William Bernas

Grandmaster William Bernas is a proud Negrosanon, who was born in the city of Escalante in the Negros Occidental region of the Philippines. He originally studied to be a graphic artist, before later becoming a massage therapist and full-time martial arts instructor. He commenced his martial art training at a young age, learning in the traditional Wedo style of instruction, under the informal tutelage of his Grandfather and Uncle. He has engaged in serious study of Karate, Aikido, Praying Mantis Kung-Fu, and Tai Chi, in addition to the Filipino Martial Arts. In the 1980s he studied within the Navales Arnis Clinic of Grandmaster Hortencio Navales, under the direct tutelage of Grandmaster Romeo Postrano, with whom he became a close "kumpadre". He credits his time as an Instructor and student within the Navales Arnis Clinic as bringing a systematic approach to his thinking about Filipino Martial Arts instruction, which led him to develop his own system, which he calls Bernas Estocadas (or the Bernas way of fighting). When not teaching martial arts at his local university, online, or in a park, or preparing healthy meals from freshly picked ingredients growing wild in his neighbourhood, you will find this sexagenarian lifting weights at the local gym.