UPDATED: Oct. 2, 2017 at 9:59 p.m.

With one hand, he slashed a 40-inch blade in quick succession against his opponent’s wrist, forearm and elbow. With the other, he reached backward for balance, then forward, pushing his opponent’s arm out of the way.

In less than three seconds it was over. The blade precisely touched muscle, tendon and artery. The blade was fake, but the technique is deadly.

Michael Giron, from Vallejo, California, is a grand master in the art of Escrima, the national sport and martial art of the Philippines. The demonstration was part of the fourth annual “Bahala Na –  Original Giron Escrima Apprenticeship Camp” held at the Filipino Martial Arts Academy in Syracuse over the weekend.

It’s the only camp of its kind on the East Coast, said Chris Thompson, an instructor and owner of the academy.

Unlike in other martial arts, fighting with blades is the first thing taught in Escrima.

“You respect a weapon coming at you more than an empty hand,” Giron said. “It’s a different mindset.”

That mindset is what a dozen students came to learn at the modest studio just down the street from Destiny USA. While other people spent the weekend shopping or catching a movie, these students spent three days sweating through intricate weapon forms.

Hieu Nguyen | Staff Photographer

“I train in a lot of different martial arts and one of the things that I appreciate about this style is that it’s battle-tested,” said Christopher LaCava, a martial arts instructor from Milford, Connecticut.

It’s a sentiment repeated by each of the participants, who range from information technology professionals to high-end mill workers to former law enforcement officials. All have previous experience with martial arts. All want something real and effective.

“I don’t want to fight,” said Jeremiah McCadam, of Syracuse. “But I would like to know (what to do) if, God forbid, someone comes after me or my family with a weapon.”

For hundreds of years, the indigenous people of the Philippines fought invaders from across Southeast Asia, using their farm tools — machetes, staves and knives — as weapons. The islands each gave rise to their own Escrima styles by the people passing them down from father to son through the generations. Giron’s system includes 20 different styles.

“I teach the original way I was taught. I don’t deviate, I don’t inject or insert anything new because it’s the new hype or anything like that,” Giron said. “I just feel that it’s been tested, there’s no need for change.”

Giron’s father, Leo, fought behind Japanese lines as a commando during World War II. For decades after the war, Leo wouldn’t talk about his experiences. Michael didn’t find out about Escrima until he was 19. But in 1966, Leo heard about the mass killing of eight nurses in Chicago, two of whom were Filipino, and he decided it was time to translate the art he had used in war into a system of self-defense.

With a handful of other masters, Leo codified the Filipino Martial Arts Academy and started teaching it in California. He died in 2002, and since then Giron has carried on the teaching, both out of respect for his father and because he believes the art can help people be safer.

The effectiveness and realism is what originally drew Thompson, the academy’s owner, away from competition-based arts 14 years ago.

“Competition is a great thing, but there’s limitations to it,” he said. “There’s always going to be rules. The problem is, outside, there are no rules. Their buddies are coming in and weapons are going to get involved. That’s a reality check that you have to face.”

Hieu Nguyen | Staff Photographer

Training for combat is not the only reason the students have come to the camp. The training seemed to mentally challenge the participants just as Giron physically challenged them into the proper angles of defense and attack. An internal geometry reflecting the external shape of the art.

“So you put a pair of sticks in your hands and you start flailing. You just feel completely out of water, a fish out of water,” said McCadam, who is relatively new to Escrima. “And it’s different. You have to think a lot, so it’s very good for the mind.”

Jacob Ragsdale of San Francisco agreed. The 39-year-old electrician turned tattoo artist and martial arts instructor spent the last decade training with Giron.

“It restructures the way you think. It gives you a much more discerning mind. It helps you see through the duality of things,” Ragsdale said. “I’ve become a much better person from him. A much better man.”

Giron has no sons, so his students are the family to whom he hands down knowledge. Filipino arts, he said, are open and inclusive, accepting anyone who has a good heart, shunning only those who seek violence for its own end. Ultimately, his teaching is about creating a better world.

“When I go, I want to make sure there’s something left behind,” Giron said. “It’s about this thing being alive. I don’t want it to ever die.”

The lesson continues, one hand flashing the blade, the other hand reaching back into his father’s past and forward to touch the future.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the location and owner of the martial arts camp were misstated. The camp was held at the Filipino Martial Arts Academy, which is owned by Chris Thompson. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Published on October 1, 2017 at 9:10 pm

Contact Noah: nkbuntai@syr.edu