Arnis Kali Eskrima
Brief History
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Arnis/Kali/Eskrima is a form of Philippine martial Arts and can be dated back to
many century ago. History Fragments have shown that the Empire of
Indonesia dating
to the 7th to 8th century A.D. referred to Kali (Kalis) as a form of martial art of the Philippines.
The word "Kali" and also refer to "Kalis" which may be the "Oldest Name" of Kali. This martial art was later influenced and by people moving, wars and trading activities with countries like India, Malaysia, Spain, Indonesia and so on.
During Spanish 400 year of occupation of the Philippines, they banned the teaching of Kali. Luckily, this restrictions are only carry out in major cities and villages. As a result, kali have a chance to be practiced in the rural remote areas which were not guarded under the eyes of Spanish army. The Philippine people eventually found a very smart way to practice kali under the watchful eyes of the Spanish army, they expressed the Combat Techniques in Kali in a form of native dance and spiritual dancing activities. During the war with Spain, the Philippine Fighters employ some techniques from the Spanish Weapon Fighting (Espada y Daga), which refer to a "Sword with a Knife". Later on, the art "Kali" evolved to some other names like Arnis de Mano, Kalis de Mano, and Dos Manos.
In the old days, Arnis was not practice in a "martial art school", it is rather like an Master and Apprentice way. A master train with a hand full of students which the relationship are very close. Usually, this relationship is life long, and the master will teach everything he know in "Real Life Combat Situation" to his students, which make Kali a very combat effective arts.
Nowadays, traditional form of Arnis/Kali are still being taught in some area in Manlia, mostly in remote villages. The training session is "Close Door" type, which like in the old days, One Master with a few Apprentices. This Old way of training preserved the old techniques and culture of Arnis/Kali.
Nowadays, there are many styles of Arnis/Kali/Eskrima being traught and develop all over the world, and the art is also widely practiced by general public.
Copyright 1998-2004 Philippine Martial Art Federation Ltd.