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Arnis: The Philippines'

National Sport and Martial .
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
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.

In 1521, equipped with nothing more than bladed weapons and their fearsome
arnis abilities, Filipino islanders defeated Ferdinand Magellan’s armored,
musket-bearing Spanish conquistador forces when they tried to invade.

When the Spanish eventually returned and successfully conquered parts of

the Philippines, the traditions of arnis were preserved, despite its prohibition,
in the forms of ritual dance, performance and mock battles. While earlier
Filipino martial arts were influenced by Spanish colonization, the modern
forms have been affected by the country’s contact with both the United States
and Japan after gaining independence in 1898. Just over a century later, in
2009, the government of the Philippines declared arnis to be the martial art
and national sport of the Philippines.

Culture and traditions

Arnis is otherwise known as eskrima, kali and garrote, and by even more
names in different Filipino regional languages. Although Spanish influence
had a pacifying effect on Filipino martial culture, the original warrior ethos has
persisted and remains on the fringes of the art. Arnis “death-matches” were
outlawed as late as 1945 yet, as Mark V. Wiley explains in Filipino Martial
Culture, they still take place in private today.

The Philippine government’s declaration of arnis as the national sport has

codified a clear martial culture. This should begin to develop an accessible
story of Filipino cultural heritage that the outside world can grasp, like Japan
did during the Edo period (1603-1868) and as post-cultural revolution China
has done with Wushu.

How it works
Like all martial arts, arnis is primarily defensive, encompassing hand-to-hand
combat, grappling and disarming techniques. However, the fighting style also
includes the use of bladed weapons and sticks, in addition to improvised
weapons. A baton-like cane is the primary melee tool employed and the
weapon used in officiated arnis competitions.

Competitive Arnis generally takes one of two forms: the performance-

based anyo model or the combative leban. Anyo competitions are judged on
the basis of the overall choreography of the performances, including the
gracefulness, strength and force employed. Meanwhile, the leban form tests
participants’ agility and reactions, as competitions are judged based on the
number of strikes inflicted. Although most leban competitions exclude body
contact, such as grappling, blocks and disarming an opponent using the
hands or feet, there are some exceptions where full contact is permitted.

Arnis in popular culture: Hollywood

Close-quartered, fast-paced fights look great on screen and no martial style
involves quite the combative speed of arnis—no wonder it’s so popular with
Hollywood directors. The Bourne Identity (2002) features a kali/jeet kune
do hybrid fight style when Jason Bourne encounters Jarda, the only other
living agent of the terminated ‘Treadstone’ program. Vin Diesel and Jason
Statham also engage in eskrima-inspired combat, using metal pipes and
wrenches instead of sticks, in the final fight scene of Furious 7 (2015).

In Kick-Ass (2010), the eponymous character fights crime with arnis canes,
while his vigilante partner, Hit-Girl, uses Filipino balisong knives. Meanwhile,
Liam Neeson uses a combination of arnis, wing chun and silat to rescue his
daughter from her French captors in Taken (2008). James Bond too subdues
a knife-wielding assassin using Filipino martial arts in Quantum of Solace, the
2008 installment of the James Bond franchise.