In the interest of disclosure, this book was given for review purposes.
Warning: Check your Local or State laws regarding ownership and use of Balisong.
Title: Veintenueve Balisong: Filipino Knife Fighting
Author: Datu Shishir Inocalla
Publisher: Modern Arnis Federation/Tambuli Media
Publish Date: 1984
Format: Softcover
Pages: 93
If you grew up in the 80’s, there was always that one friend that had a balisong, or as they were called around my neighborhood, a butterfly knife. The flippy-flippy things that were done with them seemed to be magic to my younger eyes. Now, with my older eyes, I’ve gained a whole new level of appreciation for these (and all) weapons. So, when I saw this book I had to snatch it up. Especially since this is an out of print book. However, Tambuli Media has a small number available… until they’re not.
Content
There is limited reading content in Veintenueve Balisong. There is a brief introduction about the history and origin of the weapon, but not much. Most of the book is dedicated to pictures of techniques.
Pros
Although I would have liked to see more history or philosophy, the pictures of the techniques are very, very well laid out. There is also a natural progression through the techniques presented. First, the book shows you the different stances used with the weapon, though I’m guessing they used the names from Chinese martial arts, as they call a couple of them “horse stance” and “cat stance.” I could be wrong, but I don’t believe those were the name in the original language.
The book then shows you how to “flip open” the knife in a couple of different ways and provides both pictures and brief instructions for practice. It continues like this for rest of the book describing the techniques, providing pictures of key points in the technique, and giving instructions for how to practice. All of which is laid out in a logical progressive pattern, so that it seems you could actually learn the basics of this weapon from diligent attention to this book.
Cons
Generally, I like more history or philosophy in my martial arts books, but in 1984, this was the style of the books that were being produced at the time. There’s nothing wrong with it. As a technique book for the balisong, Veintenueve Balisong is great.
Conclusion
In HEMA (historical European martial arts), there are numerous resources available which give written descriptions of techniques, and some, usually hand illustrated or wood block print, illustrations of them as well. Even with these, it has taken many, many man-hours of research and trial and error to figure out what these words and pictures are actually trying to say. Most Asian martial arts don’t even have these.
It’s because of this that I’ve found a new appreciation for the “picture/technique” books from the 70’s and 80’s. They’re not necessarily for reading, but instead as manuals and records for future generations. Imagine trying to learn how to use this knife 500 years from now without this resource?
That and its systematic approach to teaching is why I’m going to give this book a 4 out of 5 ninja stars. I think this book is useful to many martial artists, either just for the technical approach, or for fun of learning a new weapon aspect. From a layout perspective, I appreciate the methodic recording of techniques in a way that builds and instructs on previous learnings.
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