Gonzales, Abby B.

BSN 2-7

HISTORY OF ARNIS

The Indian Origins and the Southeast Asian Migration

The Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) could probably trace its origins back to India to one of the oldest known
martial arts known as Kaliripayat. Kaliripayat is a complete system of fighting involving use of different
types of weapons and empty hand fighting using both striking and grappling. It is named after the Hindu
goddess of death, Kali, whose image appears as a six-armed woman carrying a sword in each of her
hands.

Some historians claim that the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand along with a couple of
other countries used to part of what was once called the Madjapahit (sometimes spelled Ma(d)japayat)
Empire. Whatever the truth behind this is, it can be observed that parts of the cultures of these nations
share a lot in common people wearing sarongs (a long piece of cloth worn around the waist), having
similar-looking dances and sharing similar kinds of music. Kalirpayat spread to Malaysia and Indonesia
and evolved into different forms specializing in different aspects of the art. In Indonesia, the art is
generally called Pencak Silat and in Malaysia, it evolved into what is now Bersilat. It should be noted
that Pencak Silat and Bersilat are generic terms and that there are hundreds of different styles and
systems under both.

Legend has it that ten Bornean datus (chieftains) and their households were the first Indo-Malay race
of people that migrated to what is now the Panay in the Philippines. Led by Datu Puti, these migrants
were able to barter for land with Haring (king) Marikudu, the leader of a black race of people with curly
hair who were descendants of one of the first migrants to the islands. Along with these datus came the
precursor of the Filipino Martial Arts.

The Pre-Spanish Era

As in Indonesia and Malaysia, the fighting arts in the early Philippines were known by different names
such as Kali, Pagkakalikali, Kali Silat among others. The names depended on the dialect spoken or was
based on the name of the tribe or family that practiced the art. Hence, names such as Tausug Silat ( the
fighting system of the Tausug tribe) or maybe Lapu-lapu style (the system practiced by Rajah Lapu-lapu
and his tribe in Mactan). There has been much speculation on the origin of the word "Kali." One of the
popular notions is that it was derived from the Filipino word "kalis" meaning sword. Others claim that it
came from the name of the Hindu goddess of death Kali (note that it was previously mentioned that the
goddess Kali also wielded swords) or from Kaliripayat, the Indian martial art named after her. Still some
advocate that it is a contraction of "katawan" (body) or "kamay" (hand) and liho (movement in one of
the Filipino dialects) meaning that it means hand or body movement.
 What is unique with the systems that evolved in the Philippines is that weapons training goes before
empty hand training, hence, the common misconception that the Filipino Martial Arts particularly
Kali/Arnis/Eskrima are only weapon arts or stick-fighting arts. The truth of the matter is that empty
hand fighting including hand strikes, kicks, locks, throws and grappling are also included in the
curriculum. The Filipinos trained and fought with blades and fire-hardened sticks and then used the
same concepts of fighting to their empty hand systems. During the pre-Spanish colonization period,
there was more than ample opportunity to put these arts to the test as there were wars among
different tribes and villages and there was also a need to defend against pirates and the like. During the
period that the Chinese traded with the Filipinos and also migrated to the Philippines, the Filipinos
encountered new forms of fighting in Chinese Kung Fu. This led to the further development of the
Filipino Martial Arts to counter the techniques of the Chinese. Other Filipinos spied on their secretive
Chinese neighbors and were able to learn to incorporate Kung Fu techniques into their own systems.
This led to hybrid systems such as Kuntaw (Kuntao) and Kuntaw silat.

The Spanish Occupation/Colonization

During the 16th century, the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. Led by the Portuguese explorer
Ferdinand Magellan along the way of trying to circumnavigate the world looking for new trade routes,
the Spanish came upon the southern islands of the Philippines. Immediately, the Spanish conquistadors
set out to introduce Roman Catholicism to the natives and to claim their allegiance to Spain. In the
islands of Cebu, Magellan was able to convert and gain the favor of Rajah Humabon. Having seen his
success so far, Magellan decided to further his conquest of the archipelago. As a sign of their alliance
with Rajah Humabon, Magellan agreed to attack Rajah Lapu-lapu in Mactan, a rival of the Humabon.

Having overconfidence and believing in his superiority over the locals and being armed with swords,
cannons and guns, Magellan led a group of 49 conquistadors to attack Mactan on April 27, 1521. This
was to his downfall as he was confronted with approximately a thousand warriors and quickly
overwhelmed. The Spaniards were unprepared for this kind of fighting as the natives attacked with
bamboo spears, blades and fire-hardened wooden stakes wielded using circular and elliptical patterns
that the Europeans were unused to. It was reported that Magellan died after being hit by a poisoned
arrow. The survivors went back to Spain and it would take another forty-four years until the Spanish set
foot on Philippine soil.

Eventually the Spanish occupied the archipelago. It did not take them much difficulty because there
was not much of an organized resistance since the natives were not a united nation then but were
divided and clannish. So, the Spanish took the archipelago island by island and tribe by tribe. However,
they were not able to totally dominate the island of Mindanao, home of the fiercest warriors in the
islands. This was another era on the evolution of the Filipino Martial Arts. The fighting methods also
adapted to overcome the fencing methods of the Europeans.

Mindano was relatively untouched by the colonizers. Thus, the Kali continued to thrive freely. This
was not so in the Luzon and in the Visayan islands. Having seen the effectiveness of Kali, the Spanish
colonizers outlawed its use. The Filipinos, being an innovative and resilient race, did not allow their
beloved art to die out. They created plays such as the Moro-moro (a play depicting the Catholic-
Muslim/Moor wars of the Crusades) to entertain the colonizers. It was here that the Filipinos were able
to practice their craft. The practice of the kali techniques were hidden in the choreographed fights and
skirmishes (Eskrima in Spanish) during the play. In the Philippines, the Spanish word "eskrima/escrima"
meaning skirmish took on the meaning of fencing or a sword fight. Thus, Eskrima became the dominant
term used for Kali in the Visayan regions. In Luzon, the popular term for Kali was Arnis de Mano (armor
of the hand). During the plays, the Filipinos wore a sort of leather harness (Spanish "arnes") or armor.
Arnis, a corruption of the word "arnes" thus became a sort of secret codeword for Kali. The Spanish
would think that people were talking about their costumes whereas in fact they were referring to Kali.
To differentiate the name of the art from the costume, they renamed it Arnis de Mano or armor of the
hand.

Arnis and Eskrima were widely used and developed during the Philippine war of independence from
Spain. The revolutionary movement called the Kataastaasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga
Anak ng Bayan (The Highest and Most Honorable/Noble Gathering of the Sons of the Nation) or
Katipunan or KKK for short, trained in Arnis/Eskrima and fought with bolos (machetes) since had very
few guns. With this as their main weapon and with the help of the Americans, the Filipinos were able to
gain their freedom from the Spanish in 1898. This proves the effectiveness of the Filipino Martial Arts
for the Filipinos were able to triumph inspite of the overwhelming odds against them from their well-
armed opponents.

The Development during the American Occupation and World War II

The freedom of the Filipinos was short lived for the Philippines was soon occupied by the U.S. The
fame of Filipino warriors in Mindanao was such that the American soldiers were issued with .45 caliber
pistols since the Moro Filipinos were not easily dropped by the .38 caliber pistols and were still able to
close the distance and attack the Americans. However, the Philippines came under American rule.

During World War II, the Filipinos fought side by side with the American forces against the Japanese.
Under the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFE), the elite Bolo Battalion was formed as
part of the guerilla resistance. It was in this theater of war that the fury and effectivity of Arnis was once
again seen. It has been said that the Japanese fled upon seeing the Bolo Battalion charging against
them. Soon, the Allied Forces gained the victory against the Japanese.

The masters during this period are probably the ones responsible for what the FMA are right now. A
lot of the war veterans migrated to the U.S. to later introduce the art to the Americans. At first, the
FMA were closely held secrets but due to the pioneering efforts of people like GM Angel Caballes, the
FMA were introduced to the American public. On the other hand, most of the Filipino masters stayed
behind and still continue to pass on their knowledge to the present and future generations of Filipinos.
As for the U.P. AngKAN ng Mandirigma-LESKAS members, we will be there as it happens!