Arnis can be originally traced back to native combat techniques during battles among the

different pre-Hispanic Filipino kingdoms or tribes.

-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.