Koerner Warrior Arts

The history of Bara Bara Bak-Bakan (bakbakan :(n) fight; rough scrimmage; altercation) reaches back several hundred years. Longevity is a trait that runs deep in the family with many of the members living well beyond 100 years of age. The lineage has been traced to the maternal Great, Great Grandfather or Gregorio S. Tilos, passed down to his Great Grandfather Ludovico, passed down to his Grandfather Pascual Samayo who began teaching him at the age of 5 in 1934. Pascual Samayo taught Bara Bara Bak-Bakan based upon the “Mastery of Simplicity”. Bara Bara is translated as “not playing by the rules”and “doing anything you want”. By the thorough study of the basic techniques and principles, the Bara Bara Bak-Bakan practitioner is expected to imrpovise their own unpredictable fighting style , adhering only to the 3 fundamental concepts. 

Mr. Samayo resided in the village of Polangui in the Albay Province in Southern Luzon. Pascual Samayo lived to be 115 and accepted challenges until just before his passing. 

    

Gregorio Tilos continued to train in his family’s Bak-Bakan system while also becoming an exceptional Judoka reaching the rank of 9th Degree Black Belt and having taught and practiced for more than 70 years. He began teaching Judo at Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois in 1989. He would teach Bak-Bakan to some of his students during Judo classes. The information presented in this outline is based on instruction, training and private correspondence I had with Osensei between October of 1994 and March of 2015.

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Pascual Samayo taught Bara Bara Bak-Bakan based upon the “Mastery of Simplicity”.

Bara Bara is translated as “not playing by the rules”and “doing anything you want”. By the thorough study of the basic techniques and principles, the Bara Bara Bak-Bakan practitioner is expected to imrpovise their own unpredictable fighting style , adhering only to the 3 fundamental concepts. 

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This curriculum is drawn from the stick methodology of The Bara Bara system and is fully functional as an independent system in that it includes striking , blocking, locking, throwing and choking methods.