Customer Reviews (5)

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 and PRactice, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Self-Defense, or maybe a book as comprehensive in its coverage as is Simco's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: The Master Text.
Never the less it is still good to see old Giron, moving around and swinging a stick.
Nice job.

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 anoverview of the system in general, so the reader can have some vaguefeeling of what Giron escrima is.

A excellent overview of the Giron system of Escrima
This book provides the reader with a very good taste of Grandmaster Giron's system of self-defense.It is particularily strong in the largo-mano or long range area, with clearly photographed techniques using sticks, knives and empty hands.In addition to the techniques, he puts his system into an ethical framework.The only part I would have liked to see more of was the excellent empty hands techniques present in the Filipino martial arts, including guntings and limb destructions.Nonetheless, this will make an excellent addition to anybody's library with interest in the subject matter. ... Read more

Book Description
Escrima is a highly effective self-defense technique and one of the three major Filipino martial arts. It prepares the warrior for both armed and unarmed combat. Secrets of Cabales Serrada Escrima is a revised, expanded, and updated version of Filipino Martial Arts: Cabales Serrada Escrima, which has sold over 15,000 copies since originally published in 1994. Writing with the encouragement and assistance of one of the legends of the art, Grandmaster Angel Cabales, author Mark Wiley revisits the homeland of Escrima and adds a fresh perspective to the form and techniques of Escrima. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Unauthorised!!
So much for revealing the "secrets" of Cabales Escrima. Unfortunatly this book is quite the opposite. Wiley misquotes Angel on the back cover. Angel gave permission for a series of books on Cabales Serrada Escrima - Not just one book with all the good techniques left out. I'm sure the Grand Master would have been bitterly dissapointed with this effort by Wiley. The idea was to spread the knowledge of this fantastic system throughout the world in its entirety through a series of books - Not for an insecure person to greedily hoard the techniques for himself to reveal at seminars and private tuition.

Ignore negativity and get this book!
This book is very helpful in that you get a deep understanding of the fascinating history of where the Cabales Serrada System comes from. You also get step-by-step outlines of many Serrada applications, which only gets better when you have a solid base knowledge of Escrima in general, and Serrada in particular. Mark Wiley brings Cabales Serrada into a new light with this book. The negative press? "Shine it"... you read the book for yourself, and you'll see for yourself! I myself study Serrada Escrima- actually mostly Inayan, from my uncle Mike who learned from my great-uncle Ray Subega, an early student of Inay's. The way I see it, the proof is in the pudding. Wiley has his diploma, who else here can boast that? I agree with Art Miraflor, it is a very GREAT book! Great job Wiley! I also read Wiley's Arnis book, and five stars on that one, too! For those who love to just soak it all in, this book has it! Wiley went to the farthest jungles of the Philippines to get instruction as well as mass info for that project, and well worth the price. I can't wait to read his other books on Filipino MArtial Arts!!!
Peace & Blessings, ~John

A few comments on this controversial book
Despite the controversial and critical reviews of this book, I found it useful in learning about some of the history and background of grandmaster Cabales, and also the techniques of Cabales Escrima. I can't comment on the criticisms posted here on Wiley's book, as I'm not primarily an escrimador, being mainly a karate, kobudo, and iaido practitioner. However, I've trained in the Philippine stick arts too and I was just looking for a book that could provide some basic history on the art in addition to what I already knew.

The first few chapters are a brief bio of master Cabales, from his boyhood in the Philippines to his eventual arrival in the states, and his opening up the first Escrima school in the U.S. It was interesting to read about master Cabales's early training experiences and his teacher, F. Dizon, the origins of the first Doce Pares organization (which Wiley claims precedes by over a hundred years the current organization under the Canete family), and other interesting bits of history. After many years of working odd jobs everywhere from the Tondo docks in Manila to Alaska, master Cabales finally settled in Stockton, where he stayed the rest his life, founded the first Escrima school, and saw his art spread from a small inland valley school in California to dozens of countries and thousands of students around the world.

The following chapters are written by students and instructors who were close to master Cabales and who relate their training experiences with him, and the last half of the book is devoted to actual techniques. These show the basic strikes, blocks, disarms, and wrist and armlocks. I enjoyed these chapters too, although the problem with books on the martial arts these days is that you can get video tapes that are excellent on literally hundreds of martial arts which show the art far better than the static photos in books. I myself have dozens of tapes by a number of masters on various styles of Escrima and other Pacific Rim arts that are far better than the photos in any book. Nevertheless, since the book basically combines a brief history and biography of the master, a number of personal memoirs of the master, and a presentation of the basic technical aspects of the art, I didn't mind that too much.

Now not only is Cabales Escrima well established in the U.S. but a number of other Pacific Rim arts as well, including Filipino and Indonesian Kuntao, other Filipino styles and arts such as Pekiti Tersia, Lameco Escrima, Kali Illustrisimo, Kaji Kali, Bakbakan Kali, Arnis, Panajakman, Panantukan, Sikaran, and a number of styles of Indonesian Pentjak-Silat, such as Serak or Sera, Tongkat, Cikalong, Cidepok, Mande Muda, Bukti-Negara, several styles of Cimande, Suci Hati, Perisai Diri, and some others I'm no doubt forgetting. I've studied Kali Ilustrisimo, Inayan Escrima, Ted LucayLucay's style of escrima, Serak Silat, and Wagi Kali Silat myself, and enjoy them very much although they're not my main focus as a martial artist, as I said. But I've certainly learned to appreciate the Philippine and Indonesian arts more, which are truly great martial arts themselves, and I think it's great they're finally getting the recognition they deserve, although it looks like the Escrima world has the same political problems as the rest of the martial arts.

However the controversy surrounding this book plays out, it's amazing to consider that a once obscure art only about 20 years ago is now an international phenomenon with hundreds of instructors in the U.S. and many more overseas. Angel Cabales's Serrada Escrima has perhaps had the greatest influence of all and I hope his and the many other fine Filipino stick arts continue to grow and prosper.

Mark Wiley, what?
If the book had been a more technical treatment, that would have been great.It has that, but not enough.But even still, what it did have would have been ggggreat if, only if, Mark had not put in a bunch of sillyness.
What is the sillyness you ask?It is the goofy stories. I couldn't stand his little asides about the Magical Angel.I am so weary of the the "super-master" stories that some martial artists find so appealing. Keep in mind that I am not criticising Master Cabeles in anyway at all.I am sure he was great. But I think we diminish the greatness of lives lived when we begin to exagerate the reality of them. Let us be in awe of the real, not the fabrication we can easily make up.
At times Mark seems like a 4 year old who sees in his mentor superhuman quality.That can be endearing the hands of a capable writer, but that Mark Willey is not.

The Secrets of Cabales Serrada Escrima (Secrets of Series)
For those of you that haven't heard of me, I have studied Serrada extensively in Stockton, California.I read the other reviews, and Master Khlid Khan, should not have complimented Mark Wiley.He did so to promote the book because he is in it.Guru Dennis Servaes, also in it and has trained with Grandmaster Vincent Angel Cabales and gave a review which tells it like it is.I would also advise against the purchase of books by Mark Wiley, or anything to do with Daren Tibon.Angel would not have authorized either book, and I cannot recommend either of wiley's books!Too much misinformation.I understand Daren is no longer recognized as a Master! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

leaves things to be wished for
Well... First of all, I do not agree with the previous reviewer regarding the technical portion of the book. Namely, GM Somera did a good presentation of the system, though I would prefer more systematic approach to individual styles within the system, as it would give the reader better opportunity to gain some understanding of the underlying principles.
However, I must admit that the textual body of he book is not as good as I hoped for. first of all, there is quite a bit of reocurring information, which hence becomes redundant, and the space could have been used to gives us more of new/different stuff. I was also surprised to see that the author chose to dedicate more attention to the history of filipino societies in USA, not necessarilly related to the escrima background of the late GM Giron, at least not in the extent I would like it to be. Sure, these things are important to know and it is nice to spread that information, but than again I would rather see it available publicly in the Internet, since we're talking cultural background here. The money I paid for the book was hard earned, and I would rather spend it on the more narrow scope of interests, in this case FMA.

BTW, I do not know how to contact mazon department in charge of doing shipments, but when I choose to have my books shipped via regular mail, I really mean so, I DO NOT want them shipped via UPS, whose services are more expensive than the books themselves. This happened twice already, and I would really be gratefull if you people paid more attention in the future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

No politics, just a review...
I'll preface this by saying I don't know ANYTHING about the politics behind Mr. Wiley and Mr. Cabales... I'll just stick to reviewing the book, thank you.

This book attempts to be an brief overview on the basic history, concepts, and techniques of Cabales Serrada Escrima.Without knowing anything about Escrima as a whole, I'd say that it looked good to me.

The first two chapters are on the overall history of escrima and the specific developement of CSE, suggesting that the system may have it's roots in India and noting that Spanish sword-and-dagger techniques had a significant influence on the overall style.The third chapter very briefly covers superstitions/ spiritual beliefs prevalent in the Phillipines and their relavence to CSE, though I'm sure entire volumes could be written on that subject.The fourth chapter, "Psychological Attributes", has a few paragraphs on awareness, motivation, imagery, and emotional control; while dealing specifically with escrima, I'm sure that they'd be useful to any martial artist.The following chapter covers some pretty intangible concepts, such as "innovation is your best teacher" and "mastery requires dedication", and seeks to bring together both the artistic and scientific qualities of escrima.Like the preceeding chapters, I just don't feel like this one was long enough.

Chapter Six starts into the physical aspects of Escrima, covering the arsenal (both anatomical weapons and the blunt and edged weapons).Mr. Wiley explains that the system uses a slightly shorter stick than some other escrima systems, and that the anatomical weapons and movements should mirror the armed weapons and their tactics.Chapter Seven covers the foundation of the system, as far as movements and posturing.In this chapter, there is the usual mix of stance and salutation presented, but also footwork, fundamental distance concepts, basic ways of striking, and the use of the "alive" (non-weapon) hand.

Starting with Chapter Eight, we are presented with the twelve basic attack angles (mostly with a single-stick, but also with stick-and-dagger), basic defenses against strikes along those angles, unarmed defenses (basic blocks, jointlocks, and "bodylocks" or takedowns), and disarms vs. the single-stick.

My complaints?Not many.It's clearly a book simply on basics (one block for one angle, one disarm per angle, no empty-hand strikes illustrated), and I was disappointed there wasn't more to it.And far be it from me to criticise something I'm not particularly learned at, but we're not actually getting twelve "angles" here, as some of the attacks presented follow the same "flight paths" of others, or are simply stick-dagger combination strikes.The fact that the possition of the wrist in some of the strikes looks weak lends some credence to the suggestion that the author isn't an athority in the CSE system, but again, what do I know?And as I said, I don't think there was enough substance to the cultural, philosophical, and mental chapters to really do any system justice

Overall, though, I'd say the book serves as a good intro to escrima and basic stickfighting.The pictures are clear and the writting, while not very detailed or in-depth, is understandible and easy to get through.I'm glad I spent money on it.

I'M LOST W/ THE CABALES STORIES.
Hello everyone. I hope this message gets to the write person. I was taking escrima serrada in San Francisco from IESA. They have since broke into two factions. I just don't know what the deal is since I've been gone so long. I was in New Jersey and stumbled on one of his books and all my memories of studying came back to me and I long to complete my training in escrima. Does anyone know of anyone teaching in NJ/NYC area? I do go back to the bay area once in awhile and if i must continue training there then I will start again. I am also looking for a master to train with in the Philippines if you know of anyone. Thanks very much for reading!

glad I didn't buy it
Unfortunately the book can only be as good as the practitioner and this one is not that good.He underestimates his readers by simplifying the concepts and techniques of his art, generalizing cultural and spiritual aspects.(BTW, he doesn't really do any better in Filipino Martial Culture.)The stories that he relays about the lineage are haphazzard.He picks and chooses which legends/stories he wishes to believe and uses that argument to counter other stories to the point where he essentially calls Dizon's boyhood training partner a liar.This is just bad research and bad oral history.He is not arrogant enough to say "this is my training experience" outright, but he serves the injustice of claiming this is real "research," when it seems he's only stepped as far as his back door.He may be an instructor, but it doesn't mean he understands his art to its very depths.

Mark Wiley's first version book on Cabales Serrada Eskrima
Mark Wiley is to be congratulated/encouraged for at least writing about this art of which there wasn't much info around. Mark does make some mistakes when he shows the basic counter routines, specially with the check hand sequence. In some photos every position is incorrect. The story about Guro Cabales and his anecdotes also is not really correct. Yet, I will keep the book as an important source of some information and a promising presentation. The next version is supposed to be out in coming months. Initially, in order to prepare for this story, Mark should have spent some time training in Stockton with Serrada's top Guros. He did not allow them to contribute to the book. This next version "Secrets of Cabales Serrada Eskrima" is supposed to ammend all mistakes.

Not a good martial arts book!
This book is not worth wasting your money on.The techniques that are represented look OK to the untrained eye, but if you examine them closely, you will notice many mistakes.The techniques are sparse, one per angle.They are also demonstrated with poor posture and attack.To the novice,this book may appear to represent the art of Cabales Serrada Escrima, butit does not.More than half of the book is unrelated to the system ofSerrada. This book does nothing to show the effectiveness of CabalesSerrada Escrima. ... Read more

Book Description
Serrada escrima, strikes, blocks and counters, the legacy of Grandmaster angel Cabales, no doubt is long overdue.since the Grandmasters' death in the early 90's, there has not been a lot of information on Grandmaster Angel Cabales and his Serrada system of escrima.It is the purpose of this book to present a brief biography.Included are interviews with Angel Cabales and the core of his art which is the Twelve Strikes, Blocks and Counters. ... Read more

Product Description
Profusely illustrated with over 1600 photos, this historical and highly informative publication is destined to become a classic and valuable resource on the Warrior Arts of the Philippines. Featuring in-depth biographies, exclusive personal insights, and detailed combative applications, this exclusive collection by acclaimed Filipino martial arts expert, teacher, and writer, Rey Galang, presents the priceless legacy and cultural treasures of the manifold Filipino martial arts.Discover the history, strenghs, and the secrets of six of the foremost systems in Philippine combat arts: Balintawak Eskrima, kali Ilustrisimo, Lameco Eskrima, Lightning Scientific Arnis, Modern Arnis and San Miguel Eskrima. Relive and experience the journeys of warriors past and present through the interviews and writings of the eminent masters and disciples of these celebrated combat arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must!!!
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Rey Galang is now my favorite author on FMA subjects. In this book, just in "Masters of the Blade", he did a superb job of giving an excellent presentation of several chosen styles and their most respected exponents. This book is less "techically oriented" than the MOB book, i.e. there is more history and philosophy explined, as well as some methodology of training in various styles, while in the MOB book, every chapter featured an excellent training section too. Still, this is not a bad thing at all, cause like this one gets inspired in another way. I would even say that Mr. Galang has succeded in making the reader feel the "breath of old times" of FMA. After reading the conclusion, I can only regret that some of the people who were approached for the book did not take the opporunity to be part of something so good, but that again, nothing prevents me from hoping there might be the Part II... nad, just to make sure that there can still be improvements, I think that it might be better to skip someone from being presetned alltogether, than doing it like in the case of the late Sonny Umpad.

Great historical perspective of FMA
Having trained mostly in Japanese martial arts I was not very familiar with Filipino styles. This book gives a very good overview of both the different styles and the people instrumental in their development. Some of the photo sequences are better than others but don't expect to learn any FMA from this book. That is not an especially negative comment because you can not learn most martial arts from a book. Its strong point is that it may help you decide which style you would like to explore and give you direction as you look for a person to study under. This book is also a very nice tribute to the people who have expanded and preserved their native arts. ... Read more

Product Description
The second Book in Dan Andersons Modern Arnis series, Advanced Modern Arnis: A Road to Mastery is an in-depth study of the advanced concepts and underlying principles of Modern Arnis. At 205 pages and over 1300 photos, this Book is jam packed with tons of information that will be of aid to any practitioner of Modern Arnis, no matter his rank or experience. ... Read more

Book Description
The book features a twofold, interrelated focus. First, it looks at the unique Filipino culture; how it was greatly influenced by Spanish colonization, the oppression it suffered under foreign rule, and how the native yearning for freedom led to the development of the martial art of arnis. The book then presents the distinct technical aspects and resultant physical manifestation of the indigenous fighting art. Centering upon the Kombatan method forged by Grandmaster Ernesto Amador Presas Sr., it describes numerous maneuvers utilizing stick, blade, and empty hand components, and offers information on their myriad practical applications.

This volume is unique in that it is one of but a few composed by a native-born and bred Filipino author, one who absorbed lesson in the Philippines, directly under the guidance of an established system’s founder. The book seeks to present arnis in a proper light, as a simple and pragmatic method of self-protection, while debunking the more fanciful theories and concepts that have crept in as it makes its way into world consciousness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great intro into Arnis
Arnis is a Philipino system that is primarily based around the use of weapons such as the stick, the knife, and the sword.This book is an excellent primer, scratching the surface of many aspects of Kombatan, a system of Arnis developed by Ernesto Presas.The book beggins with several historical chapters that cover such topics as the name for Philipino martial arts ("kali" is apparently not widely accepted in the PI), some cultural information of the Philipino people, and how the system of Kombatan developed.Though this section is informative, I can't help but sense that there's a bias in the writting.Following that, we get to the technical aspect of Kombatan.The system seems to borrow from the Japanese Judo and Karate systems, especially in their stance, striking, and throwing techniques.Shotokan practitioners will find the stances very familiar.Single-stick work is given the most emphasis, with striking angles and gripping techniques being covered pretty well, as well as footwork.Knifework is covered next, and many of the strikes and counters are analogous to the stickwork.There's also a very good section on how to grip a knife without a cross-guard, an important distinction to make so that one doesn't injure oneself.The book finishes up with empty-hand work which, as noted, bears some resemblance to Japanese martial arts systems, and with some advice on training, weapons selection, and self-defense.One of the possitives about this book was that it often gave examples of impropper technique, which could aid students in understanding what they may be doing wrong.Overall, an above-average book that gives a broad overview of a deep system.Not a bad purchase for those new to Philipino systems, or for those interested in some weapons-based self-defense fundamentals. ... Read more