| Carlos Nacua Patalinghug, Sr., M.D. FACIP Baltimore, Maryland A Community Leader - A Prime Mover of Philippine Martial Arts |
Carlos Nacua Patalinghug, Sr. is a direct descendant of
Lapu-Lapu of Mactan Island - the first Filipino hero that defended
and challenged the Spanish invaders. Charlie, or Dr. Pat, as he
wants to be called by every one, is a very unique individual. He is
meek and humble. Always ready to dish humorous anecdotes.
Easily disarming new acquaintance by his sincerity and no-
nonsense approach to everything.
Charlie's colorful clan still dominates the historical island of
Mactan, just off Cebu City in the Philippines. The Spanish
conquistador, Magellan, was warned by several people not to go to
Mactan and try to conquer the "trouble-maker" Lapu-Lapu, whose
king, King Omamon of Cebu, couldn't control. Lapu-Lapu and his
few men were all expert and fierce fighters, but Magellan was over
confident of his "modern" ammunitions and learned "escrima."
Instead of bringing all of his armada composed of five ships,
Magellan only took one ship and upon landing in Mactan, openly
challenged Lapu-Lapu and his men to a hand-to-hand battle. The
rest of the story, is of course, history. The great Magellan was
slained personally by Lapu-Lapu. As a consequence, the
remaining four ships and all the Spaniard navy and soldiers of the
armada went to Mactan looking for Lapu-Lapu who was then in
Lapu-Lapu of Mactan Island - the first Filipino hero that defended
and challenged the Spanish invaders. Charlie, or Dr. Pat, as he
wants to be called by every one, is a very unique individual. He is
meek and humble. Always ready to dish humorous anecdotes.
Easily disarming new acquaintance by his sincerity and no-
nonsense approach to everything.
Charlie's colorful clan still dominates the historical island of
Mactan, just off Cebu City in the Philippines. The Spanish
conquistador, Magellan, was warned by several people not to go to
Mactan and try to conquer the "trouble-maker" Lapu-Lapu, whose
king, King Omamon of Cebu, couldn't control. Lapu-Lapu and his
few men were all expert and fierce fighters, but Magellan was over
confident of his "modern" ammunitions and learned "escrima."
Instead of bringing all of his armada composed of five ships,
Magellan only took one ship and upon landing in Mactan, openly
challenged Lapu-Lapu and his men to a hand-to-hand battle. The
rest of the story, is of course, history. The great Magellan was
slained personally by Lapu-Lapu. As a consequence, the
remaining four ships and all the Spaniard navy and soldiers of the
armada went to Mactan looking for Lapu-Lapu who was then in
hiding. The order of the surviving Spanish commander was to kill all Lapu-Lapu's kins. "Are you a
Lapu-Lapu?" asked the Spaniards. Charlie's descendants answered: "Patalinghug" - meaning in the
Visayan or Cebuano dialect as: "Spare me," "Have pity on me," "Please, hear me." So the Spaniards spared
the kins of Lapu-Lapu thinking that the island was composed of the clan of Lapu-Lapu and Patalinghug.
The above story of the origin of Patalinghug is true and confirmed by Philippine historians. And in today's
world, Lapu-Lapu is well and alive in the person of Dr. Pat or Charlie. His love for Philippine martial arts is
matchless. "Arnis" and "Escrima" are foremost in his minds. He goes around the State, the country, the world
-- all in the name of these two Philippine martial arts. Charlie spends his own time, money and connection to
push for the acceptance of these arts. And thanks to people like Charlie, "arnis" and "escrima" are both
well-known in the world.
"The beauty of the Philippine martial arts is beyond description. All of the Philippine folk dances are all part
of arnis," explained Dr. Pat. "The tinikling" or bamboo dance are an offense and defense movements.
"Komintang" is a blocking and stopping movement. You see, during the early Spanish time, because of the
death of Magellan, the Filipinos were forbidden to have any weapon. That is why the Filipinos became
immense experts in utilizing sticks as weaponry -- that's the arnis. Fighting offensively or defensively with just
any stick picked from the ground."
Charlie started his arnis and escrima training from chidhood as commonly done in Mactan Island. In the
early '70s, he started his formal training with with Grand Master Cacoy Canete, founder and undisputed grand
escrima world champion. Charlie is a 3rd degree black belt in Korean's karate, Tae-Kwan-Do. He is a fourth
degree black belt in Eskrima (Arnis) Doce Pares, the Philippine stick fighting. He is a world and international
champion in the senior division for eskrima.
Charlie's dedication to the promotion of the Philippine martial arts led him to open the "Kick Connection"
school for arnis and karate which is run by his four children who are all black belters: Maria Teresa, 28;
Carlos, Jr., 26; Angelica, 24; and, Leo, 22. A second arnis-karate school is in the process of to be opened by
the end of September, 1992.
What is unique about the Kick Connection is that it does not only teach martial arts, but also it evangelizes the
teachings of the Lord. When the Patalinghug children joined a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, somehow each one
of them were touched by the Divine Spirit and when they returned from the trip, they felt a divine calling from
the Lady to evangelize the teaching of the Lord to the young- ones. As an evangelization tool, they decided to
open Kick Connection to train young boys and girls in learning martial arts discipline as well as spiritual
teachings. When one visits the school, which has more than 400 dedicated students, one notices the
students wearing the "scapular" of Our Lady. But the most admirable of all is when a black belter comes to
you and hold your hand to touch their forehead, "mano," which signifies giving the highest respect to another
person - an old Philippine tradition which one nowadays seldom finds even in the Philippines.
The students of Kick Connection - the pride of Dr. Charlie Patalinghug - are considered to be the best in the
world. In this year's World Championship held in Manila, and the International Eskrima Championship held
in Cebu City, competing with fifteen other countries including Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Australia and
Germany, the students of Kick Connection, representing the United States, unprecedentedly garnered all
the first places in all the competitions in all the divisions.
Kudos go to one man: Dr. Carlos N. Patalinghug, Sr. A firm believer that practice makes perfect. A person
whose desire to excel always propell him to be numero uno.
A successful practicing medical internist in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Pat is a Senior Medical Attending
Physician and a member of the Medical Training Staff at Harbor Hospital Medical Center. Active with various
medical professional organizations across the country, Dr. Pat has been a member of the Board of
Governors of the APPA, Association of Philippine Physicians in America - the largest Filipino organization in
the country. He is the President since 1975 of Association of Phil-American Society of Maryland, Inc.
"In any of APPA's major meetings, specially in tense situations, it is always nice to know that Charlie
Patalinghug is the chairman. That means no monkey business. That means business is in order. He is truly
a leader that commands respect from all," observed an APPA executive officer. "He is a role model and an
inspiration to the Filipinos."
Charlie is married to Fe Esplana Patalinghug, herself, a 1991 Twenty Outstanding Filipino-Americans in the
United States awardee. They reside in the fashionable residential area in the outskirt of Baltimore.
Lapu-Lapu?" asked the Spaniards. Charlie's descendants answered: "Patalinghug" - meaning in the
Visayan or Cebuano dialect as: "Spare me," "Have pity on me," "Please, hear me." So the Spaniards spared
the kins of Lapu-Lapu thinking that the island was composed of the clan of Lapu-Lapu and Patalinghug.
The above story of the origin of Patalinghug is true and confirmed by Philippine historians. And in today's
world, Lapu-Lapu is well and alive in the person of Dr. Pat or Charlie. His love for Philippine martial arts is
matchless. "Arnis" and "Escrima" are foremost in his minds. He goes around the State, the country, the world
-- all in the name of these two Philippine martial arts. Charlie spends his own time, money and connection to
push for the acceptance of these arts. And thanks to people like Charlie, "arnis" and "escrima" are both
well-known in the world.
"The beauty of the Philippine martial arts is beyond description. All of the Philippine folk dances are all part
of arnis," explained Dr. Pat. "The tinikling" or bamboo dance are an offense and defense movements.
"Komintang" is a blocking and stopping movement. You see, during the early Spanish time, because of the
death of Magellan, the Filipinos were forbidden to have any weapon. That is why the Filipinos became
immense experts in utilizing sticks as weaponry -- that's the arnis. Fighting offensively or defensively with just
any stick picked from the ground."
Charlie started his arnis and escrima training from chidhood as commonly done in Mactan Island. In the
early '70s, he started his formal training with with Grand Master Cacoy Canete, founder and undisputed grand
escrima world champion. Charlie is a 3rd degree black belt in Korean's karate, Tae-Kwan-Do. He is a fourth
degree black belt in Eskrima (Arnis) Doce Pares, the Philippine stick fighting. He is a world and international
champion in the senior division for eskrima.
Charlie's dedication to the promotion of the Philippine martial arts led him to open the "Kick Connection"
school for arnis and karate which is run by his four children who are all black belters: Maria Teresa, 28;
Carlos, Jr., 26; Angelica, 24; and, Leo, 22. A second arnis-karate school is in the process of to be opened by
the end of September, 1992.
What is unique about the Kick Connection is that it does not only teach martial arts, but also it evangelizes the
teachings of the Lord. When the Patalinghug children joined a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, somehow each one
of them were touched by the Divine Spirit and when they returned from the trip, they felt a divine calling from
the Lady to evangelize the teaching of the Lord to the young- ones. As an evangelization tool, they decided to
open Kick Connection to train young boys and girls in learning martial arts discipline as well as spiritual
teachings. When one visits the school, which has more than 400 dedicated students, one notices the
students wearing the "scapular" of Our Lady. But the most admirable of all is when a black belter comes to
you and hold your hand to touch their forehead, "mano," which signifies giving the highest respect to another
person - an old Philippine tradition which one nowadays seldom finds even in the Philippines.
The students of Kick Connection - the pride of Dr. Charlie Patalinghug - are considered to be the best in the
world. In this year's World Championship held in Manila, and the International Eskrima Championship held
in Cebu City, competing with fifteen other countries including Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Australia and
Germany, the students of Kick Connection, representing the United States, unprecedentedly garnered all
the first places in all the competitions in all the divisions.
Kudos go to one man: Dr. Carlos N. Patalinghug, Sr. A firm believer that practice makes perfect. A person
whose desire to excel always propell him to be numero uno.
A successful practicing medical internist in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Pat is a Senior Medical Attending
Physician and a member of the Medical Training Staff at Harbor Hospital Medical Center. Active with various
medical professional organizations across the country, Dr. Pat has been a member of the Board of
Governors of the APPA, Association of Philippine Physicians in America - the largest Filipino organization in
the country. He is the President since 1975 of Association of Phil-American Society of Maryland, Inc.
"In any of APPA's major meetings, specially in tense situations, it is always nice to know that Charlie
Patalinghug is the chairman. That means no monkey business. That means business is in order. He is truly
a leader that commands respect from all," observed an APPA executive officer. "He is a role model and an
inspiration to the Filipinos."
Charlie is married to Fe Esplana Patalinghug, herself, a 1991 Twenty Outstanding Filipino-Americans in the
United States awardee. They reside in the fashionable residential area in the outskirt of Baltimore.
Washington D.C. Since 1987
Washington D.C. Since 1987
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