MODERN ARNIS KALI ESKRIMA - Filipino Martial Arts
 

Arnis is the Philippines’ national sport and martial art which is also called Kali or Eskrima/Escrima. It is a form of martial art focusing on weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives, bladed weapons, and different improvised weapons. It also includes techniques like hand-to-hand combat, grappling, joint locks, and weapon disarming.

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HISTORY

Arnis is a form of martial arts that was developed by the indigenous peoples of the Philippines, although the modern form is influenced by 15th-century Spanish fencing.

They fought for combat and self-defense during conflicts between the various Prehispanic Filipino tribes or kingdoms using different weapons, mainly bladed weapons or sticks, and in some places, the emphasis was on hand-to-hand combat.

However, most practitioners of the system lacked the necessary education to create any form of written record or documentation.

A record of Arnis exists only from after the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines.

In 1521, the use of Arnis was first recorded when the chieftain of Mactan, Datu Lapu-Lapu, and his tribesmen, equipped only with bladed weapons and fearsome Arnis abilities, successfully defeated the Spaniards and killed Ferdinand Magellan when they tried to invade.

The Spaniards prohibited the traditions of Arnis when they successfully conquered parts of the Philippines.

However, it was still preserved with the use of sticks in the forms of ritual dance, performance, and mock battles.

Despite the presence of guns during the Philippine revolutions against the Spaniards, blades also played a huge part as most of the wounded Spanish soldiers seen in the streets had knife wounds.

The Americans first encountered Arnis during the Philippine-American War in events such as the Balangiga massacre where a vast number of American units were hacked to death or gravely injured by bolo-wielding guerrillas in 1901.

During World War II, several Filipinos battled hand-to-hand against the invading Japanese and also used blades as guerilla fighters or as military units under the USAFFE such as the Bolo Battalion (known today as the Tabak Division). The guerrilla battle waged by the Arnisadors was so efficient that the Japanese Empire controlled only 12 out of 48 provinces of the Philippines.

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ARNIS IN POPULAR CULTURE

The longstanding history of the deadly yet beautiful choreography of Arnis was shared by the Philippines with its neighboring country in the Southeast Asian region.

Since rising to prominence due to Bruce Lee’s Asian Hollywood films, the art of Arnis has been well accepted across the world in popular culture and in international sports competitions.

In December 2009, Arnis/Eskrima/Kali was announced as the Philippines’ official National Martial Art and Sport.

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OTHER NAMES AND THE FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS

Some people say Arnis, Eskrima, and Kali are different words. However, they are all effectively the same and are all part of the FMA (Filipino Martial Arts).

The term Arnis comes from a Spanish word meaning “armor” and is the term used in the northern parts of the Philippines. It refers to the warrior’s ability to protect themselves with their weapon.

Escrima/eskrima, from the Spanish term esgrima which means ‘fencing’, is more influential in the central part of the Philippines.

The term Kali is possibly derived from Kalis (Spanish spelling “Calis”), the pre-Hispanic Filipino term for blades and fencing, which is commonly used in the southern part of the Philippines.

These are the three umbrella terms for Filipino martial arts or FMA.

FMA focuses on the use of bladed weapons in defensive positions including empty-handed striking and grappling based on the movements used while practicing with weapons.

To train safely, they use a stick as a sword but the Philippines has a blade culture; thus, everything they teach translates back to blades.

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WEAPONS

The baston (Spanish and Filipino for “cane”) is the primary weapon used in this traditional martial art and usually measures 28 inches long. They also considered this weapon sacred by Arnisadores.

Aside from this, they also use knives, blades, spears, bolo, the Indonesian dagger Kalis and the single-edged sword kampilan from Mindanao for the sport’s sharp-edged weapons.

They also include hand-to-hand combat, grappling, and weapon disarming techniques.

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STRIKES

The angles of attacks and strikes the arnisadores used have unique names.

Sinawali (named after the woven coconut palm leaves sawali that is used as walls of nipa huts) is the signature double-stick weaving movement.

Redonda (which means “round” in Spanish and refers to a strike that whips in a circle and returns to its point of origin) is a continuous circular, downward-striking, double-stick twirling technique that works as both a good defense and offense.

Puño (the Spanish term for “fist”, “hit”, or “handle”) is a strike using the butt of the weapon to target the opponent’s nerve points and soft spots; it can likewise be used to shatter bones.

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IMPORTANCE AND LEGACY

The blade culture of the Philippines that was birthed from this sport, and made the Filipinos known globally.

Arnis is important to martial arts as it focuses not only on the basics of fighting and self-defense but also has a clear learning line to the advanced level that can be used in any martial art.

Arnis was one of the most significant advantages the Filipino people had over the Spanish colonists who invaded their lands.

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Modern Australasian Kempo Karate & Okinawan Kobudo

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The origins of Kempo (Fist Method) can be traced back to the Chinese Leadership of the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa) where they trained in a combat system Tode (Chinese Hand). Tode originated from China under the Chinese name of Quan-Fa (Pronounced Chaun Fa - Fist Method). As you can see the name Kempo came from Chaun Fa of China. To describe the system of Kempo is it is similar to Karate as far as its various methods of strikes and that it also practices Kata to develop technique skills. Were Kempo does vary to Karate is the practice of Takedowns, Joint Manipulation and Grappling Skills. Kempo practitioners also train in the weapons of Kobudo.

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Other than Tode, Okinawans also trained in the Combat skills of Okinawan Te. There are three styles of Te (Hand) being Shuri Te, Naha Te and Tomari Te. Shuri, Naha and Tomari are provinces on the Okinawan Island were these systems were practiced and are the original styles that have evolved into Modern Karate Do (Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Wado-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, Shito-Ryu and more), most of which have become sport orientated.

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There are several modern Kempo styles practiced such as Shorinji Kempo (Founder Doshin So), Nippon Kempo (sport), American Kenpo (Founder Ed Parker). Grandmaster James Mitose was the first to introduce Traditional Kempo to the United States of America (Hawaii) after World War 2.

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The system of Kempo I studied at Fitton's Kempo Karate Modern Arnis Centre was Manchurian Kempo which was originally trained in Okinawa and then introduced to the Philippines by Grandmaster Rafael Reston who while in Okinawa after WW2 served as Military Police with the Philippine Scouts.

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Our new Kempo System has been modernised to be practical for the needs of the Realism of Aggressive Attack experienced in the modern urban environment.

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Our most important introduction to our modern combat curriculum is being aware of concealed weapons and how to cope with this dangerous scenario. Sport will never have you prepared.

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I have been researching many Combat Systems for over 40 years to gather skills to form our modern curriculum.

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As the tradition of studying Kempo Karate we still teach the historical weapons of Okinawan Kobudo such as the Nunchaku, Bo, Sai, Tonfa, Kama, Katana, Tanto, Coiling Dragon Staff, Short Sword.

I want to share these skills to all genuine practitioners willing to train hard.

Instructor Craig Radcliffe

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