Traditional vs.Self-DefenseDerobio
By GM Carlton Kramer
When Eddie Pedoytried to convince his father to start an Escrima School in the late 1950s, the Great Grand Master was initially very hesitant.
TraditionalDerobio is a killing artform, with seven of the twelve Derobio strikes being killing shots to the head. For 380 years, the Escrimadors fought the Spanish for independence. The Spanish ruled the large towns along the coastline but did not dare travel within the jungle without a large force of armed men.
In traditional Derobio warfare, you always charge and strike your opponent first, with no hesitation. If you let your opponent dominate the offense, you will get cut, and in the jungle, there are no doctors or hospitals, and even a scratch can get infected.
Traditional Derobio is to strike first with full-power blows. If you do not immediately kill your opponent, you will become intertwined with him, in which the 144 counters come into action.
Great Grand Master Braulio Pedoy made a decision to make Derobio into a self-defense style by allowing your opponent to strike first and you defend and counter him immediately. The GGM always emphasizes that you must show your opponent mercy because he only knows how to attack. Do not be a killer and end up in jail, disgracing the Pedoy’s School of Escrima.
So began the Pedoy’s School of Escrima in the spring of 1961, with BrauiloPedoy as the Grand Master, Eddie Pedoy as the Chief Instructor, Gary Large as the Head Instructor, Leslie Largo as the First instructor, and Jimmy Silva as its instructor.
Throughout the years, we taught numerous active US Military service members and Military Swat team personnel, showing them the traditional movements of life and death combat.
As instructors, we must master both the traditional and self-defenseDerobio movements.