Manuel, Joyshan Mae A.

BSHM 2B-A

ACTIVITY 1

1. What is Arnis de Mano?

The arnis is a sport than can give us fun and body ache. You will encounter arnis either in your
PE class or it is your chosen sport to spend your time with. As I have watched the video that was
given to us by our professor in Physical Education, I have learned that I can also use Arnis in
self-defense.

In the module that our Instructor gave to us show how the techniques to use in Arnis and how
to remove the weapons of the opponent. It was taught in a step-by-step guide. In our time,
robbers, thieves, rapists and bad men can be seen everywhere. They usually hold things that
can threaten the lives of their victim. Some of these things are knives, guns and even knuckles.
In the module, I have learned a lot of ways that we can use our arnis to disarm a person that
threatens to kill or do something bad to us. Though we know that we cannot do those things in
a real-life situation, we should atleast have an idea on how we will do it in case we dont have
the area or place to run to for help or in short, when we are cornered and no one can help us. I
am not really a fan of Arnis because I thought before that we can't really use the techniques
taught to us in real-life situations because we dont bring our arnis all the time but a thought hit
me that anything can be used as a replacement for arnis. An example of this is an umbrella or
anything that can be a replacement for arnis. Arnis can be a helpful sport for everyone because
we can use it at all times especially in emergency situations.

2. Where did Arnis originate (come from)?

Arnis was probably developed around the 16th and 17th century as a response to the pillaging
and ransacking of coastal villages by moro pirates from Southern Philippines.During that time
there was not enough Spaniards to cover and protect their various territories so they had to
employ the locals to help protect their own villages and towns.Fighting priests especially the
Jesuits who had experience fighting the Moors from mainland Spain were imported and
deployed to these islands to both convert them into Christianity as well as teach them the
fighting arts. Arnis/Eskrima has a strong resemblance to La Verdadera Destreza so I would posit
that it is the origin of the art and then the locals adapted and enhanced the Spanish art to suit
their smaller frames.
3. What are the significant characteristics of Arnis De Mano that make it different from other
Martial Arts?
Arnis emphasises mortal combat as opposed to martial virtue. This is in contrast to most
martial arts which emphasise virtue and morality and way of life. Arnis philosophy is pragmatic -
such vitues are to be trained and acquired through long training.

4. How did Spain impact the practice of Arnis?

If there is influence from Spanish Renaissance swordsmanship, it would likely be from methods
of military cut & thrust swords, not the style of civilian thrusting rapiers. Just what these
technqiues might be, and how they are known to be 16th century Spanish in origin (and not
something introduced from 19th century epee fencing) would certainly be interesting for
today's student of Reniassance martil arts to discover.

5. How was Arnis developed over the centuries?

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.