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 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 approach to again avoid confrontation. 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 nongovernmental 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 chestStrike 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 selfdefense system. His goal was to create an injury-free training method as well as an effective selfdefense 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 MacapagalArroyo 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 h it 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.
