GM Tony Diego was already a master of Arnis when he started learning under the very great Grandmaster Antonio 'Tatang' Illustrisimo in 1975. He is the most senior student of GM Illustrisimo.
He acted as the Chief Instructor of the Kali Illustrisimo style for more than a decade and trained all of GM Illustrisimo's students, including the instructors of the style.
GM Tony Diego is generally recognized as the head of the Kali Illustrisimo style after the passing of GM Illustrisimo in July 1997.
Master
Antonio “Tony” Diego
When Master Tony moved to Manila, he
trained in the Balintawak style of Arnis with the Eskrimadors from Cebu while
he was working at the docks and at the same time training with Berting Presas
(Modern Arnis) in Quiapo, a district of Manila. Soon after, he met Antonio
“Tatang” Ilustrisimo in 1974. Tatang’s simple but ferocious style greatly
impressed him. He then requested Tatang to teach him. At first Tatang would not
teach Master Tony, explaining that it was only for his use alone! He said he
remained undefeated because others do not know his style. Master Tony, far from
being deterred, relentlessly pestered Tatang with attention and gifts until the
old man finally agreed to teach him the ways of the blade.
As a teacher of Eskrima, Master Tony has earned the highest reputation as a person and as an instructor. He fully believes that a student who learns the Ilustrisimo system should give credit where credit is due, and not to learn and then claim it or its derivatives as a personal innovation or declare it as coming from an imagined family tradition.
Compared with Tatang, Tony teaches almost the same way with the exception that
he has structured his instruction procedures into sets of techniques which make
learning easier. This comes from having seen it from the student’s point of
view. Tony has insisted on maintaining the purity of the system as Tatang
taught it. The only change is the way the Ilustrisimo system is now taught in a
structured sense, which Tatang did not.