Instructor
Guro Gary Pilapil
Gary Pilapil
Gary is a Certified Professional Instructor (Guro) under Tuhon Tim Waid of the Pekiti-Tirsia Kali Global Organization and is the Lead Instructor of the PTK-SMF Peninsula training group and main representative of Northern California.
Gary started his formal training in martial arts in 1980 when he was just 10 years old. Throughout the years, he dedicated himself to the study of various martial arts systems, including American, Thai, Japanese, and Chinese disciplines, earning senior-level and instructor-level rankings and certifications along the way.
In 2010, Gary and his family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he dedicated his focus towards his Filipino Martial Arts heritage, with a specific emphasis on close-quarter blade combat. His introduction to Filipino martial arts stemmed from his upbringing, as family and friends who practiced various Kali, Arnis, and Escrima systems informally taught and shared their knowledge and techniques to him during his childhood.
Gary is a Certified Professional Instructor (Guro) under Tuhon Tim Waid of the Pekiti-Tirsia Kali Global Organization and is the Lead Instructor of the PTK-SMF Peninsula training group and main representative of Northern California.
Gary started his formal training in martial arts in 1980 when he was just 10 years old. Throughout the years, he dedicated himself to the study of various martial arts systems, including American, Thai, Japanese, and Chinese disciplines, earning senior-level and instructor-level rankings and certifications along the way.
In 2010, Gary and his family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he dedicated his focus towards his Filipino Martial Arts heritage, with a specific emphasis on close-quarter blade combat. His introduction to Filipino martial arts stemmed from his upbringing, as family and friends who practiced various Kali, Arnis, and Escrima systems informally taught and shared their knowledge and techniques to him during his childhood.
