Yaw-Yan, also called Sayaw ng Kamatayan (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
:''Dance of Death''),
is a
Filipino martial art developed by Napoleon A. Fernandez and based on older Filipino martial arts.
Since its inception in the 1970s, it has dominated the kickboxing scene in the Philippines and has proven very effective against other stand-up fighting arts.
Yaw-Yan closely resembles
Muay Thai
Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...
, but differs in the hip-torquing motion as well as the downward-cutting nature of its kicks, and the emphasis on delivering attacks from long range (while Muay Thai focuses more on
clinching
In metalworking, clinching or press-joining is a bulk sheet metal forming process aimed at joining thin metal sheets without additional components, using special tools to plastically form an interlock between two or more sheets. The process is ...
).
Yaw-yan practitioners participate in various Filipino mixed-martial arts tournaments such as the
Universal Reality Combat Championship
Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) is the first and only professional mixed martial arts promotion based in the Philippines. Its inaugural event was held at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque, Philippines on November 23, 20 ...
and Fearless Fighting.
History
The originator of Yaw-Yan is Napoleon A. Fernandez or "Master Nap", a native of
Quezon province
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...
, who originally studied
Jujutsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
. The word ''Yaw-Yan'' was derived from the last two syllables of ''Sayaw ng Kamatayan'' meaning "Dance of Death".
Fernandez had a background in various martial arts such as
Jeet Kune Do
Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee.
Overview and philosophy
Jeet Kune ...
,
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
,
Eskrima
Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which em ...
,
Aikido
Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 1 ...
, and
Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
. He is said to have modified all the martial art forms that he studied and fused them to create a martial art form that is deadly to opponents and "advantageous to the build of Filipinos". Yaw Yan was introduced to the public in 1972.
It includes elements of striking, takedowns, grappling, stick and knife fighting, and additional kickboxing material.
It reflected the growing popularity of
Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...
during the 1970s to 1980s, and from the 1990s to the
Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
in the Philippines as well as worldwide.
Training
The forearm strikes, elbows, punches, dominating palms, and hand movements are empty-hand translations of the bladed weapons.
There are 12 "
bolo punch
A bolo punch is a punch used in martial arts. The bolo punch is not among the traditional boxing punches (jab, uppercut, hook and cross).
''Bolo'' is a Filipino single-edged knife similar to the machete. The primary use for the bolo is clearing v ...
es" which were patterned from traditional Filipino martial art of
eskrima
Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which em ...
.
References
{{reflist
Philippine martial arts
Hybrid martial arts