Bakom (Vacon)
A Peruvian hybrid fighting style founded, according to English Wikipedia, by Roberto Puch Bezada in the early 1980s. UNESCO ICM links it to the streets and prisons of Lima.
Quick Facts
Character & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Bakom (Vacon)
Bakom, also known as Vacón or Bacom, is, according to English Wikipedia, a Peruvian hybrid style founded in the early 1980s by Roberto León Puch Bezada. UNESCO ICM classifies it among created, not traditional styles and places its origin in the 1980s in the streets and prisons of Lima, without giving an exact year. According to Wikipedia, Puch calls his approach total fight, and UNESCO ICM states that Bakom combines several martial arts with street and prison techniques. We know the founder's biography in two versions that differ, and we have not been able to verify either independently. The older version, from the caPOWera blog in 2012 and adopted by UNESCO ICM, portrays him as a former marine, convict and jujutsu master from Villa El Salvador. According to the newer English Wikipedia, based on television reports from 2012 and 2016, he was born in 1952 in Barrios Altos, studied at the COEDE army school and served as a commando. Independent sources on Bakom are weak. In the dailies El Comercio, La República and Perú21 we have not found any article on the style or on Puch, and the only medium we traced is Panamericana Televisión, which in 2012 called him el último peleador callejero de nuestro país. We are still looking for reliable sources on Bakom and its founder.
History
According to English Wikipedia, Roberto Puch was born in 1952 in the Martinete alley in Barrios Altos in Lima, the eldest of eight children. As a child, it says, he watched kick fights in Cinco Esquinas, learned self-defense from a Chinese teacher in Lima's Chinese quarter, graduated from the COEDE school of the Peruvian army, served as a commando and later worked for the intelligence service. Wikipedia draws on the television reports Panorama from 2012 and Al Sexto Día from 2016. An older version from the caPOWera blog, which UNESCO ICM adopts, describes him instead as a former marine, convict and jujutsu master from Villa El Salvador. Panamericana Televisión stated in 2012 that his fighting skills put him on the front pages of several newspapers in the 1980s, and in 2014 that his reputation as a street fighter earned him a role in a television series. According to Wikipedia, Jaime Bayly interviewed him in the early 1990s, and Puch's style and fame peaked in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2004 Puch published the book Bakom: El Arte Marcial Peruano. According to Wikipedia, he later worked as a bodyguard of celebrities and politicians and became a healer.
Technique
UNESCO ICM states that Bakom combines several martial arts, street techniques from the slums of Lima and the fulería prison fighting techniques. As techniques it names hidden weapons, distraction and surprise, arm locks, chokes and extreme punches, and states that all weapons are allowed. According to English Wikipedia, Bakom focuses on strikes, kicks, grappling holds and wrestling. According to Wikipedia, Puch calls his approach total fight and derives it from criollo ingenuity. Wikipedia, citing his book, summarizes principles that include studying the opponent's body structure, knowing the weak points of the body, using surprise, combining tactics and giving the opponent no rest. UNESCO ICM also adopts the claim that a fight using Bakom techniques often ends in the death of one of the opponents, but no evidence for it exists.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Bakom?
According to English Wikipedia, Roberto León Puch Bezada, in the early 1980s. His biography exists in two different versions, and we have not been able to verify either independently.
What techniques does Bakom use?
UNESCO ICM names hidden weapons, distraction and surprise, arm locks, chokes and extreme punches. According to English Wikipedia, the style focuses on strikes, kicks, holds and grappling.
Are there competitions in Bakom?
We have not found any competition, federation or fight rules in Bakom in the sources. UNESCO ICM gives Bakom's degree of sportiveness as N/A.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.