Leovigildo 'Leo' Miguel Giron: Eskrima Master

 

LEOVIGILDO 'LEO' MIGUEL GIRON Local escrima grandmaster (traditional martial arts practitioner)

Eskrima or escrima is a general term for “the traditional martial arts of the Philippines, which emphasize the use of sticks, knives, and various improvised weapons.”

Leovigildo 'Leo' Miguel Giron was an escrima master from Bayambang who is recognized as a legend in the US. A native of Brgy. Hermoza, Giron is recognized as a grandmaster by no less than the Hollywood martial arts instructor Dan Inosanto of Stockton, California who was among his proteges. He had already settled in the United States when he came back to the Philippines during World War II as part of US-Filipino defense forces. He was assigned in a “top-secret counterintelligence unit.” As a guerrilla, he further learned native Filipino martial arts from his superior in the military. However, he grew up training at it from an early age until murder and crime incidents in his community pressed him to improve on his skills and acquire more knowledge.

Back in postwar United States, he founded the Bahala Na Martial Arts Association. He would eventually be recognized as the "Father of Larga Mano in America."

Other recorded escrima masters from this town:

Benito Junio, a fellow Bayambangueño from Brgy. Inirangan, was recognized by Giron as among his mentors.

Julian Bundoc - Brgy. Carungay

Fructuoso Junio - Brgy. Telbang

References:

- inosanto.com - inosanto.com/leo-m-giron/ - Dr. Nicolas Miguel, a relative of Giron - Dawn Bohulano Mabalon's "Little Manila is in the Heart" (Duke University Press, 2013), pp. 84, 249, 312 - ww2f.com/threads/philippine-guerilla-leaders.13781/ - Acknowledgment (for originally tipping us about Giron and for donating the book "Little Manila is in the Heart" to the Museum): Joey Ferrer of Pittsburg, California, USA and Roxas St., Bayambang, Pangasinan