The Filipino Balisong Knife (aka Butterfly Knife) is often portrayed as a flashy tool to showcase the skills and dexterity of flipping a balisong. What is less well-known is how effective the balisong is as a weapon.

Many Filipino Martial Arts practitioners learned to wield different types of weapons: single baston (stick), double baston, swords, knives, staffs and many other weapons. Since many FMA practitioners have trained with knives, it is conceivable that many know how to wield a balisong.  Some FMA practitioners are well-known balisong practitioners.   They train with the balisong solo or partnered with another weapon.  I’ve included FMA practitioners where I found documented evidence of them training with a balisong.

Abundio Baet of Garimot Arnis Training system published the book Garimot Balisong Butterfly Knife Fighting. He shared some opening techniques in this YouTube video.  Balisong Quick Opening: Garimot Arnis Training, Filipino Martial Art, Garimot Arnis Training, YouTube, Dec 14, 2020.

Amante P. Mariñas Sr. is the founder of pananandata, his family’s fighting system.   Mariñas was introduced to pananandata by his granduncle Ingkong Leon Marcelo when he was eight.  He and his son, Amante P. Mariñas Jr. dedicated many years to the study of balisong openings.¹  They published these books:

• Pananandata: The Guide to Balisong Openings
• Pananandata: History and Techniques of the Daga, Yantok, Balisong, and Other Traditional Weapons of the Philippines.

Some YouTube videos:

• Pananandata 3 – Balisong, The Art of Opening & Closing – Professor Amante Marina, Martial Art World TV, YouTube, December 25, 2025. 
• Pananandata 4 – Double Balisong – Professor Amante Marinas,  Martial Art World TV, YouTube, February 1, 2026.

Angel Cabales of Cabales Serrada Escrima was the first to open a Filipino Martial Arts school in the United States and was open to Filipino and non-Filipino students.   His school was located in Stockton, CA.  Cabales was “adept at fighting with or without weapons…Cabales usually carried a dagger or balisong (butterfly knife) wherever he went.”² in Manila.

Dan Inosanto of Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts is a well-known martial artist, actor and a student of Bruce Lee. He is widely recognized for promoting FMA globally, including the use of knives and the balisong. One of his students is Jeff Imada. Inosanto taught Imada how to use the balisong.³ (Imada is referenced later in this article.) Sharing a YouTube video and article about Inosanto and the balisong. 

• Balisong History with Guro Dan Inosanto, jkdinstructor, YouTube, Jul 23, 2024. 
• The Filipino Balisong Knife, Perry Gil S. Mallari, FMA Pulse, Mar 9, 2010
  • “Inosanto appeared as a balisong-wielding villain in Burt Reynolds 1981 film ‘Sharkey’s Machine’.” Link to YouTube for the balisong scene. 

Doug Marcaida is a Filipino martial artist, edged weapons specialist, and television personality best known as a judge on the History Channel’s Forged in Fire.  In the videos below, Marcaida liked the balisong because 1. It doesn’t need a sheath; 2. It can be used as an impact weapon; therefore a non-lethal option; 3. It can open and close quickly.⁴  Sharing YouTube videos of him demonstrating the usage of the balisong.

• Doug Marcaida Teaches Balisong Tactics for Self-Defense with Tomas Alas | SHOT Show Exclusive! 2025, Sharp Talk, YouTube, Feb 4, 2025.
• Why The Balisong “Butterfly” Knife is ILLEGAL, Funker Tactical – Fight Training Videos, YouTube, Sep 16, 2014

Edgar Sulite was the founder of the Lameco Eskrima system.  He learned how to wield the balisong from Nilo Limpin (Limpin is referenced later in this article.) “Sulite featured Master Nilo in his own balisong book, Advanced Balisong Filipino Butterfly Knife.”⁵

Ernesto A. Presas of Presas Style and Kombatan systems, published the following books:

• Arnis Presas Style and Balisong
• Filipino Armas de Mano Presas Style, which included information about the balisong.

Jeff Imada is a Hollywood stuntman, actor, fight choreographer, and martial artist who is also trained in Filipino Martial Arts under Dan Inosanto and has authored books on the balisong.  Here are links to YouTube Videos reviewing Imada’s books:

• The Balisong Manual
• The Advanced Balisong Manual

Sharing YouTube videos about Imada.

• Jeff Imada, stunt coordinator & martial arts choreographer, protegor, YouTube, March 5, 2021. Informative video about Imada’s introduction to balisongs.  Imada said that the balisong is a great accessory for self-defense.   You can use it closed like a Japanese water stick or use it as a flail so you can spin one handle out if if you don’t want to cut somebody, you can fling it and hit somebody and try and discourage them and as a final resort you can flip it around and if they aren’t familiar with it they will be surprised to give you the advantage of the situation.⁶   
• Balisong, Mike Bogdanski, YouTube, Nov 21, 2021  Video about Jeff Imada. 
• Fast 5 – “Best Jeff Imada Scenes”, DevoVision UHF-71, YouTube, Jan 15, 2025

Nilo Limpin is a self-taught balisong practitioner, Filipino martial artist and stuntman.  At age 10, Limpin attended a barrio festival and saw a man playing with a knife.  He thought he was witnessing a magic act as the man demonstrated various combinations making the blade appear and disappear at will.   Limpin learned that the man was playing with a balisong knife.^{7 8}

Without formal instruction, young Limpin taught himself how to open, close and use the balisong.  “Nilo was so intrigued with the balisong, he went beyond the normal opening and closing of the knife, he started to experiment and developed other ways of opening and closing the balisong which amazed others and demonstrated that besides his unique opening and closing techniques he could wield the knife defensively and offensively with little to no effort.”⁹

In the 1980s, Limpin met and  learned arnis from Punong Guro Edgar Sulite and in exchange Limpin taught him the balisong.   Sulite introduced Grandmaster Leo Gaje to Nilo; Gaje “learned and adopted some of the techniques of the balisong” into his style too.^{10 11}

Limpin “was introduced and became an instructor and stuntman in the famous Filipino SOS Dare Devils (Son of Stunts), an organization most famous for their work in the films, doing stunts that were unique and beyond the norm. It was in the first meetings that the SOS Dare Devils were so impressed with his techniques with the balisong that Nilo became an instructor to the others in its use and they made him a part of their organization.”^{12 13}  Limpin performed in Chuck Norris’s Delta Force and Missing in Action films and 9 Deaths of the Ninja with Sho Kosugi.^{14 15}

“Limpin has traveled extensively throughout the Philippines seeking any and all that practice the balisong. In trying to find out the history of the balisong, Master Limpin found that the balisong was introduced in 1903 in Batangas, however in his extensive search he cannot find it recorded anywhere as to who it was that introduced the balisong.”^{16 17}

“Master Nilo has the reputation of being one of the most skilled practitioners of the balisong for martial arts…He is also highly skilled and recognized for his incredible craftsmanship with handmade wooden and steel weaponry.”¹⁸

Rene Latosa of Latosa-Escrima Filipino Martial Arts system.  Coaching Tips: Balisong – Filipino Martial Arts, rene latosa, YouTube, April 23, 2020.

Ronnie Royce Base is the founder of the Laraw Kali Pamuok (LKP) system, he is recognized for instructing professionals in traditional Filipino blade arts.  Here’s a video of him demonstrating the balisong as an impact weapon. Balisong’s Non-Lethal Application – LKP Original, larawkalipamuok2007, Instagram, Jul 12, 2025.

Sonny Umpad “created Visayan Style Corto Kadena (VSCK) Larga Mano Eskrima in the late 1970s…the art is based on the blade, although – sticks, pangamot (empty hands), and sikaran (kicks) are also used.”¹⁹  He co-authored the book Balisong: The Lethal Art of Filipino Knife Fighting.

---

1. Pananandata: The Guide ot Balisong Openings, Amante P. Mariñas Sr. and Amante P. Mariñas Jr., Unique Publications, 2007, p. 8-9. ↩︎
2. Angel Cabales’ Last Interview, by Edward G. Abinsay, Inside Kung-Fu, October 1991, p. 60. ↩︎
3. Jeff Imada, stunt coordinator & martial arts choreographer, protegor, YouTube, March 5, 2021. ↩︎
4. Doug Marcaida Teaches Balisong Tactics for Self-Defense with Tomas Alas | SHOT Show Exclusive! 2025, Sharp Talk, YouTube, Feb 4, 2025. ↩︎
5. Instragram video of Master Nilo Limpin, Balisongmovie, Instagram, June 10, 2021. ↩︎
6. Jeff Imada, stunt coordinator & martial arts choreographer, protegor, YouTube, March 5, 2021. ↩︎
7. Balisong Harmony: Master Nilo Limpin up close, by Steven Dowd, Filipino Martial Arts Magazine, Vol 6 #3, 2004, p. 7. ↩︎
8. The Balisong “Broken Horn”, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Special Edition, 2005. ↩︎
9. Balisong Harmony: Master Nilo Limpin up close, by Steven Dowd, Filipino Martial Arts Magazine, Vol 6 #3, 2004, p. 7. ↩︎
10. Balisong Harmony: Master Nilo Limpin up close, by Steven Dowd, Filipino Martial Arts Magazine, Vol 6 #3, 2004, p. 7. ↩︎
11. Master of the Balisong, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Volume 1 #4, 2004. ↩︎
12. Master of the Balisong, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Volume 1 #4, 2004. ↩︎
13. The Balisong “Broken Horn”, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Special Edition, 2005. ↩︎
14. Master of the Balisong, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Volume 1 #4, 2004. ↩︎
15. The Balisong “Broken Horn”, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Special Edition, 2005. ↩︎
16. Master of the Balisong, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Volume 1 #4, 2004. ↩︎
17. The Balisong “Broken Horn”, by Steven Dowd, FMA Digest Special Edition, 2005. ↩︎
18. Instragram video of Master Nilo Limpin, Balisongmovie, Instagram, June 10, 2021. ↩︎
19. Sonny Umpad The Rooted School website, viewed on April 12, 2026. ↩︎