Balintawak Eskrima or Balintawak Arnis is a Filipino martial art created by Grandmaster Venancio "Anciong" Bacon in the 1950s to enhance and preserve the combative nature of arnis which he felt was being watered down by other styles of Philippine martial arts.

Ted Buot was the only student of GM Bacon to teach at his club in the back of the watch store.

During the 1950s and 1960s, eskrimadors from various camps, mainly Doce Pares and Balintawak, tested each other's skills in all-out challenges, sometimes by arrangement and sometimes by ambush, often resulting in injuries and, more rarely, deaths.

In one such ambush, Venancio Bacon was caught in the dark while walking to his home in Labangon, and killed his assailant by snapping his spine.

He did not resume leadership, but did regularly attended training sessions conducted by José Villasin and Teofilo Velez until his death a few years later.

Villasin, under the tutelage of Bacon, developed its basic strike and defense patterns which are now used by most Balintawak practitioners.

In Balintawak, the stick is only used to enhance and train the individual for bare hands fighting, and to achieve perfection in the art of speed, timing and reflexes necessary to acquire defensive posture and fluidity in movement.

Most notable is Modern Arnis, founded by Remy Presas who studied Balintawak under Arnulfo Mongcal, who also introduced him to Anciong Bacon.

This is an unarmed form of Balintawak with influences from Chinese martial arts such as Tai Chi and Five Ancestors Boxing.