Arnis (also called Eskrima or Kali), refers to a deadly Philippine martial art that utilizes various hand weapons such as sticks [which is the most common one seen nowadays], swords, knives, and even everyday objects like writing pens, cellphones, and handkerchiefs. It can also be performed barehanded.
The terms Arnis, Eskrima, and Kali all refers to the Filipino martial art [but I will just use the term Arnis from here]. It depends on the location within the archipelago, the dialect, and the type of training. Arnis emphasizes on fluid motions and full body coordination, meaning the body has to move as a single unit.
Arnis was
widely practiced across the archipelago even before the Spanish Colonization in school like training grounds called
Bothoan and was taught along with military tactics, the Alibata (the native
alphabet before), and herbal medicines.
The
first recorded incident wherein Arnis was used against foreign invaders was
during the fight of Ferdinand Magellan and Lapu-Lapu, which dates back on the
dawn of April 27. 1521. As the years passed, Spain was able to colonize the
archipelago which was eventually named the “Philippines” after their King Philip of
Spain. At this time the natives practiced
Arnis in secret. The terms Escrima, Estoque, Fraile, and Kaliradman were used to
regard the fighting system. The Moro-Moro stage play that was used to entertain
the colonizers was a good opportunity to practice.
The term “Arnis” came from the word Arnes, a colorful trapping used on
defensive armors used in Moro-Moro plays. Some Philippine heroes were also
known to be practitioners of the martial art. This includes: Andres Bonifacio,
Diego and Gabriela Silang, Gregorio Del Pilar and even the National Hero Jose
Rizal and the founder of the Aglipayan Church Rev. Gregorio Aglipay. (Lopez, n.d.)
I admit that I belittled this combat art in the past, seeing it as far inferior to the more popular ones such as Taekwondo or Karate. I guess one of the reasons is that I only saw demos of techniques done in slow motion, and the fighters were not taking each other seriously.
I began to show some interest in it when I attended a seminar for "Linggo ng Kasaysayan" as a requirement for a class and here they discussed and performed a few known martial arts (this includes Taekwondo and Muay Thai). The last one that was presented was Arnis. I was honestly bored with the discussion at first but when it came to the part on how Arnis is a very flexible martial art since techniques used with weapons are the same ones used when fighting barehanded or when using less intimidating objects like a pen. This is the feature of Arnis that like the most. That during a fight, all sorts of possibilities can happen. A pen can win against a knife or an unarmed individual can totally overwhelm a mugger wielding a knife. But of course if he is pointing a gun at you, be wise and take a safer way out of the situation. And do not use an iphone as a defensive weapon unless REALLY necessary.
My perception changed again after we learned Arnis sparring in ROTC. It literally left me speechless after one of our officers "demo-ed" a fight with one of my classmates. And the first thing that came to my mind was that "I never new Arnis was this brutal". It really looked like it hurt whenever I hear the sparring sticks make contact with a limb of the opponent.
I initially thought that all you have to do was to hit your opponent as many times as you can. Not leaving a moment that he or she can use to counter. Our commanding officer however, told us that defending is the most crucial thing in Arnis. If an opponent is good in defending, all he or she needs is one hit to turn the tide around. And if you just kept on striking without a care in the world, you might not be aware that your opponent's strikes is hitting more than yours. This was a problem at that time since I was not present at the day defensive techniques were taught. But I still won with a score of 15-7 [I just kept on dodging actually...].
Some of my friends who had a few lessons on Arnis stated that it was "the funnest to do" out of all the martial arts that they learned [which ranged from taekwondo to muay thai]. But they told me that the main reason they wanted to learn Arnis is that it was the national martial art of our country. It was that fact that piqued their interest the most since they have never seen it performed before. "We have our own martial art???" was their first reaction after learning of its existence [I was no different].
I never really took a serious step on learning more about my own country's culture, but when I started Arnis, I felt I was much closer to being a proud Filipino.
Here is an old french documentary (from youtube) about arnis:
Sources:
Lopez, R.S. (n.d.). History of Arnis. Retrieved January 19, 2013 from
http://www.wedosikadarnis.4t.com/arnis.html
Pictures from:
http://thecentralecho.journ.ph/2011/10/20/arnis-phls-new-national-sport/
http://www.arnisimporters.com/
Video from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8vdmVrJg24
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