filipino action star

[krys]

This is an old story that can be of interest,
I remeber the guy even showed on TV how he disarned-cut the throat of one of the thugs...If I remember well they came back to spy on his house and he killed another afterwards..

Philippine action star kills 2 robbers who invaded his home
Associated Press
July 18, 2002 07:20:00

MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine action film star said he killed two armed men who robbed his house and allegedly tried to rape two of his daughters Thursday.


Sonny Parsons, 44, said six men armed with pistols barged into his house in suburban Marikina city early Thursday as his maid opened the gate. The intruders then tied everyone up.

"One of them poked a gun to my head but it did not go off," Parsons said in radio and television interviews aired across the Philippines.

Parsons, whose real name is Jose Parsons Nabiula, said the men took money, jewelry, cellular phones and a video camera. They then entered his daughters' bedroom, tied them up and started undressing them.

Parsons, a former police special agent trained in martial arts, said he duped the intruders into believing a police patrol would be having breakfast at his house, prompting the gunmen to panic and leave.

The maid then untied herself and Parsons, he said. He retrieved his .45-caliber pistol and chased the gunmen, who were boarding a passenger jeepney, a public transit vehicle they commandeered.

"I was focused on neutralizing these people because I know they would harm many others," he later told The Associated Press.

"I was angry and I was in a very difficult situation in which I did not know whether I would live. It was 'Kill or be killed,' " he said.

Parsons and the robbers then traded gunfire.

"The lamp post I hid behind was riddled with bullets, but I told myself, 'It's now out of my hands,' " Parsons said.

Parsons said he shot two men in the head, killing one. When he and a third robber ran out of bullets, they beat each other with pistol butts.

Parsons said he then wrested away the robber's knife and slit his throat.

The other three robbers escaped.

Parsons, who starred in 29 action films and directed four, said some neighbors believed he was shooting another movie until they saw real blood. Most of Parsons' films were B movies in which he played good guys fighting criminals. The last one was released three years ago.

Parson also was a member of the singing group Hagibis, patterned after the Village People.

Police are investigating. Marikina police chief Cipriano Querol said a similar robbery by the same number of robbers occurred in another community several days ago.
Black_Knight

[krys]

This is from the Manila Times

Fight Clubs

Inside the Ring and Out On the Streets

By Rome Jorge

TO the uninitiated, Alvin Aguilar looks like the poster boy for the explosive new world of Philippine mixed martial arts. An instructor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as in Filipino knife fighting and kickboxing, he has also made great strides in getting no-holds barred fighting competitions legitimized and recognized. The organization he belongs to professes to discourage street fighting and strives to give fighters a venue to settle matters fairly and man-to-man inside the ring.


But the fact that he has a bullet lodged somewhere near his spine from a gangland style drive-by shooting that left one person dead underscores that the world of Filipino martial arts is still far more than friendly competitions.

Most people know Ronnie Ricketts as an accomplished action star. In the world of martial arts, he and his brother Topher are revered as pioneers who have extensive knowledge of karate, kung fu and our very own eskrima and kickboxing. They are also known for their caring paternal touch with their students. But come up close and one can see scars upon scars that attest to the brutal street fighting roots of these noble arts.

Fraternity violence, drugs, party-list politics and territorial street brawls: these are all part of the Filipino martial arts scene. But so too is the nationalistic rediscovery of indigenous martial arts, the quest for glory in international arenas, the empowerment of men and women through self-defense and the refinement of the local action movie genre. As some of the most respected names in Filipino martial arts concede, the various communities of fighters cannot be pinned down with just one characterization and that comparisons between one school of combat to another are pointless. All the same the world of Filipino martial arts is expanding as its leading proponents are tugging at it in different directions.

From a culture of violence

By his own admission, Aguilar comes from a culture of violence. Once a Grand Triskelion of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity of De La Salle University, he remembers being called upon on by his ‘brads’ to unleash his combat skills in numerous fights. He freely admits taking drugs even while he was very much into martial arts and notes that many of his peers fell by the wayside because of this.

But now that he is a family man versed in the ethics as well as the combat skills of Brazilian Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Sayaw ng Kamatayan (Yaw-Yan) kickboxing, and Pekiti-Tirsia Kali knife fighting, he asserts that he has turned his life around and is now devoted to legitimizing no-holds barred fighting as a sanctioned and regulated sport. Defense Tactics Center or Deftac, the organization that he is a founding member of, emphatically states that it does not produce thugs nor does it tolerate fights outside the ring by its members.

In the ring

Aguilar, along with television channel Solar Entertainment and events organizer NBK, has organized the highly successful Universal Reality Combat Championship matches. Other groups have also held similar events such as the Fearless Mixed Martial Arts Championships.

Patterned closely after the well-established tournaments in the United States and Japan, these local competitions are one-on-one unarmed matches where any combination of martial arts can be used and victory is achieved only by knockout or submission. Submissions often occur when an opponent is on the verge of incurring grievous bodily harm such as fractures and multiple dislocations or when his threshold for pain is overcome. At that point they tap out or verbally indicate their submission. There are rules to these bouts such as no eye gouging, no crotch grabbing and no hits to the spine. Ideally, there should be medical personnel on standby at all times. Organizers stress that opponents are required to be good sports and salutations of one kind or another are exchanged before and after each fight. Cussing or disrespect of any kind is never tolerated. It is to their credit that fighters show genuine camaraderie before and after fights despite the punishment they inflict upon one another.

From French Savate to Brazilian Capoeira to Filipino Sagasa, mixed martial arts championships bring together disciplines from across the globe. Competitive fighting can be credited for spurring development in the different martial arts as outdated philosophies are proven ineffective in the ring and techniques from other martial arts are adapted as counter measures.

Bouts typically start with thundering kicks and punches such as those found in Muay Thai, Wushu and boxing. But as soon the opponents close in, grappling techniques typical of Jiu-Jitsu or Greco-Roman wrestling are most often utilized. Because competitions are one-on-one, it becomes possible for fighters to lock on to their opponents with ground fighting techniques without fear of simultaneous attacks from other combatants. Any ringside spectator will realize that these duels are a brutal chess game that requires as much brainpower as it does brawn and where the pieces one moves are one’s own limbs. A misstep can find a combatant twisted in a bone breaking lock or helplessly open to a barrage of crushing blows.

These competitions have proven to be a financial success for local organizers and have gained the approval of the Games and Amusement Board. Participants as well as spectators include the entire economic, social and geographic spectrum of the Philippines. One can see brawny kickboxers from the Cordilleras duke it out with steely grapplers for Greenhills. PhD holders and ex-bodyguards all have just as much chance inside the ring. The tenacity as well as the humility of some of the fighters is inspiring to say the least.

Turf wars

Now that there are numerous venues for fighters to prove their superiority fairly and safely in unarmed combat, one might think that martial artists resorting to fully automatic weapons in a nighttime ambush would be self-defeating and unnecessary. But that is exactly what happened when three M-16 bullets ripped through Aguilar’s abdomen. According to Aguilar, his alleged assailants were former martial arts students who, at one time, were close friends of his. He describes them as those who haven’t graduated from that “culture of violence”.

Word out on the street is that the attackers saw the northern half of the Metro as their own territory and that Deftac was perceived as encroaching upon it. Aguilar finds this delineation childish and absurd, and postulates that perhaps his involvement in getting a party-list organization called “Bagong Tao Movement” off the ground in time for the next elections may perhaps also have prompted the attack. At present, the suspects have been identified and charged but are still at large.

As for Aguilar, he was up and about in just three weeks after his near fatal encounter, valiantly sparring despite a bullet lodged in his lower back. He remains undaunted in his quest to develop the sport and resilient in his conviction to rise above the culture of violence.

Back to reality

Bakbakan International, as its name implies, concerns itself with realistic and straightforward techniques for surviving in the streets. It has a clear disdain for what it calls “paper masters” and has shown little if any fondness for the contrived environs of the ring. Fighting for them is not about fairness or proving one’s superiority but rather is a means of practical and justifiable self-defense. Students are taught that everything counts in street fights and are encouraged to use unorthodox means to gain an advantage. The element of surprise, the use of superior numbers and found weapons are both anticipated and exploited in combat situations.

Bakbakan is a global brotherhood that is by invitation only and whose members include well-known personalities such as action star Ricketts, journalist Mon Tulfo, and Representative Miguel Zubiri among others. The Bakbakan organization encompasses several martial arts that include the Kali Ilustrisimo, Tulisan knife fighting, Sinawali double weapon fighting systems as well the Sagasa kickboxing, Hagibis grappling and Ngo Cho Kun Kung Fu. The impressive roster of veteran martial arts that make up its founding members bolster Bakbakan’s claim that its fighting techniques have been tested by time.

Father figures with muscle

Despite tough appearances, the brothers Topher and Ronnie Ricketts both display great attention to their individual pupil’s development with near paternal bearing. As with other reputable Martial Arts organizations, the Ricketts stress that value formation goes hand in hand with combat skills and that the knowledge they impart is only for self-defense.

Ronnie admits that in his younger years, he would entertain anyone’s challenge for a bloody fight. These days, he and his brother feel they have nothing to prove and are happy to see promising martial artists further the community. All the same, they are still constantly developing their martial arts to better themselves and their organization.

It is quite noteworthy that a number of their newest members are women and ground-fighting techniques, specifically against rape situations, are taught. That martial arts can be geared towards such real life situations demonstrates this organization’s openness to adapt to the needs of its members and the continuing relevance of martial arts in our lives. But it also underscores the kinds of dangers we all may face in today’s world.

A balance of body and soul

As comforting as it may be to have some knowledge of self-defense, it is equally distressing to realize that the same set of skills could be used to perpetuate a culture of violence. Though the criminal acts of a few street fighters cannot be said to be symptomatic of the local martial arts community as a whole, it still is a wakeup call that character building be given as much if not more emphasis than perfecting combat skills.

Martial Arts itself is a contradiction in terms. It seeks to transform the body into a weapon while attempting to mold the mind into a temple. Lethality and restraint are necessary in equal parts for martial arts to be any good.

But though martial arts schools profess to create ego free environments for self-discovery, the possession of any sort of deadly skill has the potential of changing one’s character as resorting to violence becomes an option. It is with some relief to know that martial arts in this country is led by the likes of the Ricketts brothers and Alvin Aguilar who with their collective experiences can help a new generation of martial artists become role models as well and avoid the pitfalls of street fighting.

Pinoy Martial Arts: from Lapu-Lapu to Balikatan

Filipino martial artists are acknowledged to be the best knife fighters on Earth bar none. Locally developed street fighting styles have proven to be brutally effective within the ring in fighting competitions and out in the dark alleyways of cities. Proven in combat and honed in the streets, our indigenous fighting systems have garnered for our race respect and recognition the world over.

Our martial arts have always been a tool for resisting foreign oppression and liberating our own people. From the time of our first hero Lapu-Lapu to the Moro uprisings against American subjugation, foreigners have chronicled with grudging respect the skill as well as the ferocity with which Filipinos have fought with their unique fighting systems.

It is not without irony that with today’s war on terrorism, our martial artists are much sought after by Special Forces of various nations such as the US marines and Korea’s 707 brigades to train them in knife fighting and other disciplines.

This 500-year-old heritage of self-defense continues to evolve as more and more ordinary Filipinos rediscover their indigenous martial arts.

Knife and stick fighting systems. Kali, Eskrima, and Arnis are some of the names for the same machete, knife, and stick fighting art. Doce Methodos, Kali Ilustrisimo and Lameco Eskrima are just some the many variants that have origins from the different islands of the archipelago.

These fighting systems are unique in that armed combat is given precedence in its teachings and that even its unarmed techniques are derived from strikes and blocks used for bladed weapons.

Fighting styles range from the double bladed sinawali and espada y daga, to the use of a free hand for grappling and strikes called solo baston or bantay kamay to empty handed combat or mano mano.

Kick boxing systems. Filipinos have developed their own kickboxing techniques such as Sagasa and Sayaw ng Kamatayan or Yaw-yan. These primarily deal with striking techniques with hands and feet. Precisely coordinated footwork, dynamic stances as well as effective blocking and redirection all play an integral role in these disciplines.

Grappling Systems. Grappling techniques and ground fighting systems need to complement striking techniques if a fighter is to survive encounters in mixed martial arts duels. Fighting systems such as Hagibis and Dumog fill this role. Close in fighting with locks, chokes, and holds are extremely effective in one-on-one combat.

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[Kaju Skilz]

I remember seeing that story on TV Patrol. As I was reading the article on that posting. I was like yah I know what your talkin' bout.

[sherwinc]

Filipino Action Star

This is an old story that can be of interest,
I remeber the guy even showed on TV how he disarned-cut the throat of one of the thugs...If I remember well they came back to spy on his house and he killed another afterwards..

Remember Lito Lapid old films????

why is it that the way Lito Lapid, Rex Lapid, Rey Lapid, Jess Lapid they all have the same unique fighting art for most of their films.... especially those Fernando Poe fighting tactics has a similarity......

when i was at young years, i thought that it is one of the Filipino Art created, a filipino style of boxing i impressed......

expecially the way Lito Lapid attack/defense.......

maybe it is an old FMA????? or i might be wrong.......

[Gryphon Hall]

I have heard somewhere that Lito Lapid's real MA was Sikaran; that's why in some of his films, one of the bad guys will be holding on to one of his legs and will be able to make a spinning back kick with the other foot without wires in one smooth take.

But here's one technique he once did, and I don't know how he did it: he cocks his .45 by sliding it on his jeans, then slides forward on the ground as he shoots, then slides backward, then forward, to and fro.

How about that?

About the Sonny Parsons thing: did you know that some Human Rights groups in the Philippines told Parson he had no right to shoot up those people who first robbed him, then attempted to rape his daughter, then shot first? They started showing clips of the criminals' crying families.

Hmmmmm... If Parsons did not shoot back, would those Human Rights groups come to his aid then?

[yentao]

Thieves deserve it. The bad thing is the robbers might get back with Sonny Parsons. Cops here in PI are mostly full of dumb lazy worthless sonOF@Beast.

[krys]

Actually two members of the same gang came back a few months later to spy on his house, Parson spotted them and a gunfight took place, he killed one more ...