Born in Mambusao, Capiz, GM Bert is a lifelong eskrimador, with his first lesson coming at the tender age of 12, when his father began teaching him Largo Mano the old school way, with lots of full powered strikes and bruises. Mambusao was a farming town, where the carrying of knives was common, and the use of them to resolve conflicts common. This impressed on GM Bert the need to be skilled in bladed weaponry, and encouraged him to keep training.
As GM Bert grew older, and work drew him to live in different places, ever open minded, he also continued his own growth in Eskrima by training with the various Eskrimadors that he would meet. Thanks to training under his father, he had a knack for picking things up faster than others.
In the 70s he met the late GM Benajamin Luna Lema, and was blown away by his skill. Thus he earnestly sought to become a student of GM Lema, and learned GM Lema's deadly and revered espada y daga. Under GM Lema's tutelage, GM Bert learned to appreciate the intricacies of Eskrima, and his dedication to GM Lema's teachings led him to be one of the first representatives of Lightning Scientific Arnis in a major competition.
Today, GM Bert continues to further his own growth in Eskrima by meeting and exchanging ideas with other masters, and counts many Grandmasters as his close personal friends. He continues to also mentor students in the appreciation and dedication to the Filipino Martial Arts.
Find GM Labaniego on facebook https://www.facebook.com/roberto.labaniego
Our hosts will be Guro Federico Malibago and Guro Mark Basel and anyone else we can convince to join in on the madness.
Listen to this show live and streaming at: http://mixlr.com/fmatalklive
This show is sponsored by http://philippinecombatarts.com
Thank you very much for this. You are right, Grandmaster Labaniego is one of the most humble and generous GMs here. He is not one to brag about his accomplishments so this interview is really helpful in making us know this great man. More power to you.
ReplyDelete-Joy, Philippines