Katipunan Illinois Lead Organizer
Just a little background on me and the art I carry. I’ve been practitioner of diverse forms of martial arts including the Filipino fighting arts for the over 20 years, started out with Jun Fan, Muay Thai, and Capoeira. Going through a time of self discovery especially within my own Filipino heritage, it was synchronistic I met Mahaguro Nate Defensor of The Filipino Kali Eskrima Academy of Chicago in 2000. It was like a scene in a movie, I was working security at a bar and after conversing with a fellow colleague about martial arts, he suggested I meet his teacher across the street at another bar. That’s where I met my teacher during closing time, playing chess early 4am with his other students; I'm currently ranked Benkong Hijau II in Silat Seni Gayong, Lakan Guro Level IV in the Defensor Method of Filipino & Indonesian Martial Arts, and Mataas na Guro in Pekiti Tirtia Kali under Grand Tuhon Leo Gaje Jr.
My personal interest and goals are to absorb as much as I can, connect and research its roots, and help it progress in modern times. I’ll always be a student and I’ll always be wide-eyed listening to origin stories, geeked at finding the similarities of all these different arts, and geared-technically at pressure-testing its effectiveness. As I teach, I still participate wholeheartedly in learning other fighting systems through attending seminars and classes. Specifically, I want to learn more Derobio Escrima and Kalis Illustrisimo, more Balintiwak, and continue my path in the Garimot system. In parallel, I continue to studies in Malaysian, Bruneian, and Indonesian Silat (Silat Seni Gayong, Silat Suffian Bela Diri, and Silat Buka Lingkaran, respectively) as I know a lot of the historical/cultural and original movements stem from Silat itself. My vision is simple, to continue to travel and learn from other FMA and Southeast Asian Martial Artists and share it with honorable and worthy people; journey with me and find that indomitable “warrior” spirit!
defensormethod.com/content/christopher-dino
My personal interest and goals are to absorb as much as I can, connect and research its roots, and help it progress in modern times. I’ll always be a student and I’ll always be wide-eyed listening to origin stories, geeked at finding the similarities of all these different arts, and geared-technically at pressure-testing its effectiveness. As I teach, I still participate wholeheartedly in learning other fighting systems through attending seminars and classes. Specifically, I want to learn more Derobio Escrima and Kalis Illustrisimo, more Balintiwak, and continue my path in the Garimot system. In parallel, I continue to studies in Malaysian, Bruneian, and Indonesian Silat (Silat Seni Gayong, Silat Suffian Bela Diri, and Silat Buka Lingkaran, respectively) as I know a lot of the historical/cultural and original movements stem from Silat itself. My vision is simple, to continue to travel and learn from other FMA and Southeast Asian Martial Artists and share it with honorable and worthy people; journey with me and find that indomitable “warrior” spirit!
defensormethod.com/content/christopher-dino