About Us

     Instructor, owner, and founder of San Antonio Pekiti-Tirsia Kali. He holds the rank of Mataas na Guro (awarded June 24th, 2012)  under Tuhon Tim Waid and is one of his top instructors.
     Dustin began his martial arts training towards the end of the summer of 1986 in TaeKwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, and the Filipino Martial Arts. He has studied Karate (black belt awarded 2000), Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Silat, and Kuntao Silat de Thouars. He has also had the opportunity to attend many workshops and seminars covering different systems and styles that have provided a strong foundation for a comparative analysis of the martial arts. His Pekiti-Tirsia Kali training began in 1990 with the late Guro Ricky Rillera. He trained with Ricky for many years along with his training partner at the time, Clint Grumbles. In 1995 he moved to Norman, Oklahoma to attend graduate school. While in Norman, he continued to teach and train in PTK at the USA Stars Foundation in Midwest City. It was while living in Norman that he first met TuhonTim Waid in Dallas, Texas. He has continued training with Tuhon Tim privately since 2000. Pekiti-Tirsia Kali is the sole martial art he now trains, practices, and teaches. Over the years, he has had the opportunity to teach many people from various backgrounds (law enforcement, military, and civilians) in his classes, at seminars and workshops, and at PTK-SMF's exclusive CPI Instructor Camps.

     PTK represents a logical, rational approach towards realistic edged or impact weapons combat and combat training as evident in PTK’s methodologies and phases of training. This approach includes taking into account the rapidly changing and dynamic aspect of combat – ahead, equal, behind – offense, counter-offense, recounteroffense. That is to say, PTK is not limited by any means by its logical, rational structure. There is knowledge and understanding of the nature of the combat flow to be found by thinking “inside the box” and “outside the box.”

     Through mental and physical mastery of oneself, practicing the combat drills, and controlled and full sparring the what, where, when, why and how is learned and understood. The system answers questions the fighter might have. This logical and analytical approach is one of the defining characteristics of PTK. Everything in the system holds together and is structured in such a way that the student practitioner learns what he/she needs to learn when he/she needs to learn it. This begins with the foundation footwork, progresses to the Doce Methodos, and finally to the advanced systems of Contradas and Contra-Tirsia Dubla Dos.

     There is simplicity to the logic of the Pekiti-Tirsia Kali system that may seem complex in the beginning, but becomes clearer as one learns and understands more. This is what it means to learn to learn to forget. This is enlightenment and realization that, as a live art, PTK really does contain the understanding of the center of all arts as Grand Tuhon Gaje, PTK's patriarch, has stated.

     Learn the basics well and do not ever stop practicing, developing, refining and understanding them. Continued training and teaching, even of the basics, will continue to improve your knowledge, understanding, and path towards mastery. - Mataas na Guro Dustin B. Denson