Guerilla Tactics

[thekuntawman]

i dont know about "guerilla" techniques, but what i think your talking about is about the change in the philosophy of the martial arts over the years. in the older styles, arnis and eskrima is used to kill your opponent. and i think because the invaders (american and japanese) have better weapons or bigger groups, the techniques to facing your enemy is different than today. one technque is attacking from the back. in modern arnis-eskrima, most styles dont practice this style of fighting because it is not "ethic" or fair way of fighting. also, there is more emphasis on heavy striking because you are using heavy blades, instead of the quick combination hitting we use with sticks. and especially because many people spar with equipment, hitting anywhere with the stick is okay. but if you think like your goal is to hurt your opponent or kill him you change your strategy and practice.

practice full power strikes, and short combinations (2-4 hits)
no more tap-tap striking with the stick, treat your weapon like a WEAPON!
do not use the prearrange sparring
spar
practice for attacking unarmed attackers
practice getting out your weapon quickly
learn to use concealed weapons
use the free hand to distract or hold your opponent before you attack him
practice technique against and opponent who is attacking somebody esle
practice your technique against more than one person
weapon in the back hand instead of the front
double or triple hit to the same target
only aim for fight ending targets (collarbone, places on the face, fore arm, back of the neck)
your thrusting is used like a punch
when you use the knife you smother your opponent to hold him still and poke him up
finish your knife attack at the neck or under the rib cage

there is nothing called "guerilla" techniques in my eskrima but there is "street eskrima" which is the style i am describing here. for street fighting this is the best way to practice arnis. for art you do what everybody else is doing, with sinawali and sayaw, for street self defense you have to change the program back to the original way arnis is designed for.

[krys]

he techniques to facing your enemy is different than today. one technque is attacking from the back. in modern arnis-eskrima, most styles dont practice this style of fighting because it is not "ethic" or fair way of fighting. also, there is more emphasis on heavy striking because you are using heavy blades, instead of the quick combination hitting we use with sticks. and especially because many people spar with equipment, hitting anywhere with the stick is okay. but if you think like your goal is to hurt your opponent or kill him you change your strategy and practice.

This is still practiced in Mindanao . Heavy blows with heavy blades, you should aim to kill with two strikes, one to the arm the other to the body. Targets are mostly the forearms, back of the neck, side of the back..Killing from the back (with ropes, other weapons, empty hands) , silent killing and even tactics to deceive unarmed opponents are taught.....

[chalambok]

In Krabi-Krabong the strikes are delivered to the neck, the upper arm/elbow area, the lower leg and the head. All strikes are delivered with full body weight, and after practice with rattan swords,(or staff, spear, etc) we move quickly to real weight training swords. Thrusts, of course, are mostly to center mass. I know Krabi-Krabong is not a Filipino martial art, (it is the weapon art of Thailand) but I really believe all SE Asian combat styles to be very similar in concept and philosophy. K-K footwork seems to be a little more forward-pressure, but my belief is probably tempered by the FMA practitioners I have trained with preferring defensive footwork, and not representative of FMAs in general.

[bahotae]

Thompson The best Guerilla weapon

My Grandfather was a Filipino Guerilla. The only weapon he said he used during WWII was his Thompson sub machine gun. I think its just bullsh t to say that Filipino Guerillas would ambush Japanese soldiers just using bolos. My Grandfather had 14 japanese samurai swords that he got from all the ambush that they did. Not once did I hear from that combat went to samurai vs. bolo. He said there was only one time that a Japanese soldier was able to pull out his sword and the Japanese soldier used it to impale himself.

[krys]

My Grandfather was a Filipino Guerilla. The only weapon he said he used during WWII was his Thompson sub machine gun. I think its just bullsh t to say that Filipino Guerillas would ambush Japanese soldiers just using bolos. My Grandfather had 14 japanese samurai swords that he got from all the ambush that they did. Not once did I hear from that combat went to samurai vs. bolo. He said there was only one time that a Japanese soldier was able to pull out his sword and the Japanese soldier used it to impale himself.

I don't think they just used bolos but any weapons at hand, including firearms when they had them. But not all rebel groups received american aid and had to find weapons by themselves.

There is a description of the strugle of the pirate lord Jikiri (pre WWII) against american troops. He was able to hold them at bay for years with his band, inflicting many casualties, using poor weapons: bolos, krisses, spears bows and a few 19th century riffles.

Anyway firearms were not always the best alternative in the forest: poor visibility and short firing range, this is a serious problem during ambushes. Nowadays filipino marines and other troops are learning arnis because they used to get cut down in the forest in surprise attacks.

Krisses and barung have their use during those kind of attacks or for silencing sentinels. My muslim friends and mabrothers told me many stories about this. Some were able to kill many soldiers using blades during the muslim insurection in Mindanao-Sulu-Basilan. There weren't that many high power firearms down south and the purpose of ambushes was to get these weapons.

[chalambok]

The Thompson Sub-Machine Gun

Unless I am horribly misinformed by the many historical books I have referenced and the history classes I have taken, the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun was not widely issued to American troops until the later stages of WWII. Certainly it was not in use in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion in late 1941 early 1942. And during the occupation contact with the Philippine underground and consequent resupply was not high on the priority list of the United States Navy until 1943, primarily because there weren't any fleet submarines capable of undertaking the missions until that time. Once contace with the resistance organization was established, a significant percentage of the resupply tonnage was food, because the Japanese sought to contain the populace by controlling the rice. If there was guerilla action in a province, often the Japanese commanders would order all the fields burnt and the harvested rice confiscated. There were many small battles fought without the Filipinos having firearms throughout the archipelago, and most certainly some were expressly to acquire Japanese weaponry. Only in the last few months before MacArthur's reinvasion were American arms heavily imported, and M1s and M1 carbines were favored because of the price of manufacture. That said, it can never be overstated how valuable the resistance was to the American Army when they finally did begin the liberation. I have no doubt Bahotae's grandfather did more than his fair share, and the memory of him and others like him can never be tarnished. The fact he had a Thompson shows his value to his brothers and his marksmanship abilities, for the Thompson, while a force multiplier extreme, is a very hard weapon to control. Those who carried it usually had it awarded to them as a kind of reward, an honor based upon past performances.