| Is Arnis de Mano dead and obsolete in the Philippines?
Are native Filipino no longer practicing the art of their mother
country? Did the Filipino martial arts even originate in the Philippines?
These are the questions commonly asked by both students and detractors
of the Filipino arts of arnis, escrima, estokada. Many articles
have been written in popular martial art magazines by authors attempting
to sharpen their creative writing skills by addressing these issues.
Misguided at best, these authors would do well to examine the true
factual history of the Filipino combative arts.
Background
The mother art of the Filipino martial arts, is the original style
of the bladed weapon developed by the indigenous Indo-Malay inhabitats
of the Philippines during 13th century. During the Spanish occupation
of the Philippines over 400 years ago, the art of Kali was banned
and the Spanish promoted its practice as a deadly recreation. In
response, the Filipino developed the "Moro-moro," a socio-religious
play designed to surreptitiously incorporate the fighting techniques
of kali into its creative dances and movements.
Presentation
Viewing these plays as mere entertainment, the Spanish overlords
remained oblivious to the true meaning of the actor's movements.
Sparked by the development of Moro-moro plays and continued underground
practice, this period marked the birth of "Arnis de Mano":
the art of hand to hand combat which incorporates weaponry (an assortment
of bladed weapons and wooden sticks called baston and brokil) into
its self defense and combative techniques. However, the strong Spanish
influence would come to bear on the naming conventions in this latest
refinements.
Today, Arnis de Mano is openly demonstrated and recognized as a
national sport of the Philippines. One of the many support organizations
is the Paete Arnis Club founded 1920 by a group of arnis masters
from Laguna province on the island of Luzon. Since its inception, it
has supported a bi-annual tournament and the "Moro-moro"
traditions of ancient times.
July 24th and 25th is the set date for the Paete Town Fiesta, while November
4th marks the San Antonio Abad. The two events comprise the "Palaro"
(arnis competition) sponsored by arnis consortium including Centurion
Original, Paete Arnis Federation, and a number of other organization
in Laguna, Quezon and Rizal provinces.
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Translation
Arnis de Mano is misleading Spanish term which is means "harness
of the hand". The term was originally derived from the Spanish
words "arnes", which referred to the decorative trappings
or "harnesses" worn on the hands of the Moro-moro actors;
"de mano" refers to the hands. The word "arnes"
was soon corrupted into present "arnis"; Arnis de Mano
uses Spanish words almost entirely to describe its technqiues. With
its very title a Spanish expression, this fueled the popular mis-conception,
even among Filipinos, that arnis was brought to the Philippines
by the Spanish invaders.
"Escrima" is also the Spanish word for "fencing"
of use of the sword. Further, the Spanish word "estocada"
is derived from the defensive theory of "bull fighting"
used by the "Matador" (bull fighter). According to the
Escrimadores and estocadores from the Tagalog provinces, Moro-moro
actors were required to learn escrima (basic fencing skill), and
estocada (basic defensive skills) for their presentations. Combined,
they form a secondary representation of Arnis de Mano.
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Curriculum
Shortly after the Spanish occupation, became widespread
in the Philippines that in 1896, Jose de Azas started the first
school dedicated to the study of arnis and escrima. This marked
the first public arena for the practice of the Filipino schools
called "paaralan" (equivalent to the japanese "dojo").
Thsese students were taught social ethics and codes of the true
Filipino warrior.
In 1972, the Philippines government includes arnis in "Palarong
Pambansa" or National Sports. The Ministry of Education, Culture
and Sports also included it as part of the physical education curriculum
for high school and college students. With the founding of the Modern
Arnis Federation of the Philippines (MAFP) by Professor Remy A.
Presas as well as the Philippines Arnis Association (PAA) and the
National Arnis Association of the Philippines (NARAPHIL), arnis
began to enjoy international recognition. Today, knowledge of arnis
is mandatory in the Philippines Army, Navy, Air Force, and the local
Police agencies.
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Values
Arnis de Mano is vigorous sport which requires and develops stamina,
speed, occuracy and superb coordination. Arnis is also a mental
game. It is important that the arnis practitioner visualize the
various movements in his mind until he can physically perform them
without thought as to how the body should move. The serious student
soon finds that the real excitement comes from out thinking (ergo "out striking")
the opponent. Quick analysis of the opponent's style and formulation
of a plan of defense attack are imperative. One must set a trap
for the opponent while being careful to avoid the trap being set
for oneself.
In addition to analytical thinking, arnis requires decisive thinking
and the courage to assume the offensive at any instant. Windows
of opportunity are brief at best: lack of courage to act gives the
advantage back to the opponent. By being prepared to move at any
time, carefully dominating one's opponents, and successfully executing
one's plan, only then will self-confidence increase.
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Sportmanship
Good sportsmanship is an integral part of the arnis tradition.
Arnis was for many years considered a sport of gentlemen; practicipants
were expected to conduct themselves accordingly. Much of this flavor
still exists today: practice, sparring and etiquette require that the
arnis practitioner must acknowledge that all that touches him,
and then strive not to be touched by any other practitioner attempting
to touch or score.
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Competition and Rules
Arnis de Mano has three tournament formats: The "Solo Baston"
(Single stick), The "Espada y Daga" (Sword and Dagger),
and the "Doble Baston" (Double Stick). There are also
three traditional ruling formats used in competition: the "Tres
Palo" (Three Points Tournaments: continous fighting until
three killing blows have been landed by one player), the "Largo
Mano" long range fighting (three rounds of three minutes each,
points are tallied at the end) and the "Matira Matibay"
(freestyle fighting, three rounds of three minutes each,
with a win by "knockout", points are tallied at the end if KO
has not occurred).
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Pride
Unpadded stickfighting is the pride of true arnis masters who have
practiced the art realistically and conducted themselves confidently
in the time of the battle through out the generations. Today, some areas of the
Philippines still hold traditional unpadded stick fighting tournaments.
However, more than a few other areas have diluted the sport by adapting
head gear and various forms of body and limb protection leaving
no target on which pain may be inflicted. The padded tournaments
of today remove both artistic form and techniques that are the effectiveness
from the art.
Today, very few "masters" have felt
the heat of rattan from an opponent's attack. Some "masters"
have never experienced a real unpadded fight they believe to be
effective. Particularly in the United States, where padded competitions
yield so many "masters" and "champions", few
realize that the padding not only removes reality from the fight
and effectiveness of techniques but also instills a false sense
of confidence which quickly fades when facing the true arnis masters
on the real (unpadded) field of battle.
Arnis de Mano has been proven in combat in the revolutionary wars
of the Philippines, World War I and II, and in numerous full contact
tournaments. Today, Arnis de Mano is held in high regards by law enforcement
officers and martial art masters of other styles throughout the
United States as well as abroad.
Practitioners of this system have learned techniques which work equally
well whether empty handed or armed with weapon. If after reading
this article you still find things unclear, you are invited to travel
to the Philippines and witness for yourself that Arnis de Mano is
very much alive and well practiced by the living Filipino warrior
legends.
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