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History of Babao Arnis

In November of 1963, 18 year-old Narrie Babao reluctantly started his Arnis de Mano training under his father, the late Turing Babao. The style he learned was the Baston Batangas system, which his father learned from Master Ka Juan, a Katipunan rebel under General Miguel Malvar, during the Filipino-American war.

Turing Babao was suffering from hypertension, and his doctor advised him to workout daily, to alleviate the problem. Narrie had other interests then. Foremost was bodybuilding and weightlifting. He was selected as the 1964 Jr. Mr. Philippines, during a contest sponsored by PWABBA (Philippine Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Association).

For two years, the father and son trained hard in Arnis. Twirling the rattan sticks was the only warm-up exercise. Their training consisted mainly of free-style sparring. Only after getting hit, would Narrie learn the lesson for the day. His father would then methodically explain why Narrie got hit in that particular area.

Narrie described the training as the school of hard knocks, and he resented being on the receiving end. His father was precise in controlling his strikes to the head and body, but accidental hits to the knuckles were unavoidable.

With his knuckles busted many times over, Narrie finally found a good excuse for getting away from Arnis training. He enrolled in a karate school. His Shotokan karate instructor was Romeo Plantado, a former police officer who became a fugitive, and eventually a commander of the New People’s Army, the communist rebels in the Philippines. However, it was Master Jimmy Galez of Manila, who awarded Narrie his first black belt.

The first thing Narrie did after his promotion in Manila, was to challenge his father in

a weaponless sparring. Narrie realized his mistake too late. His father never revealed the

fact that he also studied Jujitsu from a Japanese businessman, whom he befriended.

In 1968, Narrie joined the United States Navy. His first students were some of the sailors and Marines on board the USS New Orleans (LPH-11), which spent three tours of duty in Vietnam. At one time, one of his Marine students came back to the ship in a body bag after a mission. Whenever his ship was in Subic Bay, Narrie would spend time at the school of the Philippine Kuntaw Association, which was owned by Grandmaster Carlito Lanada. In time, Narrie was awarded a fourth degree black belt in Kuntao.

Turing Babao did not teach his Arnis system to anyone else. Without a sparring partner, his daily workout diminished. He finally passed away, after a third stroke.

It was in 1975 when Narrie met Dan Inosanto and Richard Bustillo. On many occasions, Dan and Narrie would exchange their knowledge of the Filipino martial arts.

The two became “kumpadres”, since Dan was the godfather of Narrie’s youngest son, Kris. Narrie and his wife, Zena, have two other sons, Narrison and Jack, who are now both Guros (instructors) in Babao Arnis.

Inosanto introduced Narrie to Kali Master Ben Largusa, who accepted him as a disciple. In November of that same year (1976), Narrie and Dan formally introduced the arts of Arnis and Eskrima to the people of San Diego, California.

In July 1978, Narrie became the first Weapons Sparring champion, during a tournament sponsored by Ben Singleton in Vista, California. It was the first of its kind in American martial arts competition, where the fighters would select the weapon of their choice. Narrie defeated other instructors, who used esoteric weapons like the nunchakus, bo, and shinai. It was also that year, when Narrie Babao was promoted as Kali Guro’ by Grandmaster Floro Villabrille and Grandmaster Ben Largusa.

Then in 1981, Narrie met Doce Pares Grandmaster Cacoy Canete, the undefeated stick fighter in the Philippines. Narrie was captivated by the close quarter combat fluidity of Eskrido, the art that was developed by Grandmaster Cacoy.

During his visit to the Cebu City Doce Pares headquarters in 1984, Narrie was promoted to the rank of 4th Grade Blackbelt. His certificate was signed by Grandmaster Yoling Canete, Grandmaster Cacoy Canete, and Grandmaster Diony Canete. In 1996, Grandmaster Cacoy conferred on Narrie Babao the rank of 6th Grade Master of Eskrima.

In October 25, 1997, Grandmaster Cacoy Canete once again promoted Narrie to 8th Grade Master.

Like the three sides of the triangle, the Babao Arnis system is composed of three main fighting systems; Villabrille-Largusa Kali, GM Cacoy’s Eskrido-Pangamot, and the original Baston Batangas taught by Turing Babao.

From 1978 up to the present time (2004), only twelve students have been promoted as Arnis instructors by Master Narrie Babao. Most of his students were already black belt instructors in other martial arts, when they applied for Arnis training. Almost half of his students are involved in law enforcement.