HISTORY OF ARNIS

The History of Arnis dates back before the colonization of the Spaniards,
during those periods it was called Kali and the techniques of the art is
focused on bladed weapons fighting. Kali was widely practiced throughout
the archipelago; both nobleman and commoners were enthusiast and
practitioners of the said art. Also during those days Kali is being taught in a
school like training grounds, which was called Bothoan along with military
tactics, Alibata (Native Alphabet), and herbal medicines.

On the dawn of April 27, 1521 the Portuguese navigator and warrior named
Ferdinand Magellan was defeated by a native warrior chief named Lapu-lapu
this was the recorded incident which Kali was used against foreign invaders.
Forty years after that event, on April of 1564 another warrior navigator from
Spain named Miguel De Legaspi landed in Abuyog Leyte Philippines. He
was aware of the unfortunate fate of Magellan so took a non-hostile approach
to avoid battle with the native. He befriend the warrior chief Malitik, it is at
this point he witnessed the deadly fighting skills of the natives through a
demo to entertain them. Afterwards he traveled to the nearby island of Sugbo
and met another warrior chief named Tupas, he took a non-hostile approach
to again avoid confrontation. For the second time he witnessed the
formidable fighting techniques of the natives through a demo.

Years have passed by Spain was able to colonize the Archipelago thru the use
of religion and what was then regarded as modern weapons such as Muskets
and cannons. The Spaniards claimed the Archipelago and named it
“Philippines” in honor of the King Philip of Spain. This was the start of the
dark age of Kali, in the year 1764 the Spanish overlords banned the practice
of Kali to the natives. Using the alibi that the natives were wasting time
practicing it instead of tilling the fields. However the natives knew too well
that their colonizers were just afraid that such skills would be used in a
revolution against them because due to oppression the revolutionaries were
gaining support from the natives.
The natives, hidden from the watchful eyes of their colonizers, practiced Kali
secretly. Due to some cultural influence of the Spaniards the term Escrima,
Estoque, Fraile, and Kaliradman were used to regard the native fighting
system. It was also during these period when the natives were able to develop
the stick fighting techniques of the art, which was proven to be as versatile as
the bladed weapons technique. Even the Moro-Moro stage play to entertain
the colonizers was utilized as an excuse to practice the fighting system.
In 1873 the fighting system was renamed “Arnis” derived from the word
Arnes which means colorful trapping on defensive armors used on the Moro-
Moro plays. Some of the heroes of the Philippine revolution were also
practitioners of Arnis namely Andres Bonifacio, the spouses Diego and
Gabriela Silang, and the young General Gregorio Del Pilar. The National
Hero Jose Rizal was also reported to practice the fighting system. As well as
the founder of Aglipayan Church Rev. Gregorio Aglipay was also recorded
as a practitioner of the art.
After hundreds of years with Spanish colonization the Japanese invaders took
their place to invade the Philippines during the World War II, again experts
of the native fighting arts were called upon to fight for the country’s freedom.
Kali, Escrima or Arnis whichever term the individual prefer to use was once
again employed on the battlefield. It’s efficiency was put to a test again but
this time against the Japanese invaders.
The Filipinos fought side by side with the Americans. Natives with skills in
the fighting art signed up to be freedom fighters known as “Guerillas”. It is
also these “Guerillas” who were usually front liners during the encounter and
they were usually sent on a commando mission for reconnaissance against the
Japanese.
After the war ended and peace took it’s path in 1975 then Major Favian Ver
also noted enthusiast and practitioners of Arnis formed the National Arnis
Association of the Philippines (NARAPHIL) with the objective to unite all
Arnis group in the Philippines, but unfortunately according to records the
Generals effort was futile, some claimed that the association that the General
led tends to favor only one group and ignored the request for recognition of
the majority of the existing Arnis clubs.
After the Historical EDSA revolution General Favian Ver was exiled and
NARAPHIL as a dominant Arnis grouped ceased, eventually another
brotherhood of Arnis was formed by a group of great Masters on Arnis. July
of 1986 Arnis Philippines (ARPHI) was established with the same objective
as NARAPHIL, at present time the government sanctioned groups
NARAPHIL and ARPHI exist together with a non-governmental
organization PIGSAI, these organizations share a common goal which is to
promote, preserve, propagate, and regain the popularity of Arnis throughout
the country because economically even though the Filipino Martial Arts be it
Arnis, Escrima, or Kali earned its popularity in the different parts of the
world. It is less popular in the Philippines. Its birthplace, probably due to
strong colonial mentality influence or just plain negligence of the Filipinos to
their Cultural Heritage, but these noble groups are striving to ensure that the
next generations of Filipinos will be able to claim their cultural heritage and
once again have these Filipino Martial Arts as the national system of fighting
art.

The 12 Basic Striking Techniques

The 12 basic strikes of United Arnis are a combination of striking, thrusting
and butting techniques.
In today’s practice of Arnis, thrusting and butting techniques are introduced
to the students on their intermediate or advance levels, however, for United
Arnis, thrusting and butting are incorporated in the 12 basic strikes. This
exposes the students to the advantage of training and using it even at an early
stage.
The following are the 12 strikes:

Strike 1 strike to the left temple area of the opponent

Strike 2 strike to the left knee area of the opponent

Strike 3 strike to the right temple area of the opponent

Strike 4 strike to the right knee area of the opponent.

Strike 5 strike to the left shoulder area of the opponent.

Strike 6 strike to the right shoulder area of the opponent

Strike 7 thrust or poke to the left chest

Strike 8 thrust or poke to the right chest Strike 9 butt to the left eye

Strike 10 butt to the right eye

Strike 11 center thrust

Strike 12 strike to the crown of the head

The most important thing in practising the 12 strikes is to practice it

continuously and repeatedly, being conscious of the target, stance, footwork
and body movements. Repeating the 12 basic strikes helps build retention,
muscle memory and muscle conditioning.

Arnis
The primary weapon is the rattan stick, called a cane or baston (baton), which
varies in size, but is usually about 28 inches (71 cm) in length.

Modern Arnis

Modern Arnis is the system of Filipino martial arts founded by the late Remy
Presas as a self-defense system. His goal was to create an injury-free training
method as well as an effective self-defense system in order to preserve the
older Arnis systems. The term Modern Arnis was also used by Remy Presas'
younger brother Ernesto Presas to describe his style of Filipino martial arts;
since 1999 Ernesto Presas has called his system Kombatan. It is derived
principally from the traditional Presas family style of the Bolo (machete) and
the stick-dueling art of Balintawak Eskrima, with influences from other
Filipino and Japanese martial arts.

Arnis is also the Philippines' national martial art and sport, after President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the Republic Act. No. 9850 in 2009. The
Act also mandates the Department of Education to include the sport as a
Physical Education course. Arnis will also be included among the priority
sports in Palarong Pambansa (National Games) beginning 2010.

Training
One of the characteristics of Filipino martial arts is the use of weapons from
the very beginning of training. Modern Arnis is no exception. The primary
weapon is the rattan stick, called a cane or baston (baton), which varies in
size, but is usually about 28 inches (71 cm) in length. Both single and double
stick techniques are taught, with an emphasis on the former; unarmed
defenses against the stick and against bladed weapons (which the stick is
sometimes taken to represent) are also part of the curriculum.

It is said that, originally, the cane was considered sacred by practitioners

(Arnisadores), and therefore an arnis practitioner was expected to hit his cane
at the hand or forearm of his sparring partner and not at the latter's cane. This
also had the advantage of being the preferred method in actual combat,
referred to as "defanging the snake", that is, making the opponent drop his
weapon so that he is less of a threat. However, it discouraged many would-be
practitioners who found this training too painful and injury-inducing. The
result was that the Filipino martial arts became in danger of dying out; in
most areas of the Philippines, Japanese martial arts such as Karate and Judo
were much more popular than the indigenous systems. Remy Presas'
modernization of the training method was intended to help preserve the
Filipino martial arts. He taught the method of hitting cane-on-cane during
practice, which attracted more newcomers to the art and also allowed the art
to be taught in the Philippines' school system. "Defanging the snake" remains
a principle of Modern Arnis, however, and in practical application, one
would typically strike the hand or arm. The technique is also used empty-
handed, where it is known as "limb destruction".

Training covers empty-hand self-defense (striking, locking, throwing, etc.) as

well as the trademark single and double stick techniques of the Filipino
martial arts. Other aspects of the art include espada y daga (sword and
dagger fighting), sinawali (double stick weaving patterns), and tapi-tapi
(locking drills with the stick). In addition to partner drills, Modern Arnis
includes the use of anyo (kata), solo forms both with and without the stick.
Emphasis is placed on fitting the art in with a student's previous training ("the
art within your art"), smoothly reacting to changing situations in the fight
("the flow"), and countering the opponent's attempt to counter strikes directed
at him ("tapi-tapi"). Practitioners are called arnisadors or Modern Arnis
players.

In addition to its Filipino influences, elements of Judo, Shotokan Karate, and

Wally Jay's Small Circle Jujutsu appear in the system.

Belt ranks
Modern Arnis uses a ranking system similar to the Dan ranks used in Karate
or other Japanese systems. There are some minor variations between
organizations as to the exact number of belts. There are 10 or 11 black belt
ranks in Modern Arnis , depending on the organization. They are numbered
in Tagalog:

1. Isa (pronounced as i-sah or e-sah; which literally means "one")

2. Dalawa (pronounced dah-la-wah; as literally means "two")
3. Tatlo (pronounced as tat-loh; literally means "three")
4. Apat (pronounced as Ah-pat; literally means "four")
5. Lima (pronounced as li-mah;literally means "five")
6. Anim (pronounced as ah-neem; literally means "six")
7. Pito (pronounced as pi-toh; literally means "seven")
8. Walo (pronounced as "wah-loh"; literally means "eight")
9. Siyam (pronounced as si-yam; literally means "nine")
10. Sampu (pronounced as sam-po; literally means "ten")
 11. Labing-isa (in some organizations) (pronounced as lah-bing-i-
sah; literally means "eleven")

Many groups use a "zero-degree" black belt rank as a probationary stage that
comes before Isa. The actual name of the ranks is gender-specific. For men
the rank is referred to as Lakan (Tagalog for male) while for women it is
referred to as Dayang (Tagalog for "female").[citation needed] Thus, a first degree
black belt in Modern Arnis would be referred to as either a Lakan Isa or a
Dayang Isa, depending on his or her gender. The "zero-degree" rank, if used,
is referred to as simply Lakan or Dayang. The black belt is traditionally
bordered with red; however, some groups use a plain black belt.

In addition to rank, titles such as Datu, Commissioner, Master of Tapi-Tapi,

Senior Master, Punong Guro, etc., have occasionally been granted to certain
high-ranking individuals. The title Guro is typically given to all Lakans and
Dayangs.

Organizations
Modern Arnis is currently perpetuated by a number of organizations
worldwide, with some of the largest being the DAV of Germany, the
International Modern Arnis Federation (IMAF) under Randi Schea, and the
World Modern Arnis Alliance (WMAA). Countries where the art is most
popular include the Philippines, the United States, Canada, and Germany, but
there are practitioners in many other nations.
10 radical truths about arnis

Arnis is an art of empty hand

Arnis is often considered as an art that involves weapons such as sticks,
daggers, bolos, among others. It is generally thought that without these
weapons, arnis cannot be practiced.
Precisely speaking, Arnis is an art of empty hand.
Unlike other arts that first teaches empty hands techniques and then
weapons at a higher belt, Arnis uses weapons training that leads to empty
hand thereby accomplish two things - weapons training and empty hands
training.
This kind of training is effective to prepare the student in both
armed and unarmed real life combat scenario.

Weapons are extension of your hand

Arnis is an art of offense and defense, weapons are just an extension of
the hands and skills of an Arnis player. Arnis has a set of hand patterns and
body movements that the weapons follow through the hands of a trained
Arnis player.
Arnis is convertible art
Although Arnis training use sticks such as rattan, kamagong (iron
wood) , and bahi, the patterns and movements used in Arnis for sticks are
also convertible to other weapons even to make shift weapon such as a pen.
Arnis Blocks are Strikes and Arnis Strikes are Blocks
Arnis consolidates strikes and blocks into one. A block can be a
strike by using the technique referred to as “displacement”. By displacement
in Arnis means, striking to the opponents vital points instead of blocking the
stick. In Arnis techniques for strikes can also be used for blocks.
Everything is a setup in Arnis
An Arnis player should know that everything in Arnis is a setup
that could lead to another. A strike could be a setup to a counter and a block
can be a setup for a strike, counter strike can also be a setup for a block or a
strike.
Arnis double sticks develop hand coordination
By training with double sticks, Arnis makes the weaker hands
complement the stronger hand. If you are right handed your right hand is
your stronger hand while the left hand is the weaker hand.
As an example, double sticks trains the left hand to properly block
and parry the opponent the same way he will do using a single stick.
Arnis Sword and Dagger develops punch, push and thrust
In Arnis the left hand are often used to check, parry, and grab the
opponents hands or weapon, however, the left hand can be fully utilized by
training it to punch, push, and thrust.
This realization can be done in Arnis by training with Espada y
Daga or Sword and dagger.

Strike at the nearest point

The crown of the head is often the target of an Arnis player, this is
logical since a strike to the head can cause fatal and immediate effect.
However it is important to note that in Arnis the head is also the
most protected area of the body and everybody learns to protect it.
You could strike at the nearest point of the opponent’s body
instead, rather than trying to strike to the head, it may not be as fatal but it
sure will bring damage to the opponent.

Own your Arnis technique

Practice your techniques continuously and repeated until it
becomes your reflex action or your second nature. In real life situation, you
do not have the luxury of thinking twice, by burning the technique into your
muscle memory, your reaction will be an instinct during such situation.
In Arnis, It is not the number of techniques you know, it on how
many techniques you can execute effectively, efficiently and accurately under
stress and pressure.

Arnis Sparring and competition develops you

 Participating in arnis sparring sessions and competitions enables
you to test your skills and efficiency level. A cooperative opponent is a
partner who is willing to be hit and allows you to execute your techniques on
him. While the uncooperative opponent, is a partner who is not willing to be
hit and employs every means that his disposal to go against you on a
controlled manner.
Training with a dummy or a cooperative opponent is only good for honing
your techniques but it does not give you the benefit of testing your skills
against a moving, engaging and uncooperative opponent.
Remember that the uncooperative opponent is an example of a real-life
combat scenario without the rules.