Arnis: The Philippines' National Sport and

Martial Art

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.