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BRIEF HISTORY of FILIPINO KALI (Arnis, Eskrima):
Kali is a martial art of the Philippines with a long and varied
history. It originally was developed by the peoples native to those
islands over the centuries before the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan
and the Spanish in 1521. At that time, it was in part based on a
wavy-edged sword typically 30 inches long made of wood called (in
at least one dialect) a "kalis" a modern derivative of
which is the "kris".
Upon their arrival, Magellan's force was engaged in a ferocious
battle (or so the legend goes) by the islanders wielding such weapons.
Their leader Lapu Lapu killed Magellan and the Spanish were repelled
even though the heavily armoured Spanish had superior metal weaponry.
Today Lapu Lapu is considered by many to be a national hero of the
Philippines (Dr. Jose M. Rizal is the official national hero).
Eventually the Spanish did take over the island, kali was banned,
and the traditional weapons confiscated. The art was subsequently
taken underground. The use of kalis shifted to sticks or "baston"
commonly made of rattan.
Through the years the name of the art changed to the Spanish derivative
"arnis de mano" and "escrima/eskrima". But the
martial art and spirit lived on. Today kali, arnis and eskrima continues
to be taught in the Philippines and around the world. Masters like
the Canetes, Leo Gaje jr., and influential proponents like Dan Inosanto
(friend, student and teacher to Bruce Lee) have ensured that kali,
(and arnis/escrima) will remain an active and vital martial art.
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Pekiti-Tirsia System of Kali HISTORY:
The Pekiti-Tirsia system of kali is an infighting combat system.
Its name is roughly translated as to cut into small pieces, up
close. It is primarily concerned with close quarters combat
and employs the traditional full-length stick, typically 30 inches
in length or more. It was founded by Conrado B. Tortal from the
Negros Occidental of the Visayan region.
Today its tradition survives in the many students of the system,
headed by grand tuhon Leo T. Gaje, jr. of Bacolod City, PI. The
senior Canadian representative is mandala tuhon Philip Gelinas of
Montreal.
For more information, review a more complete history
of Pekiti-Tirsia kali.
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Dog Brothers Martial Arts HISTORY:
The Dog Brothers were born in May 1988 during three days of non-stop
fighting organized by Marc "Crafty Dog" Denny and Eric
"Top Dog" Knaus, known within the group as the "Rumble
at Ramblas". These fights became the core of the groups video
series with Panther Productions, featuring Knaus, the group's best
fighter and an outstanding technician trained by Grand Tuhon Leo
Gaje of the Pekiti Tirsia system from the island of Negros in the
Philippines. Most of the fighters came from Knaus and Denny's "After-midnight
Group" at the Inosanto Academy, as well as Knaus's friend from
his Pekiti Tirsia days, Philip "Sled Dog" Gelinas, and
Arlan Sanford, who Knaus and Denny had met the year before at the
national "full contact stickfighting" tournament, (which
Knaus won for the third time). Sanford, soon to be known as the
"Salty Dog" would become a co-founder of the group along
with Denny and Knaus.
The intense crucible of fighting for three days forged a special
bond amongst the men there. The "Dog Brothers" name came
about because there were three fighters with the name of Mark/Marc.
"Somebody would say 'hey Mark' and three guys would answer,
so we started looking for some nicknames," explains Denny.
"Well, something happened that led to someone calling me 'a
crafty dog.' So that became my name. Mark Sanden was 18 years old
so we called him 'Puppy Dog.' Mark Balluff always fought with a
mix of everything so we called him 'Mongrel.' During an interview
Mongrel spoke well of the feeling of brotherhood that the group
was developing and that evening I was reading a Conan the Barbarian
comic book.
While leading his men into battle Conan said 'Come on you dog
brothers!,' and there it was. The combination of three nicknames
based around dogs plus Conan's call to arms gave me the name I was
looking for. Eric obviously was to be "Top Dog" and so
the dog thing was off and running and "the Dog Brothers"
were born. Since then the name has revealed itself to be a more
fortuitous metaphor than we realized at the time."
For more details,
read their history.
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The recording and documentation of history is an arduous and often
difficult undertaking. While reading about history we frequently
believe the point of view of the author; however, this is often
incomplete and inaccurate. In particular, when tracing the origin
of an art of war, such as Eskrima, it is often difficult to string
together the bits and pieces of fragmented information into chronological
order. Also, since the exact origin of the art was never documented
by those who were directly responsible for its founding, much is
left to speculation and the cross-referencing of pertinent information
to historical events in the surrounding geographical region.
INTRODUCTION
Centuries old, the Filipino warrior arts have long been the backbone
of Filipino society. It was the practice and preservation of these
arts that have kept the Philippine archipelago from permanent domination
by a foreign power. There are several hundred styles of these warrior
arts presently being preserved and taught throughout the Philippines.
Although known by many names, often descriptive of the styles and
names of their founders and enemies (i.e., Binas Arnis, Italiana
style), the Filipino warrior arts can be classified by three distinct
territorial styles --Arnis, Eskrima, and Kali -- that are found
in the northern, central and southern Philippines, respectively.
It has been postulated that the Filipino art of Escrima originated
in India and that it was brought to the Philippines by people who
traveled through Indonesia across a land bridge known as the Riouw
archipelago that linked the Malay peninsula to Sumatra, and across
another land bridge that connected Malaya to the Philippine islands.
Indonesian Tjakalele and Malay Silat Melayu are two forms of combat
said to have been introduced to the Philippines via these now-sunken
routes. The ninth century Tang dynasty brought goods to the Philippines
from East Asia and Malaysia. These countries' combat methods of
Kuntao and Silat had a great influence on the development of Kali,
which is the "mother art" of the Philippines. Legends
claim that ten Datus (chieftains) left Borneo and settled in Panay
where they established the Bothoan in the twelfth century. The Bothoan
was a school where the Datus taught Kali along with academic subjects
and agriculture. It was a kind of preparatory school for tribal
leaders.
During the fourteenth century, a third migration of Malaysians
to the Philippines took place. These immigrants were the ancestors
of the Moro (Muslim) Filipinos of Mindanao and Sulu. They spread
their cultural-religious beliefs as well as their Kali systems,
which utilized bladed weapons of varying lengths. Datu Mangal is
credited with bringing the art of Kali to Mactan Island; Sri Bataugong
and his son Sri Bantug Lamay were said to have brought the art to
the island of Cebu during the Majapahit Empire. Raja Lapu Lapu,
the son of Datu Mangal, through constant struggle and war, developed
a personalized Kali subsystem known as Pangamut. In the sixteenth
century, he and Raja Humabon, the son of Sri Bantug Lamay, began
to quarrel. A battle was mounting as Lapu Lapu accused Humabon of
wrongfully taking land that belonged to his father. The battle,
however, was never to take place, as the Philippines were unexpectedly
visited by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
In the early part of the sixteenth century, the Spanish set sail
in search of a westward route across the Pacific to the Indies.
Commander Ferdinand Magellan's fleet of ships accidentally stumbled
upon an unknown archipelago. On March 16, 1521, Magellan came upon
the island of Samar. He decided that it was in his best interest
to wait to attack, and thus dock at a nearby island. This island
was uninhabited and so Magellan's fleet took a few days of needed
rest.
On March 18, the Spaniards took note of a boatload of natives coming
toward their ships. Commander Magellan, seeing a strange opportunity,
greeted them in friendship. This friendship was to develop, and
the native islanders familiarized Magellan with the names of the
surrounding islands that made up the archipelago. With assistance
of the ship's priest, Magellan baptized Raja Kolambu, the chief
of Samar, and also Raja Humabon, the chief of Cebu, converting them
to Catholicism and ultimately Spanish allegiance.
On April 27, Magellan led an expedition to nearby Mactan Island
in hopes of conquering and then presenting it as a git to Raja Humabon.
Unfortunately, as he and 49 Spanish conquistadors disembarked from
their ships, they were confronted by 1,050 islanders, led by Raja
Lapu Lapu, armed with iron-tipped fire-hardened bamboo lances and
pointed fire-dried wooden stakes. Greatly outnumbered, Magellan
was killed by the spears and arrows of Lapu Lapu's men.
In 1543, Ruy de Villalobos, sailing from New Spain (Mexico), landed
south of Mindanao and proceeded to name the entire archipelago the
PHILIPPINES after King Philip II of Spain. It was not until 1565
that Miguel Lopez de legazpi, authorized by Philip II, colonized
the island of Cebu, and a foothold was secured in the Philippines.
When the Spaniards traveled to the island of Luzon in 1570, they
found it inhabited by Filipino, Chinese and Indonesian cross-cultures,
and upon their arrival they were confronted by Kalistas (Kali warriors)
whose fighting method far exceeded theirs. But the Spaniards, using
firearms defeated the inhabitants of Luzon. From then on, the art
of Kali was prohibited, but it was still practieced and perfected
by a dedicated few. The arts were then preserved in native ritual
dances called sinulog that had mock battles with swords as finales.
Ironically, these dances were often performed for the Spaniards'
enjoyment.
Kalistas practiced their arts diligently, and hence developed extreme
accuracy, speed, and agility. These attributes were a must. Because
the Spaniards' swords were sharp and readily cut through the Filipinos'
wooden weapons, many strikes to nerve centres along the body and
limbs were mastered, allowing the Kalista to disarm and disable
his opponent with a flurry of attacks.
During the 330 years of Spanish reign, after many skirmishes with
Spanish fencing exponents and after careful observation, the art
of Kali was altered. Many training methods were dropped and many
new concepts and techniques were added. This, coupled with the influence
of Spanish culture and language, prompted the evolution of Eskrima
(aka. Arnis de Mano). It was the Spanish rapier and dagger systems
that had the greatest influence on the development of Eskrima. The
use of numbered angles of attack as well as what have become traditional
Eskrima uniforms, were both influenced by the Spanish. It is also
interesting to note that although Tagalog is the national language
of the Philippines, many of the top Eskrima masters still teach
their arts in Spanish, today.
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