The history of the Philippines and its martial arts is one of resistance and revolt, and the biography of Leo Giron is the life story of one of those revolutionaries. Giron learnt martial arts as a necessity of survival, not a luxury, and practised them in jungle warfare during World War II. Tony Somera, the world's leading practitioner of the Giron style, tells his story and explores the twenty fighting styles that make up Giron's system. With over 300 historic and instructional photographs, this book truly reveals the secrets of Giron arnis escrimna.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Not what I was looking for:
This book told a lot about the background and philosophy, but didn't offer a lot of instruction. It was also hard to read and understand.
A good introduction.:
I really liked this book. I know it was not as deep in technique and theory as many would have liked, but for the price it is a great introduction. I would like to see a more in-depth version, akin to Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do the text book, or something as nice as either of the new Gracie Books. I am still waiting for the Filipino book that gives real grasp to the newbie, but still has a lot for the experienced player. In short I am looking for some thing with the thought and grace of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory... more info
A fine book to support escrima-students:
I`ve bougth this book in order to support my own escrima training. As a rookie in escrima, it gives you the basic understandings in the escrima-fighting art of Grand Master Leo Giron. I think it`s not written with the intention to replace training under a qualified teacher. In my view it supports your training as a beginner in the art. What's more, it gives you a good overview including the origins. Escrima has to be practised to be learned.
General and shallow overview:
This book is bad for beginner and practically useless for a master. There is no comprehensive description of training complexes, footwork drills and other important details, which were completely omitted. It gives just an overview of the system in general, so the reader can have some vague feeling of what Giron escrima is.
