Arnis and Eskrima (or Escrima) are Filipino traditional martial arts. Both of the fighting systems, in general, are use knife, sword, spear, or stick as the weapon.History
Filipino combat skills were derived from many sources. It is generally thought that an early pygmy tribe (called the Negritos) were the first settlers to arrive from Central Asia. Three separate Malay migration followed, beginning around 200 BC, the last continuing until the middle of the fifteenth century AD. During this period, the second group of people who called Brahins, came from India to Sumatra, creating the famous empire of Sriwijaya. The third migration involved the takeover of the Sriwijaya Empire by the Majapahit Empire, originally formed in Java. Other than the use of bladed weapon brought by the Malay migrations, martial skills from China entered the islands country following earlier Indian influences. The invasion of the islands by Spaniards in the early part of the sixteenth century eventually forced the highly developed martial arts of Kali underground. However, the initial defeat of Magellan at the hands of Lapulapu on Mactan Island served to illustrate the skill of the natives in the use of the blade and hardwood stick as viable weapons.
The martial arts of Kali (derives from kalis, Tagalog, sword/sabre) came to signify various system of self defense that made use of bladed weapons. Dating back prior to the arrival of Portuguese and Spanish explorers in the early sixteenth century, Kali also referred to a stick, empty hand, or multi-weaponed art that had been used effectively as a system of self defense by the islanders for centuries.
When the Spaniards returned after their initial defeat, they brought firearms as well as additional reinforcements. Adopting the strategy of conquering specific regions of the islands and then using the natives to conquer their neighbors in adjoining areas, the Spanish victory was assured. Though Filipino martial arts were outlawed, in 1637 the Spaniards introduced komedya (derived from comedia, Spanish), a socio-religious play that dramatized the religious victory of the Spaniards over the natives. The mock combat portrayed in these plays served to secretly preserve the martial movements and techniques as well as transform aspects of the martial arts that were later outlawed in 1764. These modifications later became known as Arnis and Eskrima. Under American rule in the 1990s, the arts resurfaced and were use to fight the Japanese in World War II. A number of practitioners remained on the islands while others migrated to the United States.
Systems
Though its beginning are rooted in weapons combat, especially blade, dagger, or stick, the Filipino martial arts are complete self defense disciplines, making use of a variety of weapons and empty hand techniques. There are over a hundred styles or systems of Filipino martial arts. They are often divided into three main groups, which are northern systems, central systems, and southern systems. In general, the northern systems are based on the long stick and long blade, are designed to be used at a long range, and seldom have an empty hand component. The central systems are based on the principles of sword and dagger, use the stick from training and fighting, are designed to be employed at medium range, and have a sophisticated empty hand art to be used against armed opponents. And finally, the southern systems use the blade for training and combat, possess an empty hand component, and are used at medium or close range.
Arnis is the term that refers to those systems generally based on sword and dagger (espada y daga). While Eskrima often pertains to those systems based on the use of the single stick (solo baston) or double stick (doble baston). Both terms now are largely interchangeable an generally maintain all three components. Terminology is often fluid and imprecise among various practitioners of even the same system.
Famous Practitioners
The Filipino martial arts now are globally known thanks to the kindness of some Hollywood action movies. The arts are also known because of the struggle of the famous international martial arts experts who also the practitioners of Arnis and/or Eskrima like Dan Inosanto, Cacoy Canete, Elmer Ybanez, Tony Diego, Teofilo Velez, Richard Bustillo, Ryan Gialogo, Edgar Sulite, Leo Gaje, Armando P. Angeles, Leo Giron, Mike Inay, Ernesto Presas, Remy Presas, and Angel Cabales.
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