Leovigildo 'Leo' Miguel Giron: "the father of largo mano in America"

 (𝘜𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 to 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘖𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 (𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦). 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.)

LEOVIGILDO 'LEO' MIGUEL GIRON
Local escrima grandmaster (traditional martial arts practitioner); "the father of largo mano in America"

An escrima master from Bayambang has been recognized as a legend in the United States. His name is Leovigildo 'Leo' Miguel Giron.

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.”

Born on August 20, 1911, and a native of Brgy. Hermoza, this town, Giron is recognized as a grandmaster by no less than the well-known Hollywood martial arts instructor Dan Inosanto of Stockton, California who was among his proteges.

Fil-Am historian Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, in her book, "Little Manila is in the Heart" (Duke University Press, 2013), wrote that Giron 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, among a select few, in a “top-secret counterintelligence unit” of the First Filipino Infantry Regiment in 1942.

It was during his time as guerrilla back in his home country that Giron met his wife.

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 in the Philippines until murder and crime incidents in his community in California pressed him to improve on his skills and acquire more knowledge. Mabalon noted that Giron was prompted to revive his interest in escrima as a form of self-defense when eight student nurses, two of them Filipina, were brutally raped, beaten, tortured, and murdered in Chicago in 1966. In September 1968, Giron opened his own escrima school in Tracy, south of Stockton, to teach his largo mano system. (Literally "long hand" in Spanish, largo mano is a "long-range fighting technique that uses a 30-inch stick or blade to keep an opponent at bay.") He moved the school to South Stockton in 1973, and the club was formally named the Bahala Na Filipino Martial Arts Club in 1979.

He would eventually be recognized as the "Father of Largo Mano in America." He would rise to become the guro (mentor) of "martial arts luminaries" such as Ted Lucaylucay, Dentoy Revillar, Richard Bustillo, and especially the aforementioned Dan Inosanto.

Giron was also noted by Mabalon as a member of a labor activist group headed by Larry Itliong, who hailed from San Nicolas, Pangasinan. Their efforts and sacrifices, recently officially recognized by San Nicolas LGU, would eventually pave the way for Filipinos and other immigrants in the States to enjoy the same labor rights as native-born Americans.

Other recorded escrima masters from this town are Benito Junio, a fellow Bayambangueño from Brgy. Inirangan, who was recognized by Giron as being among his mentors; Julian Bundoc of Brgy. Carungay; and Fructuoso Junio of Brgy. Telbang.

On April 2, 2025, the Local Government Unit of Bayambang led by Mayor Mary Clare Judith Phyllis 'Niña' Jose-Quiambao (represented by her husband, Dr. Cezar T. Quiambao), and the whole Sangguniang Bayan led by Vice-Mayor Ian Camille C, Sabangan) officially recognized Giron's accomplishments during the Matalunggaring Awards 2025 ceremony held at Pavilion II, St. Vincent Ferrer Prayer Park as part of the 411th year celebration of the town.

References:

- inosanto. com - inosanto. com/leo-m-giron/

- Dr. Nicolas Miguel, a cousin of Giron

- Dawn Bohulano Mabalon's "Little Manila is in the Heart" (Duke University Press, 2013), pp. 84, 249, 312, quoting Leo Giron's memoir, "Giron Escrima: Memories of a Bladed Warrior" (Los Angeles: Empire, 2006)

- 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