What differentiates Practical Arnis from other styles out there?

This secion is coming soon please bear with us!

Want more info about Filipino Martial Arts? Here is brief;

History of Eskrima

Arnis is a Filipino art of self defense, and to be able to appreciate the history of such an art, it is essential to look into the brief history of the country or people where the fighting art developed and still exists.

The Philippines is composed of 7,200 islands situated between the South Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. It is claimed by historians to be more than millions of years old and was formerly a part of the Asiatic continent before the "land bridges" that connected it to the mainland were submerged.

The strategic location of the Philippines became an attraction to the neighboring people around it who eventually adventured into the country for cultural, religious and economic motives and reasons. The influx of the Malays, Borneans, Indonesians, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Arabs and later on Spaniards and Americans have made this ancient country a "melting pot" of the orient. The foreigners eventually settled here and brought along their individual cultures which blended into a unique form of Filipino society and culture.

Lapu-Lapu

The Filipinos periodically encountered the aggression of foreign invaders and have historically fought and repelled these aggressors with distinguished skills and bravery. Sometime in the year 1521, a Filipino chieftain, Lapu-Lapu, together with his warriors fought and killed Magellan, the Spanish navigator, in a fierce battle in Mactan, Cebu. Lapu-Lapu's victory showed the invading Spaniards that the Filipinos excel in their own art of fighting, which was carried out with bladed weapons like the Kampilan and wooden lances.

Spanish Conquistadors

The variety of weapons that a Filipino warrior uses are Kampilan, Kris, Kalis, Bolo, wooden sticks or Baston. Time and again, the Filipino had demonstrated high skills and valor in combat with foreign aggressors which included the Chinese, Spaniards, Americans and Japanese, the most noteworthy of which was the fierce fight between the Filipino Muslims in the South against the American soldiers wherein the .38 caliber revolver was not sufficient to stop the Filipino warriors. This lead the Americans to invent and produce the .45 caliber pistol which possessed a higher stopping power.

Although basically, the Filipinos are a peace loving people, they indulged enthusiastically in the art of combat for self preservation against hostile invaders. Aside from bladed weapons, the wooden stick or baston is commonly used in their practice or actual combat, and such art of fighting is called Arnis, which was derived from the Spanish Arnes - which means armor. The socio-religious play called "Moro Moro" dramatized the victory of the Christian Spaniards over the Muslim Moors of Spain. These plays included dances and use of bladed weapons wherein the Filipinos were able to practice the local art of fighting with the play as a camouflage. It was during this time that the Spanish regime banned all practice of fighting arts to avoid insurgency and rebellion.

Arnis also has other synonymous terms like Kali, Eskrima and Estokada etc. It also displays various styles as practiced in different regions and provinces throughout the Philippines who referred to Arnis in their own respective dialect or term, and although basically the main core of the art does not differ much from each other in these styles, there are modifications and distinct techniques found in each style as advocated by the individual Master. The more prominent styles are the Abanico, Redondo, Abierta, Dos Manos, Retirada, Lastico, Larga Mano, Serrada and a host of others which are taught and practiced in Arnis clubs, martial art institutions, schools and private tutorship.

-excerpts from "ARNIS - Filipino Art of Self Defense" - Benjamin Luna Lema, ©1989 Integrated Publishing House

CONTACT US

Tel: 07732-801-847 Email: info@kaneacademy