Edgar Sulite
Filipino eskrima master (1957–1997) from Tacloban, founder of the Lameco Eskrima system, who taught in the USA from 1989, among others Dan Inosanto.
Quick Facts
PhilippinesBiography
Edgar Sulite was a Filipino eskrima master and the founder of the Lameco Eskrima system. He was born on 25 September 1957 in Tacloban City and died on 10 April 1997 at the age of 39.
His father, a boxer and arnisador, introduced him to the martial arts. He studied economics and learned from a number of masters, among them Leo Gaje (Pekiti-Tirsia Kali), Jose D. Caballero (De Campo Uno-Dos-Tres Orihinal), Jesus Abella (Modern Largo) and Antonio Ilustrisimo. He himself is one of the so-called five pillars of Kalis Ilustrisimo. In 1981 he moved to Manila, where he trained stuntmen and well-known personalities.
The name Lameco comes from the words Largo, Medio and Corto, that is, from three fighting distances. The system works with one and two sticks, the dagger, the sword, the staff, the handkerchief and bare hands, and weapons are trained from the beginning. With Yuli Romo he developed hand and forearm guards for more realistic sparring. We have not found the year the system came into being in the sources. He wrote the books Secrets of Arnis, Advanced Balisong and Masters of Arnis, Kali and Eskrima.
On 30 June 1989 he moved to the USA. His students included Dan Inosanto, Diana Lee Inosanto, Ron Balicki and Larry Hartsell. English Wikipedia describes the cause of his death as complications after a stroke, his friend and eyewitness Alex Co as an aneurysm. His widow then appointed Leonardo Trigg president of Lameco Eskrima International and Dan Inosanto vice president. We have not found a quote by Edgar Sulite with a traceable origin.
Early life
Edgar Sulite was born on 25 September 1957 in Tacloban City, and according to the publisher of Gould's book about him he spent his first years in Tacloban and Ozamiz City. His father, a boxer and arnisador, introduced him to the Filipino martial arts as a boy, and according to the website of the Mandirigma Research Organization he grew up in the barrios, where he saw blade fights. He studied economics at bachelor level and already at school sought out eskrima masters.
Training and teachers
He trained under Leo Gaje (Pekiti-Tirsia Kali), Jose D. Caballero (De Campo Uno-Dos-Tres Orihinal), Jesus Abella (Modern Largo) and Antonio Ilustrisimo, and the publisher Tambuli Media also names Pablicito Cabahug and Ireneo Olavides. Alex Co first met him at the beginning of the nineteen-eighties at an arnis tournament, where Yuli Romo took him. In 1981 he moved to Manila, became friends with the actor Rolando Dantes and trained stuntmen and well-known personalities. He was one of the so-called five pillars of Kalis Ilustrisimo.
Contribution and innovations
The name Lameco comes from the words Largo, Medio and Corto, that is, from three fighting distances, and according to mandirigma.org the system combines five main and six minor eskrima systems. It works with one and two sticks, daggers, a stick with a dagger, the sword, the staff, the handkerchief and bare hands, and weapons are trained from the beginning. He introduced the training fight Laban Laro and with Yuli Romo developed hand and forearm guards for more realistic sparring. He wrote the books Secrets of Arnis, Advanced Balisong and Masters of Arnis, Kali and Eskrima, for which, according to Alex Co, he collected material on his travels to masters in the provinces. We have not been able to document the years of their publication.
Legends and documented facts
The cause of his death on 10 April 1997 is given differently. English Wikipedia writes about complications after a stroke, Alex Co, who was present, about an aneurysm and a collapse at a seminar. We have not found the year of founding of Lameco Eskrima in any of the sources we consulted, and Wikipedia gives only the move to Manila in 1981 and to the USA in 1989. The name of the widow is written in the sources as both Felisia and Felisa.
Legacy
On 30 June 1989 he moved to the USA, where he represented the Arnis Association of Leo Gaje. According to Alex Co, the book Secrets of Arnis, which reached Dan Inosanto, contributed to this. According to English Wikipedia, his students included Dan Inosanto, Diana Lee Inosanto, Ron Balicki, Larry Hartsell and Fred Degerberg, and for a narrower circle he led the Sulite Orehenal Group. David Gould trained with him from 1992, and in July 1996 Sulite certified him as the last instructor of Lameco. His widow Felisia Sulite later appointed Leonardo Trigg president of Lameco Eskrima International and Dan Inosanto vice president.