to join."

Ricketts also began studying ngo cho kun under his friend, Eddie Venalcante. He now continues his training under Masters Alfonso Ang Hua Kun and Alex Co. After seeing some of the art's techniques, however, Ricketts wondered why this kung-fu style looked so much like Goju-ryu karate. Ricketts was later surprised to discover that ngo cho kun is, in fact,the precursor to Okinawan Goju-ryu karate. "The real essence of ngo cho kun is in the formation of the hand," posits Ricketts . "If you know the proper formation of the hand, it means that you are close to the master. But if you have no force, you are just one of the students." Although never officially joining Beng Kiam, the association under which ngo cho kun is propagated, Ricketts was a close associate. To his credit, he was always requested by the master, Lam Lao Kiam, to participate in their public demonstrations of the art.

Also during 1968, Ricketts and his associates decided to form a group they called Budokan Philippines. It began with a group of instructors informally getting together at Topher's house to practice and share their respective knowledge of the arts. "We were composed of different instructors," recalls Ricketts. "Some would come from Meliton Geronimo's Karate Brotherhood of the Philippines to share sikaran, Shorin-ryu was also there, as well as the Karate Federation of the Philippines, and Pilipina Judo-Karate Association." During the 1960s and 1970s, these names were synonymous in the Philippines for quality martial arts instruction. Later that year, the Budokan members decided that although they would continue to build Budokan, they would also consolidate their efforts and supporting Karate Federation of the Philippines. "I believe so much in KAFEPHIL," states Christopher. "Unlike other clubs, you cannot just be a black belt in this organization in a short time. They were the genius club, always concentrating on technique not commercialism."

With the support of his colleagues, Ricketts formalized the move from Budokan Philippines to Bakbakan International in 1969. Although he was an instructor in Bakbakan, Ricketts' thirst for knowledge could not be quenched. Consequently, Topher continued to attend training sessions at other noted clubs, such as Lito Vito's Red Lightning Club and Dr. Guillermo Lengson's shotokan karate classes at the Makati YMCA. "Dr. Lengson didn't really teach me the basics of kicking and how to punch," asserts Ricketts. "When I transferred to Dr. Lengson it was for the sparring. He had some good ideas on how to train. I thought his to be a nice school and wanted to be a member. Also, many of my friends were senior instructors there. Since Dr. Lengson is now in Los Angeles, Karate Federation of the Philippines is no longer an active organization."

A Taste of Arnis

Originally from Pangasinan, Dr. Lengson taught the cinco tero arnis style. He also studied with Grandmaster Remy Presas, who, after becoming proficient in the Balintawak style, later became the recognized "Father of Modern Arnis." In return for his instruction in Balintawak arnis and modern arnis, Dr. Lengson taught Presas the double stick drills known as sinawali, which Presas has become infamous for teaching to this day. It was the dream of Dr. Guillermo Lengson, actualized through the Karate Federation of the Philippines, that sponsored the first arnis tournament in Manila. The tournament highlighted competition in the classical style of espada y daga."Because I didn't really known any specific style when I entered the tournament," admits Topher. "I just did what came natural." Although this event marked Ricketts' introduction to arnis, June Larosa and Edgar Cleofe were crowned co-champions of this momentous event.

After the competition, Edgar Cleofe became Topher's arnis instructor. Cleofe's father, well-known in the Batangas, Quezon, and Bicol regions of southern Luzon, was a master of rapillon arnis. "During that time," states Ricketts, "we did a lot of basic stick-fighting. The style doesn't concern me anymore, I just want the beauty and the fancy movements." In fact, Ricketts thought that arnis was only about the execution of fancy movements until he met Grandmaster Antonio Ilustrisimo.

During the early 1980s, Alex Co asked Ricketts to stop by Alfonzo Ang Hua Kun's club to meet an old man who was said to be a master of eskrima. "I met Tatang and Tony Diego together for the first time at Hua Kun's place," recalls Topher. "After I saw kalis Ilustrisimo, I was surprised that he was so old and yet so fast. I knew this is something different." Ricketts has since gone on to master kalis Ilustrisimo and to study and exchange ideas on eskrima and arnis with other masters of the arts.

The Birth of Sagasa Karate/Kickboxing

In 1973, a series of four books titled Bruce Lee's Training Methods was published by O'Hara Publications. Ding Binay, a close friend of Master Ricketts', started telling him about the purported skills of Bruce Lee. "I said I knew him from the Green Hornet series," remembers Ricketts. "We did not copy any of Bruce Lee's thinking, because it so happened that we had an enlightening fight around the same time as his material started coming out. We realized that our karate was useless because of the control 'point-sparring' system. It really hurts to recognize and admit that you are a black belt and when you hit a guy he doesn't go down."

In the late 1960s, Christopher did not have a proper training hall. In the evening he and his fellow Bakbakan brothers would go outside and train in front of his house in San Miguel Village. "Sometimes," smiles Ricketts, "while my friends and students were practicing I used to go and fight around the village. One night, however, thirty guys set me up, like waiting for me because they know I used to go around every evening with my uniform on. These guys got mad because I was the tough guy on the block at the time. They waited for me and they asked me questions. I went down because as you see I am a black belt and a top guy. I said, 'So what do you like,' and we started fighting." Christopher was mobbed by these men and went running back to get help. He told his compadres what had happened and enlisted their help in gaining revenge. "I told them to give me the nunchakus," recalls Ricketts. "So, with less than ten of us, we went back to fight them. To our surprise, they got their friends and were now about thirty strong. Christian fought about ten guys and I was fighting maybe ten guys and Edgar was fighting ten guys. They really meant to gang up on me. I was their primary target. I told myself after the fight that I had lots of bruises and hit lots of guys but they didn't go down. I realized that although I was a black belter and full of confidence, I was wrong to think so."

As a result of this experience, Ricketts and his training partners began practicing with sneakers and removed the karate uniforms in favor of training in street clothes or athletic suits. They also started to experiment with ground-fighting. "At that time," asserts Ricketts, "we decided that we better concentrate on sparing while wearing body armor. Although the Karate Brotherhood of the Philippines and Karate Federation of the Philippines were using armor, we [had initially] rejected the idea because they were out of form-just swinging wild because they didn't know how to box." Ricketts and his fellow Bakbakan instructors were successful in adopting body armor while maintaining their correct form. This marked the beginning of the sagasa karate/kickboxing system.

Skills Development and Training

After his encounter in San Miguel Village, Topher was talking with Dr. Lengson about the pitfalls of training for the traditional point-system in karate competition. "Doc Lengson said that this was wrong and that when we go in it should be continuously," states Ricketts. "Like a door, once you go in don't go back out or you'll just to have to go back in again. Therefore, you must continuously attack your opponent." The term sagasa means to overrun or overpower an opponent; to hit hard continuously so he is off balance all of the time, without recovery. Dr. Lengson came up with the name because it was reflected the techniques Ricketts was developing.

It was during Karate Federation of the Philippines competitions held in the 1960s and 1970s, however, where experimentation with sagasa actualized. Christopher Ricketts, Christian Gloria, Roily Maximo, and Ray Dizer experimented, through actively competing in full-contact competition, with the fighting principles of sagasa. Dizer was the better technician of the group and, in turn, was responsible for drilling the others for the competitions. During the 1980s, Christopher learned Western boxing from the late Eddie Cañete, a former rated professional boxer in the Philippines. This training added greatly to the scope and refinement of sagasa techniques.

Fundamental training in sagasa revolves around a number of combinations executed repetitively, and known as "series drills." These series drills contain within their combinations various footwork, blocking, and punching maneuvers. Concurrent with the study of these drills, the sagasa practitioner learns and is drilled on various boxing and kicking techniques through shadowboxing, striking the focus-mitts, and hitting the heavy and top-and-bottom bags. These drills are performed in timed rounds which progress in duration and number as a student progresses in the art.

The primary objective of sagasa is to train the hips to move with quickness and agility. Concentration on hip movement is essential for the proper dynamics necessary to execute sagasa's dodging and blocking maneuvers, punching and kicking techniques. The lunge punch is the arts primary entry-technique as it exemplifies the essence of sagasa: to go in on an opponent and overrun him.

Ricketts continues to teach sagasa karate/kickboxing, kali Ilustrisimo, and ngo cho at the Bakbakan International Headquarters in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, while working in the action film industry as a fight choreographer. In addition, he is becoming somewhat introspective and spiritual. He is "trying to develop internally," admits Master Ricketts. "I believe the heart of martial arts is found in the slow movements of tai chi, and in meditation." In fact, Topher and other members of Bakbakan International are currently studying tai chi under venerated Wu style master, Hu Tuan Hai.