JOSE VILLASIN

• Anciong Bacon
• Jose Villasin

Jose Villasin, a self-defense instructor at the University of Visayas, revolutionized his students’ learning experience with an innovative GROUPING SYSTEM. This system was adapted from Venancio “Anciong” Bacon’s Traditional teaching style and enables José to organize various techniques into related sets that can be mastered one set after another. Additionally, based on single stick work training under Anciong Bacon’s tutelage Jose developed optimized striking and defending patterns for Balintawak practitioners – creating basic movements which could later develop into semi-advanced or fully advanced forms. 

Anciong Bacon’s innovative single-stick techniques revolutionized the Balintawak martial art and laid down a foundation for many more practitioners. With help from Villasin, he took his work to new heights – forming twelve basic strikes that are now staples of modern-day training in Balintawak.

Anciong Bacon, passed down his most advanced teachings to none other than Attorney  Villasin—his close friend. In secret meetings between the two men, Anciong instructed him in hand-to-hand combat fighting strategies. He became one of his successors in Balintawak.

In 1972, Jose Villasin took the helm as president of The Balintawak International Self-Defense Club. Vice-President Teofilo Velez and Venancio “Anciong” Bacon as the Grandmaster of this organization would go on to become a renowned leader for self-defense around the world

Villasin was a highly skilled teacher, imparting knowledge of eskrima and martial arts to students at the University of the Visayas. He understood that it can be difficult for beginners to grasp this type of training quickly.  He intended to make eskrima and martial arts more accessible by making notes for his students at the University of Visayas, breaking down complex movements into simpler elements. Providing an organized structure that would allow his pupils to digest these teachings more easily.

Jose Villasin was a brilliant student of Anciong Bacon, the legendary Balintawak inventor. By carefully studying and documenting each move of his diminutive teacher, he managed to systematize Bacon’s genius art for teaching it more efficiently – not only aiming to create skilled fighters but also instructors who can carry on their master’s legacy.

Anciong’s blessing was the launching pad for Attorney Villasin, who developed a brand new way of teaching and systemized Anciong’s random teaching style into Grouping Techniques. This system helped students remember and comprehend concepts more quickly by breaking down complex topics into simple chunks.

Purists may believe that Grouped Balintawak is a corrupted version of the Grandmaster’s thoughts, but instructors from different instructional styles have reported otherwise. Contrary to what some think, not only have the techniques and principles been preserved intact in this form. The complexity has stayed; it’s just our method of teaching it that has evolved.

Some of the oldest Grandmasters today exhibit a similar style and repertoire due to their forbears, Bacon or Saavederas. However, despite being trained by different master they have the same style and moves, but a different teaching system. The branches of Venancio and Saavedra’s Balintawak continie while some stuck to the old-style teaching method and some with the random style. Villasin & his family a new style with grouped method approach quickly spread among their inner circle.