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History of Arnis
Arnis
Arnis enjoys the status of the de jure national sport of the Philippines. It is a martial art
characterized by the use of “swinging and twirling movements, accompanied by striking,
thrusting and parrying techniques for defense and offense.” Having been handed down
from generation to generation for centuries, the discipline hones the skill, speed, accuracy
and agility of its practitioners.
History of Arnis
Arnis was developed by the indigenous populations of the Philippines, who used an
assorted range of weaponry for combat and self-defense. Encompassing both simple impact
and edged weapons, arnis traditionally involved rattan, swords, daggers and spears.
Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima, is the national sport and martial art of the
Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional
martial arts of the Philippines ("Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA) that emphasize weapon-
based fighting with sticks, knives, bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons as
well as "open hand" or techniques without weapons. It is also known as Estoque (Spanish
for rapier), Estocada (Spanish for thrust or stab) and Garrote (Spanish for club). In Luzon
it may go by the name of Arnis de Mano.
The indigenous martial art that the Spanish encountered in 1610 was not yet called
"Eskrima" at that time. During those times, this martial art was known as Paccalicali-t to
the Ibanags, Didya (later changed to Kabaroan) to the Ilokanos, Sitbatan or Kalirongan to
Pangasinenses, Sinawali ("to weave") to the Kapampangans, Calis or Pananandata ("use of
weapons") to the Tagalogs, Pagaradman to the Ilonggos and Kaliradman to the Cebuanos.
Kuntaw and Silat are separate martial arts that are also practiced in the Philippine
Archipelago.
Arnis also includes hand-to-hand combat, joint locks, grappling and weapon disarming
techniques. Although in general, emphasis is put on weapons for these arts, some systems
put empty hands as the primary focus and some old school systems do not teach weapons
at all.
For all intents and purposes, arnis, eskrima and kali all refer to the same family of Filipino
weapon-based martial arts and fighting systems. Both Arnis and Eskrima are loans from
Spanish:
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Arnis comes from arnés, Old Spanish for "armor" (harness is an archaic English term
for armor, which comes from the same roots as the Spanish term). It is said to derive
from the armor costumes used in Moro-moro stage plays where actors fought mock
battles using wooden swords.
Eskrima (also spelled Escrima) is a Filipinization of the Spanish word for fencing,
esgrima. Their cognate in French is escrime and is related to the English term
'skirmish'.
Kali has multiple theories on its origin:
One theory is that the word comes from tjakalele, a tribal style of stick-fencing from
Indonesia. This is supported by the similarities between tjakalele and eskrima
techniques, as well as Mindanao's proximity to Indonesia.
According to Guro Dan Inosanto, Kali is a portmanteau of the Cebuano words
"kamot", meaning hand, and "lihok", meaning motion.
In the Ilocano language, kali means "to dig" and "to stab".
There exist numerous similar terms of reference for martial arts such as kalirongan,
kaliradman, and pagkalikali.[13] These may be the origin of the term kali or they
may have evolved from it.
According to Grandmaster Vic Sanchez, the Pangasinense term Kalirongan means
"Karunungan ng Lihim" or "Wisdom of (the) Secret (fighting arts)" or "Wisdom of
Kali"
In his book KALI: History of a Forbidden Filipino Fighting Arts, Fred Lazo put
forward that Kali was an ancient root word for blade, and that the Filipino words
for right hand (kanan) and left hand (kaliwa) are contractions of the terms "way of
the blade" (kali daanan) and "without blade" (kali wala) as weapons are usually
held with the right hand and the left hand is typically empty.
In their book Cebuano Eskrima: Beyond the Myth however, Dr. Ned Nepangue and
Celestino Macachor contend that the term Kali in reference to Filipino martial arts
did not exist until the Buenaventura Mirafuente wrote in the preface of the first
known published book on Arnis, Mga Karunungan sa Larong Arnis by Placido
Yambao, the term Kali as the native mother fighting art of the Philippine islands.
Most likely, Kali derives from the pre-Hispanic Filipino term for blades and
fencing, Calis, documented by Ferdinand Magellan's expedition chronicler Antonio
Pigafetta during their journey through the Visayas and in old Spanish to Filipino
Mother Tongue dictionary and vocabulary books dating from 1612 to the late
1800s, such as in Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala by Fr. Pedro de San Buenaventura.
The term calis in various forms was present in these old Spanish documents in
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Ilocano, Ibanag (calit), Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano (caris), Waray (caris),
Hiligaynon and Cebuano (calix, baladao - "kalis balaraw/dagger" and cales). In
some of these dictionaries, the term calis refers to a sword or knife kris or keris,
while in others it refers to both swords and knives and their usage as well as a form
of esgrima stick fighting. While Mirafuente posits that the original term was "Kali"
and that the letter "S" was added later, the late Grandmaster Remy Presas suggests
that the "S" was dropped in modern times and became presently more known as
"Kali" in FMA circles.
Practitioners of the arts are called arnisador (male, plural arnisadores) and arnisadora
(female, plural arnisadoras) for those who call theirs arnis, eskrimador (male, plural
eskrimadores) or eskrimadora (female, plural eskrimadoras) for those who call their art
eskrima, and kalista or mangangali for those who practice kali.
Origins
As Arnis was an art usually practiced by the peasant or commoner class (as opposed to
nobility or warrior classes), most practitioners lacked the scholarly education to create any
kind of written record. While the same can be said of many martial arts, this is especially
true for Arnis because almost all of its history is anecdotal, oral or promotional. The origin
of Arnis can be traced back to native fighting techniques during conflicts among the various
Prehispanic Filipino tribes or kingdoms, though the current form has Spanish influence
from old fencing which originated in Spain in the 15th century. It has other influences as
well, as settlers and traders travelling through the Malay Archipelago brought the influence
of silat as well as Chinese, Arab, and Indian martial arts. Some of the population still
practice localized Chinese fighting methods known as kuntaw.
It has also been theorized that the Filipino art of Arnis may have roots in India and came
to the Philippines via people who traveled through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippine
islands. Silambam, a stick/staff-based ancient martial art of India influenced many martial
arts in Asia like Silat. As such, Arnis may share ancestry with these systems – some Arnis
moves are similar to the short stick (kali or kaji) and other weapon based fighting styles of
Silambam.
When the Spaniards first arrived in the Philippines, they already observed weapons-based
martial arts practiced by the natives, which may or may not be related to present-day Arnis.
The earliest written records of Filipino culture and life, including martial arts, come from
the first Spanish explorers. Some early expeditions fought native tribesmen armed with
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sticks and knives. In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan was killed in Cebu at the Battle of Mactan
by the forces of Datu Lapu-Lapu, the chief of Mactan. Some Arnisadors hold that Lapu-
Lapu's men killed Magellan in a sword-fight, though historical evidence proves otherwise.
The only eyewitness account of the battle by chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, tells that
Magellan was stabbed in the face and the arm with spears and overwhelmed by multiple
warriors who hacked and stabbed at him.
Opinions differ on the degree to which Spanish rule in the Philippines affected Arnis. The
fact that a large number of techniques and the names of the arts themselves (arnis/arnes,
eskrima/esgrima, garrote, estoque, etc.) have Spanish names suggest an influence. Some
argue though that Spanish names in the martial art simply reflect the fact that Spanish was
the lingua franca of the Philippines until the early 20th century, and that actual Spanish
martial influence was limited.
What is certain is that the Spaniards brought with them and used their bladed weapon arts
(including the system of Destreza developed by Carranza) when they started colonizing the
archipelago in the 16th century. What is also known is that the Spaniards recruited and
trained mercenaries and soldiers from local people like the Pangasinenses, Kapampangans,
Tagalogs, Ilonggos, Cebuanos and Warays to pacify regions and put down revolts.
The first who decided to experiment with their fortune (revolt) were the Pampangos, the
most warlike and prominent people of these islands, and close to Manila. And it was all the
worse because these people had been trained in the military art in our own schools in the
presidios (fortified outposts) of Ternate, Zamboanga, Jolo, Caraga and other places where
their valor was well known; but this needs the help of ours, and so they say that a Spaniard
plus three Pampangos equal four Spaniards.
Logic dictates that these native soldiers and mercenaries would have passed on to very
close friends and family members these newly learned skills to augment already existing
and effective native ones. They would have also shared tactics and techniques with each
other when placed in the same military group and fighting on the same side in foreign
regions such as Formosa, Mindanao, the Moluccas and the Marianas.
One of the more prominent features of Arnis that point to possible Spanish influence is the
Espada y Daga (Spanish for "sword and dagger") method, a term also used in Spanish
fencing. Filipino espada y daga differs somewhat from European rapier and dagger
techniques; the stances are different as weapons used in Arnis are typically shorter than
European swords. According to Grandmaster Federico Lazo† (1938–2010), unlike in
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History of Arnis
European historical fencing, there is no lunging in the Northern Ilocano Kabaroan style of
Arnis – it is more of an evasive art. On the other hand, it is present in some Visayan styles
documented by FMA researchers Celestino Macachor and Ned Nepangue such as Yasay
Sable Estocada from Bago City.[35] Having done comparative studies, Kalis Ilustrisimo
archivist Romeo Macapagal also estimates that 40% of the blade-oriented style of Antonio
"Tatang" Ilustrisimo† (1904–1997) descends from European styles, brought by the
Spanish.
After the Spanish colonized the Philippines, a decree was set that prohibited civilians from
carrying full-sized swords (such as the Kris and the Kampilan). Despite this, the
practitioners found ways to maintain and keep the arts alive, using sticks made out of rattan
rather than swords, as well as small knives wielded like swords. Some of the arts were
passed down from one generation to the other. Sometimes the art took the form
choreographed dances such as the Sakuting stick dance or during mock battles at Moro-
moro (Moros y Cristianos) stage plays. Also as a result, a unique and complex stick-based
technique evolved in the Visayas and Luzon regions. The southern Mindanao retains
almost exclusively blade-oriented techniques, as the Spaniards and Americans never fully
conquered the southern parts of this island.
Although Arnis combines native fighting techniques with old Spanish fencing and other
influences, a degree of systematization was achieved over time, resulting in a
distinguishable Philippine martial art. With time, a system for the teaching of the basics
also evolved. However, with the exception of a few older and more established systems, it
was previously common to pass the art from generation to generation in an informal
approach. This has made attempts to trace the lineage of a practitioner difficult. For
example, aside from learning from their family members like his uncle Regino Ilustrisimo,
Antonio Ilustrisimo seemed to have learned to fight while sailing around the Philippines,
while his cousin and student Floro Villabrille claimed to have been also taught by a blind
Moro princess in the mountains; a claim later refuted by the older Ilustrisimo. Both have
since died.
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Modern history
Various Filipino knives
The Philippines has what is known as a blade culture. Unlike in the West where Medieval
and Renaissance combative and self-defense blade arts have gone almost extinct (having
devolved into sport fencing with the advent of firearms), blade fighting in the Philippines
is a living art. Local folk in the Philippines are much more likely to carry knives than guns.
They are commonly carried as tools by farmers, used by street vendors to prepare coconuts,
pineapples, watermelons, other fruits and meats, and balisongs are cheap to procure in the
streets as well as being easily concealed. In fact, in some areas in the countryside, carrying
a farming knife like the itak or bolo was a sign that one was making a living because of the
nature of work in those areas. In the country of Palau, the local term for Filipino is chad ra
oles, which literally means "people of the knife" because of Filipinos' reputation for
carrying knives and using them in fights.
Philippine Revolution
Contrary to the view of some modern historians that it was only guns that won the
Philippine revolutionaries against the Spaniards, blades also played a large part.
During the 1898 Battle of Manila, a report from The Cincinnati Enquirer went:
...The Philippine native, like all the kindred Malay races, cannot do any fighting as a rule
except at close quarters, slashing with his heavy knife. The weapon is called machete, or
bolo, or kampilan, or parang, or kris. The plan of action is the same – to rush in
unexpectedly and hack about swiftly, without the slightest attempt at self-preservation.
The Mauser rifle, too, in hard work is found to be a mistake. It has a case of five cartridges,
which have to be all used before any others can be inserted. That is, to say, if a soldier has
occasion to fire three cartridges he must go on and waste the other two, or else leave himself
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to meet a possible sudden rush with only two rounds in his rifle. Perhaps it may be the fault
of the men, or their misfortune in being undrilled, but they are often knifed while in the act
of reloading their rifles. Whatever be the explanation there is something wrong in troops
with rifles and bayonets being driven steadily back by natives armed with knives. The
insurgents have some guns, but most of the wounded Spanish soldiers seen in the streets
have knife wounds.
Philippine–American War
Americans were first exposed to Arnis during the Philippine–American War in events such
as the Balangiga massacre where most of an American company was hacked to death or
seriously injured by bolo-wielding guerillas in Balangiga, Eastern Samar – and in battles
in Mindanao, where an American serviceman was decapitated by a Moro warrior even after
he emptied his .38 Long Colt caliber revolver into his opponent. That and similar events
led to the request and the development of the Colt M1911 pistol and the .45 ACP cartridge
by Col. John T. Thompson, Louis La Garde and John Browning which had more stopping
power.
World War II
During World War II, many Filipinos fought the Japanese hand to hand with their blades
as guerilla fighters or as military units under the USAFFE like the Bolo Battalion (now
known as the Tabak Division).
Some of the grandmasters who are known to have used their skills in World War II are
Antonio Ilustrisimo, Leo Giron, Teodoro "Doring" Saavedra, brothers Eulogio and Cacoy
Cañete, Timoteo "Timor" Maranga, Sr, Jesus Bayas and Balbino Tortal Bonganciso.
Spread
Kali stick seminar group at Ben Poon's Riseup Crossfit center by Terry Lim and Maurice
Novoa Ruiz in Melbourne (Australia)
The arts had no traditional belting or grading systems as they were taught informally. It
was said that to proclaim a student a "master" was considered ridiculous and a virtual death
warrant as the individual would become challenged left and right to potentially lethal duels
by other Arnisadores looking to make names for themselves. Belt ranking was a recent
addition adopted from Japanese arts such as Karate and Judo, which had become more
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popular with Filipinos. They were added to give structure to the systems, and to be able to
compete for the attention of students.
With regards to its spread outside the Philippines, Arnis was brought to Hawaii and
California as far back as the 1920s by Filipino migrant workers. Its teaching was kept
strictly within Filipino communities until the late 1960s when masters such as Angel
Cabales began teaching it to others. Even then, instructors teaching Arnis in the 1960s and
70s were often reprimanded by their elders for publicly teaching a part of their culture that
had been preserved through secrecy. The spread of Arnis was helped in Australia through
Terry Lim (founder of Loong Fu Pai martial arts academy) who also holds a 4th Dan in
International Philippine Martial Arts Federation. He ran seminars with the help of other
masters such as Maurice Novoa Ruiz (a Wing Chun instructor).
In recent years, there has been increased interest in Arnis for its usefulness when defending
against knives in street encounters. As a result, many systems of Arnis have been modified
in varying degrees to make them more marketable to a worldwide audience. Usually this
involves increased emphasis on locking, controls, and disarms, focusing mainly on aspects
of self-defense. However, most styles follow the philosophy that the best defense is a good
offense. Modern training methods tend to de-emphasize careful footwork and low stances,
stressing the learning of techniques in favor of more direct (and often lethal) tactics
designed to instantly end an encounter.
In the Philippines, the spread is more significant due to the efforts of Richardson "Richard"
Gialogo and Aniano "Jon" Lota, Jr. through the Department of Education (DepEd) Task
Force on School Sports (TFSS). Arnis was first introduced in 1969 to some public and
private school teachers when Remy Presas taught his personal style of Arnis which he
called "Modern Arnis". He taught his own style to the students of the National College of
Physical Education (NCPE) when he was given the chance to teach there. The style
"Modern Arnis" is not synonymous with the concept of modern or contemporary Arnis,
where it has become a full blown sport embraced by the Department of Education, although
there are some similarities. There was no formal program for Arnis from 1970s to 1980s.
Although some schools taught Arnis, these were not official nor prescribed.
The earliest historical record was the DECS Memorandum No. 294 Series of 1995 which
entailed the Arnis Development Program Phase I. This was a joint effort of the Department
of Education, Culture and Sports or DECS and the Office of then Senator Orlando "Orly"
Mercado who awarded a budget from his pork barrel for the implementation of a national
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Arnis program. The Office of Senator Mercado was given the authority to designate the
Arnis instructors for the said program.
The next stage was the Arnis Development Program Phase II. It was just a continuation of
Phase I through DECS Memorandum No. 302 series of 1997. The same group conducted
the seminars; known as the Arnis Association International (AAI). The Arnis instructors
designated by Senator Mercado were informally called the "Mercado boys". They were
Mr. Jeremias V. Dela Cruz, Rodel Dagooc and others who were direct students of Mr.
Remy Presas of the Modern Arnis style. In this memorandum, there were two seminars
conducted: October 6–11, 1997 in Baguio City and November 10–15, 1997 in General
Santos City. The Arnis Module Development however did not push through. It was also
during this time when the first Arnis instructional video was developed by the Bureau of
Physical Education and School Sports (BPESS) entitled "Dynamic Arnis". This video
featured the Gialogo Brothers: Richardson and Ryan Gialogo, direct students of Jeremias
V. Dela Cruz.
However, the national Arnis program of Senator Orly Mercado and DECS died a natural
death. It was only after nine years that Arnis found its way back into the Department of
Education (formerly known as Department of Education, Culture and Sports or DECS). On
February 5, 2004, the Task Force on School Sports (TFSS) of the Department of Education
(DepEd), the new agency after the defunct BPESS, met with the National Sports
Association (NSA) for Arnis in a Senate hearing. The Head of the TFSS was National
Coordinator Mr. Feliciano N. Toledo II, considered the "Father of Arnis" in the Department
of Education. He met with the top NSA officials at that time; however, nothing happened.
It was only in 2006 when the Task Force on School Sports had a new program for Arnis.
The "National Training of Trainors in Arnis and Dance Sports", sponsored by the Task
Force on School Sports, Department of Education (DepEd), was held at Teacher's Camp,
Baguio City on March 13–17, 2006 and was conducted by two top-caliber figures in the
Arnis community: Mr. Aniano Lota, Jr. and Mr. Richardson Gialogo, then Secretary-
General and Vice-President respectively of the National Sports Association for Arnis. And
this was the start of the modern, contemporary and prevailing Arnis in the Department of
Education.
In just two months, Arnis became part of the Palarong Pambansa (National Games) as a
demonstration sport. The 2006 Palarong Pambansa was held in Naga City, Bicol Region
with nine out of the seventeen regions of the Philippines participating. National, regional
and provincial Arnis Seminars were conducted by the tandem of Mr. Aniano Lota, Jr. and
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Mr. Richardson Gialogo from 2006 to 2007 in coordination with the TFSS National
Coordinator, Mr. Feliciano "Len" Toledo, and with the financial and logistical backing of
the Department of Education. In 2007, Arnis was already a regular event in the Palarong
Pambansa with all seventeen regions participating. Five weight divisions in the Full-
contact Event and four categories in the Anyo (Forms) Event were played and became part
of the official medal tally of the participants. This was held in Coronadal in Mindanao.
Arnis Seminars were continued in national, regional and provincial levels. These were all
conducted by the tandem of Mr. Aniano Lota, Jr. and Mr. Richardson Gialogo, now both
Arnis Consultants and official Lecturers of the Task Force on School Sports of the
Department of Education. In 2008, Arnis was played in the Palarong Pambansa and again,
with all seventeen regions participating. All nine events were played. This was held in
Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
Aside from Sports Officiating and Accreditation seminars, Coaching and skill training
seminars continued in national, regional and provincial levels. Requests from cities and
even districts were also welcomed. The "evangelization" of Arnis was continued and both
Gialogo and Lota were careful not to teach their personal styles. Both taught in "generic"
form and focused on the rules of sports as promulgated by the Department of Education.
In 2009, Secondary Girls (High School Girls) were finally included in Palarong Pambansa
and again, all seventeen regions participated. From the original five member teams, the
number doubled with the inclusion of the girls. The medal tally also doubled from nine to
eighteen. The 2009 Palarong Pambansa was held in Tacloban, Leyte in the Visayas.
In 2009, the "Writeshop of the Revision of the Physical Fitness Test and the Development
of Learning Competencies in Arnis and Archery" was held in Teacher's Camp, Baguio City
in October 5–8, 2009. Phase I of the National Curriculum for Arnis was finished and the
curriculum writers were Mr. Richardson Gialogo and Mr. Aniano Lota, Jr.
The 2010 Palarong Pambansa was held in Tarlac, In Luzon. Again, both secondary boys
and girls competed in the eighteen categories. It was here that the Department of Education
Arnis Association Philippines or DEAAP had its first national elections.
In the 2011 Palarong Pambansa, Elementary students joined.
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Duels
One of the most important practices in classical Arnis was dueling, without any form of
protection. The matches were preceded by cock-fighting and could be held in any open
space, sometimes in a specially constructed enclosure. Arnisadores believe this tradition
pre-dates the colonial period, pointing to similar practices of kickboxing matches in
mainland Indochina as evidence. Spanish records tell of such duelling areas where cock-
fights took place. The founders of most of the popular Arnis systems were famous duelists
and legends circulate about how many opponents they killed. In rural areas throughout the
Philippines today, modern Arnis matches are still held in dueling arenas. In bigger cities,
recreations of duels are sometimes held at parks by local Arnis training-halls. These
demonstrations are not choreographed beforehand but neither are they full-contact
competitions.
In modern times, public dueling with blades has been deemed illegal in the Philippines due
to potential injury or death. Duelling with live sticks and minimal protection still occurs
during barrio fiestas in some towns such as in Paete in Laguna.
