About Heyrosa De Cuerdas

LIBORIO G. HEYROSA DE CUERDAS ESKRIMA

The Ancient Art of Arnis

 The Liborio G. Heyrosa De Cuerdas Eskrima system is an unorthodox Filipino fighting system that utilizes stick, knife and hand-to-hand fighting methods. It is characterized by its close-quarter combat techniques where students must be able to fight in tight spaces with little to no lighting, using multiple defensive/offensive combinations. Previously an underground fighting system, this type of arnis/eskrima has currently come to light with the sudden interest in Filipino Martial Arts. This system was developed by the late Liborio "Tiboring" Heyrosa, a student of Venacio "Anciong" Bacon and Nene "Ingko Nene" Rosales of the famed Balintawak system. The system is now kept alive by his son “Titing” Heyrosa and student Manuel “Owit” Jecong.

WHY WE SPAR WITHOUT PROTECTION?

The Ancient Art of Arnis

  The Liborio G. Heyrosa De Cuerdas group is one of the few groups left that still spars without padding or helmets. This was how instruction was handed down in the early years of eskrima in Cebu and it is a tradition that the group keeps alive to this day. The group also believes that the true secrets of the art can only be learned through this method:

• SPEED – it is extremely hard to be quick when you have to control your strikes as to not injure your sparring partner. These sparring sessions help you develop your speed, and with constant practise, will help you to deliver multiple strikes in any given situation. It is not uncommon for De Cuerdas practioners to deliver 3 to 5 strikes per second. The more advanced practioners can deliver up to 8 per second.

• ACCURACY – only certain areas of the body are to be struck during sparring sessions, and these are mere representations of the actual strike areas in a real fight. Sparring with no padding allows you to zero-in on this targets while helping you develop focus in a high-pressure situation. 

One must understand, however, that the sparring sessions are done with controlled strikes (only Tersia strikes at pre-selected targets) and are only attempted by students who have reached at the very least a level of Warrior I. If you would like to view some of our sparring sessions, please visit our youtube channel.