Short Articles on GGM Braulio Pedoy
The Wild Boars Save GGM Pedoy’s Life
One night after class when we were eating dinner at the GGM’s home, GGM Pedoy started to describe to us his adventure with the wild pigs on the Big Island.
After running away from the plantation because he refused to work as a mule for the hauole, GGM Pedoy hid in the mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea so he wouldn’t be deported back to the Philippines. Unlike the Philippine Mountains, he said there were no coconuts, bananas or fruits to eat in the Hawaiian forests.
Once, while trying to find a place to get out of a heavy storm, GGM Pedoy stumbled onto a huge old tree, covered with vines, which leaned against a cliff on the side of the mountain. Within this area was a rock ledge about six feet off the ground, which provide a large dry area next to the trunk of the tree. As soon as he got under the tree, a pack of wild pigs came into the same dry area, also looking for relief from the downpour. He quickly got on the rock ledge. He had his back pack with blankets and a few other basic things with him.
The pigs at first were extremely concerned with having a human in their den and the male boar made many aggressive sounds and tried to get at him. It was raining so hard, the pigs decided to stay in their shelter until morning.
As time went on, the wild pigs allowed him to stay in their area, but were never friendly toward him. GGM Pedoy observed very carefully what leafs, bark, flowers and roots the pigs ate; from this he was able to survive on their simple diet.
A few months later, after the plantation owners gave him up for dead, GGM Braulio Pedoy got on a local fishing boat in Kona, sailed to Oahu where he took up fishing and gambling as his livelihood.
The funny part of this story is after the Braulio Pedoy told us about living with the wild pig, he started making sounds like a pig; he was excellent at imitating them.
You Come Down and Kill Him!
The first Island Braulio Pedoy went to after leaving Leyte was Mindanao; at the time he was just 18 years old. General Ablen wanted him to learn the inside styles of fighting. Being a Christian on a Muslim Island was dangerous so the Braulio Pedoy keep his religious beliefs to himself.
Braulio quickly developed a few friends and started practicing Kali movements on Mindanao. One of his new friends was so impressed with young Braulio’s Escrima talents he sponsored him for the upcoming Escrima tournament. The winner of the tournament would become the Dato’s (Village Leader) bodyguard and would get a monthly retainer for protecting him. This was a very prestigious position and at the time held by a famous muscular and stocky escrimador in his mid 40s. Whereas Braulio Pedoy was completely unknown, and was considered the small, skinny little kid from Leyte.
Continuation of “You Come Down and Kill Him!”
Braulio Pedoy easily won the first sessions of the tournament with one stick and found himself up against the defending champion and present body guard for the Dato. The GGM commented the final battle of the tournament was just like a chicken fight, with hundreds of people trying to bet, all at once, all trying to scream louder than the other.
Each fighter was in the ring equipped with one bolo. This championship fight was to be to the death or if one of the opponent gave up. The odds were 100 peso to 50 peso against the young boy. Braulio remembered that it seemed like only his new Escrima friends were betting for him to win.
The GGM rushed his opponent in his now famous “Water Buffalo Fighting Stance” and when the body guard tried to defend the poke to his eyes, the GGM said he quickly countered the opponent’s blow with his left hand and then hit his opponent on the neck with his bolo, sending him to the ground moaning. The crowd was in total shock and quiet at first; how could this young skinny kid win within 10 seconds, without a scratch?
Braulio Pedoy told us that soon the audience was screaming for him to kill the now-defenseless opponent. He said the women yelled the most and the loudest! The GGM was shocked. Why would they want him to kill a defenseless man?
In disgust, he threw down his bolo and yelled out loud “You come down and kill him!” There was silence in the crowd and of course, no one did.
The GGM only stayed in the village a short while because he said he hated the way the Dato treated the villagers. He knew he would be killed if he tried to leave, so he slipped away one night on a fishing boat to Cebu. And that is a whole other story!
That Little Old Filipino Man Beat You Up?
Braulio Pedoy use to dress into a suit and tie and to go gambling. One evening, this big 6 foot, heavy set, hauole guy starting cheating and swearing at the card game. The GGM told him its best if he would leave and the Haole reached over and lifted Braulio Pedoy up in the air by his tie. The GGM gave him a hard kick to his groin; the man fell and started to foam at his mouth.
Then someone at the gaming hall called the police because they felt this person might be seriously injured.
When he police arrived and the man was coming around to his senses and told the officers that it was Braulio Pedoy who assaulted him.
The police officer said, “You mean that little old Filipino man beat you up?” The guy was very embarrassed about the incident and decided not to press charges.
GGM Pedoy Waves Good Bye To His Son Eddie Pedoy, As The Police Take Eddie Away
In the old days in Hawaii, everyone was arrested if you were caught at the chicken fights.
One day in the early 1960s, there was a vice raid at the Waianae fights. Eddie and the GGM were there.
When Braulio Pedoy saw the vice officers coming, he quickly sat down on a bench and took out his false teeth and placed them in his pants pocket. When they tried to take him away, he pretended to be unable to walk and couldn’t hear. The police decided that it wasn’t worth taking him in and left him near the cock pit.
As Eddie Pedoy was being driven away by the police in a motor coach filled with chicken fighters, the GGM waved goodbye to him.
Braulio Pedoy‘s Secret Belt of Knee Caps
GGM Braulio Pedoy had a belt that was made of human knee caps. GGM never talked about it, but the instructors all knew he had it. The key to fighting low is the ability to bend, without your knee caps this in not possible. Thus old escrimadors believed that one of the ways to gain super natural power is to process the knee caps of your opponents.
Braulio Pedoy Told Me to Go To The Graveyard Each Night
GGM Braulio Pedoy once told me he wanted me to start going to the cemetery at midnight every night. He told me if I see any ghosts not look at their face, just look at their feet. He also warned me not to answer them if they start calling out my name in the graveyard.
After each Escrima class, Braulio Pedoy would then ask me how it went the nights before at the cemetery. For the first week, I told him how nervous I was and that I was very uncomfortable being there among all the dead.
During my one hour visits, I would have my bolos and practice my bolo dances, always watching for something or someone. Although I never did see or hear anything unusual for all the nights I was there.
About the second week, I told Braulio Pedoy I was feeling comfortable there and in the third week, I remember telling him I liked it there because it was so peaceful. That’s when the GGM told me enough and not to go anymore.
The GGM never told me his motives for sending me there and he never brought up the subject again.
Gambling During the Depression
It wasn’t easy surviving as a gambler during the Great Depression.
Braulio Pedoy had two good friends that he would gamble with; they, in turn, would invite a plantation worker over to gamble with them. Then at the end of the night after the person left, they would split up their winnings. Thus, the fourth person would play against the three other players and the odds would be three to one against him.
Master Moncado Tells GGM Braulio Pedoy to go Miles Under Ground!
Master Moncado told Braulio Pedoy to go back to the Big Island and to venture deep in the earth through the vast underground lave tubes, and there you will find something special.
GGM Pedoy never forgot those words and headed for the Big Island after Master Moncado had moved to Mexico. He found a large lava tube and followed it for miles. At times, the tube got extremely small and that the GGM would have to crawl through it. Everything in the tube was black. He had developed a system in exploring the lava tubes to ensure he wouldn’t get lost and that he would thus be able to find his way back to the entrance.
GGM Braulio Pedoy told us he eventually found a perfectly round small white rock deep in the earth and then he knew that his mission had been completed.
Plantation Setting Brought Escrimadors Together
GGM Braulio Pedoy felt that Escrima took a giant step forward, when the planationers brought in Filipino immigrants to America. The hauoles placed all the Filipinos together in plantations even though they were from different Islands and many spoke different languages. To the hauoles, Filipinos were Filipinos; they had no idea how different ethnic groups there are in the Philippines.
Many of these immigrants were Escrimadors because they had confidence in themselves and were brave enough to start a new life in America. Grouped together within the same housing complexes, some of these Escrimadors became friends and started to share their styles with each other. This would never have happen in the Philippines.
The GGM had met many Escrimadors and Escrimadoras on the different Islands in Hawaii and felt that Escrima took a leap forward due to the sharing of styles and movements.
Why was Master Moncado Forced to Leave Hawaii?
Master Moncado was a linguist and spoke over a dozen languages. The people in power in Hawaii felt he was a trouble maker because he would go to the different labor camps and convince that nationality not to break the strike of another racial groups. Through the teaching of Christianity, he preached to back up each other because it was the best thing for the workers. Unfortunately, the plantation owners didn’t feel the same way and had him thrown out of the Territory of Hawaii. He had a chose to go back to the Philippines or the mainland US, and yet he chose Mexico.
The Spanish had controlled Mexico and the Philippines for hundreds of years. Their military might was in their Navy and their ships in the Pacific were built in Mexico. Thus over the years, the Spanish had imported thousands of Filipinos to Mexico to work in these ship yards.
Since Master Moncado had churches in the Philippines, Hawaii, and the west coast of the United States, he decided to move to Mexico to preach and to open a new mission for his organization.
GGM Pedoy Opens Escrima School to all Races and Religious Backgrounds
Up to the 1960’s, you had to be Filipino to learn Escrima in Hawaii. GGM Pedoy came along and opened his Escrima school to all races and people with different religious backgrounds.
At first, the GGM Braulio Pedoy was criticized by the other Masters for teaching non Filipinos, but soon it became a standard for all to follow.
In 1987, GGM Pedoy received a proclamation for the State Legislature, recognizing him as an Escrima Master Extraordinaire and for opening up Escrima to the community. When asked about his motives for allowing other races to participate in the art, he would humbly say that it was “The Right Thing To Do.”
Larry the Barber
GGM Pedoy always went to the same barber to gets his hair cut and his name was Larry. Larry was excellent for only one type of haircut, please refer to a picture of the GGM to view Larry’s special haircut. Larry would shave the side of your head and create a short flat-top on the top of your head.
Not knowing that Larry could only cut hair in one style, Chief Knut and Chief Peter once made the mistake of going to Larry’s house for a haircut. They both told Larry they only wanted a trim, but ended up getting the “Larry Special”. It was really funny when they both came to Escrima class looking like the GGM.
In 1989, Larry got very sick and had an infection in his mouth, fortunately the GGM was able to cure him with local herbs. Larry was so grateful he offered the GGM his garage for our Escrima class and we trained there for about a year. Larry also gave the GGM a ticket to the Philippines because he loved the GGM so much.