Kuntaw Grand Master - Guro Carlito Lanada

The Ancient Art of Filipino Hand and Foot Fighting

Kuntaw Founder & Grandmaster
Carlito A Lanada

Carlito Lanada in 2001 To adapt the kuntaw style, you must take intelligent and progressive steps which should provide physical and mental benefits for you, not only in the immediate future but for rest of your life. You are about to discover the potentials of training in kuntaw.

Kuntaw tends to wipe out the differences of size, weight and reach of every individual. Those trained in the kuntaw style gained tremendous self-confidence and the ability to move without fear. Kuntaw knowledge and skills are in themselves sufficient to subdue any assailant no matter how strong he or she is. You are always ready for action.

The system of physical mastery in kuntaw constitutes the mystical goal for which it was originally created and presents the ardent practitioner with a life of health, relaxation, mental power and peace of mind. The well-versed practitioner is pure and self-manifested. The kuntaw teaching is that all can strive for such an experience and many paths can be taken to achieve it in all its splendor.

The fundamental tactics and principles of the kuntaw style are very practical and form the basis for each and every technique.

In kuntaw, one can conquer himself, his senses mastered. His inner faculties are satiated with knowledge without impulses. It is therefore a meditative technique for martial arts. Anyone can benefit from it, for it discovers the very hidden potentials of man.

My aim in teaching and instructing you in kuntaw, "Is not for offense, but for defense." What I am trying to teach is streetwise self-defense. I am not grooming you to master the arts for exhibition or public display, but for you to learn self-preservation, someone who is, to put it simply, supremely confident of his art and his ability to apply it under any circumstances.

It involves using your natural body movements to employ self-protection. More than anything else, kuntaw is using what you have (your hands and feet) to your advantage.

What is Kuntaw?

KUNTAW is an ancient art of native Filipino hand and foot fighting in its hard and soft ways. It is one of the oldest essential arts of self-defense devised by Filipino Muslim royalty prior to the Spanish regime. It is an oriental method of self-defense utilizing a variety of sudden forceful punches, kicks, and chopping techniques guided by scientific movements. Long before the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines, systems of unarmed {kuntawan} and armed {kali} fighting were being taught and developed. Kuntaw is a Filipinized term for martial arts... but the type of kuntaw which was passed down to the lower classes of the country later on was accepted more as a national sport than as a fighting art.

The particular styles of kuntaw practiced by Filipino since around the 14th century are considered a secret fighting art. With the introduction of Christianity, the native rituals and other customs that go with the art had disappeared over the course of time. There are two distinct arts involved in this, first sikaran, which deals alone in the use of foot techniques, second is kuntawan, which is the combination or the hand and foot techniques.

The revitalization, modernization, and spread of present day kuntaw, I attribute to one man, my ancestor, Yuyong Henyo. His dedication and determination not to let the art follow so many other aspects of Filipino culture into obscurity or extinction, has not only succeeded in keeping this unique Filipino martial art alive, but has also proven the effectiveness of kuntaw in the international arena against other more popular fighting or martial arts.

In my time I have practiced several other styles of martial arts. I have studied them, borrowed what I needed, and synthesized them into my own techniques, thus further refining the arts I humbly received, into a kata system I called "sayaw-an." The addition of applications to the original art by each succeeding master, so that the art can evolve, has become a tradition Kuntaw is the style or form of fighting which uses the natural weapons of the body from striking, kicking, throwing, and joint reversals. The hands are used for balancing, parrying, and grappling techniques as well as throwing the competitor when the opportunity presents itself. The legs are employed for a myriad of powerful kicking techniques from a number of different angles and include jumping kicks as well as takedown and sweeping maneuvers.

The art originally consisted of only soft, open hand techniques with emphasis on holding and locking while striking with either hand or feet. After World War II, the Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean arts came to the Philippines and gave me a look at hard styles. I chose to expand and modernize the art and added hard techniques to the style. This made kuntaw into a hard/soft style with avenues of response to any kind of attack. I ultimately systemized the art and added new forms for the lower grades to study, with the ultimate goal of developing a well-rounded fighter or practitioner.

I am a firm believer in basics. Basics are the foundation of any art, and when learned and so practiced correctly will give the students a firm foundation in technique, speed, and power. Forms are just another training method in learning basics, the blending of movements with the basics, and the many variations to a basic technique. Variations are incorporated into the more advanced forms and help show the different uses of basics. Speed, power, precision, and balance are learned and perfected with forms. Concentration is the final element learned in forms and basic training, for without this all the other elements are useless. The constant, tedious practice with a strong will to learn brings forth the required concentration.

The application of all basics and forms are stressed next, beginning with the hard basics for beginners. One-step sparring with one or more opponents is used to show the application and possible combination thereof. This is called sport style, or street defense. Sparring is then used with control to work on timing.

The kuntaw art had already existed, but for its continued practice and propagation I founded and organized the Maharlika Kuntaw Association and the Kuntaw Ng Pilipinas Association. I am the Executive Director of the International Kuntaw Federation, and the Third Vice President of the Philippines Karate Association which governs the martial arts in the Philippines. Kuntaw is now distributed around the world in various places and countries, and is always looking to expand and propagate the arts for everyone to share.