Walk in the Rhythm of the Horse – A collection of Short Stories

Growing up I never really grasped the weight and truth of who my Grandpa was.  I would see people travel from all over the island and the mainland to our little Quanset hut in Waiawa; a very small town on the Leeward side of Oahu, to speak with him, receive healing and to train. When I was younger, we weren’t always allowed to hang out when all the Manongs came by to see Grandpa, but my brothers and I knew they were fighting and training.  We would peek out the window or act like we were playing and try to hide by the chicken pens under the house where Grandpa kept his fighting chickens.  I can still smell and feel the rich dark soil from under the house and hearing the clanging of Bolos or the thrashing of rattan sticks.  These moments never felt out of the ordinary, secret or mysterious, it was just something that was.  Something that we knew was part of his life.  Never understanding just how special every meeting was and the sharing of knowledge and skill that was taking place. It was so much more than old Manongs getting together to fight.  Legends were gathering, and legacies were being formed. 

Revered now as one of the pillars of Filipino Martial Arts in Hawaii, Braulio Tomada Pedoy, was sought out by many for his skill as a healer and mastery of his art of Derobio Eskrima.  The Master of Locks and Counters, my Grandpa welcomed everyone with an open heart and mind.  The Manongs that would come by our home in Waiawa went by names as Floro Villabrille, Telesporo Subingsubing, Raymond Tobosa, Ben Largusa, Richard Bustillo, Dan Inosanto to name a few. 

I now cherish the moments my brothers and I had with Grandpa Pedoy.  From the small exchanges we would have on the small porch in the front of the Quonset hut to the training days at the park with all our family and students; glimmers of lessons in the art and life seem to come as epiphanies now in my older years.  What seemed as games we played with him as a child now manifest in how I teach my own kids and students.  What seemed as just stories of his youth now resonate throughout his art of Derobio Eskrima. 

It is in these stories that I hope to keep his legacy alive. 

-Chief Chaz