On Sunday, April 26, 2009, after I arrived at Ike Sepulveda’s house, along with Terence, I was introduced by Ike to GM Bobby Taboada, who received my handshake warmly and with a friendly smile. I said, “it’s an honor to meet you.” We all sat down for a delicious brunch served by Ike and his wife, Ina.  How this meeting occurred is an interesting story unto itself.

Myself and GM Bobby Taboada.
Myself and GM Bobby Taboada

I moved to Toronto from Columbus, Ohio, in June 2007 after marrying my Canadian wife. Soon after, in February 2008, I started teaching classes at the local community center in Oshawa. One of my students told Ike Sepulveda, a resident of Ajax, about me. Sometime in March 2008, Ike visited one of my classes and introduced himself. He brought along his rattan canes in a stick bag.

Ike indicated that he trained in Balintawak escrima but did not elaborate further. To my recollection, he watched the first half of the class. During a ten-minute break in class, he asked if we could “play,” and I replied, “Sure.”  Because the tapi tapi of Modern Arnis is rooted in Balintawak, I delighted in this opportunity and found a lot of similarities. After we played, I thanked Ike for the chance. I said to myself, “I like this man.”  I obtained his e-mail address. As a result, we exchanged a few e-mails over the next few months.

In May 2008, I received an email from Terence, who inquired about the Modern Arnis classes I was teaching. I invited him to try it out. Terence became an instant Modern Arnis aficionado, so much so that we jokingly say that we must form an “Arnis Anonymous” organization! Terence has introduced me to many Filipino culture, cuisine, and language aspects.

In February 2009, Ike visited my Modern Arnis class, where we conversed during a break. During this break, I introduced Ike to Terence. During our conversation, I asked Ike about the Balintawak Convention he attended in Las Vegas in November 2008. He said that he had a very good time and that the training was quite good. At this time, I had no idea of the Balintawak connections that Ike had. Indeed, he did not reveal much to Terence or me. At this meeting, Terence and Ike exchanged e-mail addresses and began corresponding.

I would occasionally ask Terence if he had heard from Ike. The correspondence increased to where Ike admitted to Terence that he was taking a month’s vacation to visit the Philippines. Further, he hinted that he was going to “train.” We thought, “Wow, we’d love to train for a month like that.”

One day, I dropped by Ike’s Copy Zone shop in Whitby to have business cards and flyers printed. When I entered the shop, Ike saw me and greeted me like a long-time friend. He invited me to the back of the shop, introducing me to his wife, Ina, and some of his employees. While attending to my needs, he showed me YouTube video clips of Balintawak. While there, he showed some clips by GM Nick Elizar and some by GM Nene Gaabucayan. I told Ike I understood he was going to the Philippines on an extended vacation. He replied in the affirmative. I asked him if he was going to train while over there. With a shy smile, he said “yes.”  I was happy that Ike had this opportunity, still not knowing his connections.

After returning from the Philippines, he told Terence he had trained with GM Nick Elizar. I was amazed that he had the opportunity to train with such an esteemed Balintawak Grandmaster. But Ike was to reveal more.

In an e-mail to Terence in mid-April, Ike revealed that GM Bobby Taboada was coming to stay at his house on the weekend of April 26th and that Bobby was a personal family friend. Ike further revealed that he was inviting us to meet Bobby on the Sunday of that weekend. Terence informed me of these developments.

I said, “Whoa, back up, GM Bobby Taboada is a personal family friend of Ike’s?” I then began to learn more about Ike’s background.

This goes to show what might happen with a chance meeting!

Through my training in Modern Arnis, I heard many stories of GM Presas’ training in Balintawak under Timoteo Maranga, Rodolfo Mongcal, and the Grandmaster of Balintawak, Venancio “Anciong” Bacon. I also heard that Professor Presas and GM Bobby Taboada were close friends. So, when Ike revealed that GM Bobby was a family friend and asked if I’d like to come over and meet him,  I said yes, as Ike’s house is only a 15 to 20-minute drive from my house.

I learned that Ike, his older brother, Butch, Nick Elizar, and Bobby Taboada all had trained under GM Teofilo Velez simultaneously.

In addition, Ike’s brother, Greg, trains with GM Nene Gaabucayan and GM Ising Atillo in Los Angeles. His older brother, Butch Sepulveda, was the founder of the Gold Chapter in Cebu and is also the Treasurer for the World Eskrima Balintawak Arnis Federation (WEBAF, Inc). Ike trains under GM Nick Elizar and GM Ising Atillo in Los Angeles.

Needless to say, there has been a family history of involvement in the art of Balintawak Arnis for quite some time. As a result, Ike’s family became friends with GM Nick Elizar, GM Bobby Taboada, GM Nene Gaabucayan, and the Velez brothers.

At our first meeting, GM Bobby, Terence, and I ate a delicious meal and conversed about Filipino Martial Arts, Professor Remy Presas, Balintawak, and other topics. Of course, we went to the garage to train with GM Bobby and had a great time. GM Bobby was not in the area to teach a seminar; I understood it was more of a weekend getaway for him. The training and the conversations made for a grand time. After this meeting, Terence and I said, “We’ve got to get GM Bobby and Master Chuck Gauss together.”

GM Bobby returned to Toronto a year later to teach a seminar at Sean Tyler’s Raging Tiger dojo. The day before the seminar, Terence and I had the opportunity to meet with GM Bobby again during a Lechon at Ike’s house. When I approached him, he immediately remembered my name and Terence’s. I had a hell of a time at his seminar and kept noting the similarities between Balintawak and Modern Arnis. Again, we resolved to set something up between GM Bobby and Master Chuck Gauss. That day (April 26, 2014) will become a reality and be a great seminar!

I’m looking forward to seeing GM Bobby again in April. The atmosphere at this seminar is going to be pure awesomeness.

Update: Terence and I hosted GM Bobby for a joint seminar with Master of Tapi Tapi Chuck Gauss in April 2014. What a phenomenal time that was!

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