Cebuano Balintawak Glossary

Words like plastada, kuha, and lusot carry meaning that includes timing, intent, pressure, and feeling — elements best understood through our native Cebuano language. This is why Balintawak is most faithfully taught and preserved in Cebuano, the language of its founders.

Sabta / Sabta gyud

To understand — not just intellectually, but through common sense, lived experience, instinct, and practical wisdom. “Nakasabot ka” means you have grasped the meaning: what is happening, why, and what must be done.

Cuentada / Cuentadaha

Calculated understanding in motion — reading the unfolding situation and shaping the next moment before the opponent fully owns it. Not merely reaction, not merely speed.

Kartiyo

The gauge, the visible proof, that substantiates real understanding. Without kartiyo, a practitioner may collect techniques without ever proving mastery under pressure.

Undayag

A rhythmic principle used to invite, sense, draw out, and read an opponent's intent while quietly disturbing their balance, timing, and structure.

Duyan-duyan

A rhythmic, cradling movement principle that works alongside undayag to develop flow, sensitivity, and deception in close-range exchange.

Simhota ko, Dong!

“Smell me!” — a drill instruction meaning to invite, sense, and read the opponent's intent through contact and pressure.

Palakaw

The teaching method where the agak (guide/teacher) leads the student slowly and carefully through a movement, studying every detail and correction.

Agak

To guide. The teacher who walks a student through the learning process step by step, the way one might guide a child's first steps.

Plastada

Setup and preparation — the first of Balintawak's four inseparable combat processes.

Lihok

Movement and positioning — the second of the four processes.

Kuha

Skill, tactic, or applied technique — the third of the four processes.

Lusot

Execution, resolution, and exit — the fourth of the four processes.

Corto / Medio / Largo Mano

The three fighting ranges: corto (close range, trapping and hand-to-hand manipulation), medio (medium range, where offense and defense are equally accessible), and largo mano (long range, tip-based contact).

Additional Cebuano terms used across Groups Two through Five of the curriculum — sabayi, ilin-ilini, langoy-langoy, punyo, intimanoha, sipa, patid, butangi, ipita, piktosi, tikdoli, duso, undayagi, pasuyopi, tutsada, duslaka, tusuka, kabrahi, bangili, hupo, suong, likay, wahinga, abanico, redondo, korbaha, tul-id, lahos-lahosa. Each is best learned hands-on from an instructor, in context — ask about any of these in class.