Mo

der
nAr
nisHi
st
ory

Arn
is,asama rt
ial
art,wasspawnedi
nPhil
i
ppi
ne
so
il
.Itwa sk nownina nc
ientPhil
i
ppi
nesask a
li
,an
anci
entMa l
ayanwo rdt h
a timpl
i
esal ar
ge bl
aded
weaponlongerthanak ni
fe.Thisartwasprac
ti
ced
pr
imari
l
yf orsel
f-d
efensebyt hepre-
Span
is
hF i
l
ip
inos
who wer en oted fort hei
rf r
iend
lynatu
rea n
d
l
egendaryhospi
tal
i
ty.
Thea rto fh and-
to-han
dc ombath asa l
ways
beena ni nt
egralparto ft heF i
li
pi
noi nh i
sl on
g,
tu
rbul
ent,andbloodyh i
sto
ry.Byf orc
eo fnecessi
ty
ands el
f-pr
eservat
ionh e bec ame a n experti n
fi
ghti
ngwithhi
shands,ei
therba r
eo rwithastic
ka nd
abladedwea pon.Evenbef o
ret h
ei ntrodu
cti
ono f
th
ebladedwea pon,t
heea r
l
yF i
li
pi
noswer ealr
eadya
fi
ghti
ngp eopl
eu si
ngt he bo wa nda rrowo rt he
l
ongbow.Thep r
imi
ti
veNeg ri
tos
,comin
gf romCen tr
al
Asi
ad ur
ingprehi
sto
rictimes,wereex pertsinthese
weapons.
 Arni
sdema noisthebes tknowna n dthemost
sys
temati
cf ig
h ti
nga rtint h
e Phil
i
ppi
n es.Itisa
perfec
teda rta fteral ongh i
sto
rica
ld evel
opment
fro
mt hek a
lisystemsd es
ignedtot r
aint hestu
dent
todefendhimselfagain
starmedo runarmeda t
tacks
.
Arni
s,asi
tisco mmo n
lycal
l
ed,hasals
obeenk nownin
oth
er d i
al
ectsa s estac
adaa mongt h e Tagal
og
prov
inc
esa n
des toqueo rfr
ail
einotherreg i
ons
.
Asaf i
g hti
nga rt
,Arni
sh ast h
reef ormsofp l
a y
.
Theyaret h
ees padayd ag a("s
wo rda n
dd agger"
)in
whi
cha lo n
gwo o
d ens worda n das hor
two oden
daggeri
su sed;thes oloba ston(s i
ngl
es t
ick
)i na
si
ngl
elongmu tono rba s
ton( woodens ti
cko rrattan
canehar
den edbyd ryi
ngo rheatin
g )i
su s
ed;andt he
si
nawal
i
,an a ti
vet erma ppl
i
edbec ausetheintri
cate
movement
so ft het womu t
onr esemblethewea veo f
asawal
i(cri
ss-cr
ossf as
hi
o n
),theba mboos p
li
tswea ve
patt
ernusedi nwall
ingandma tti
ng
Thel
i
vesofFi
l
ip
inoh
eroesar
eli
nkedwit
hthe
a
wes
omepowero
ft hemar
tia
lar
tofAr n
is
.They
tr
iu
mph a
n t
l
ywa gedtheirh eroi
cba t
t l
esforf r
eedom
andlibertya sa t esti
mo nyo ft hep ower a nd
eff
ectivenessofAr ni
s.Theirsucc
es sfu
lstan
da gai
nst
th
eirsuperi
orl
ya rmeda dversar
iesinmo rt
alcombatin
th
ea renao fbattl
eisn owh el
dinimmo rtal
inv
iol
abi
li
ty
byhis
toryo fthe1 6t
hc entury
.Kali(Arni
s)becames o
popu
lard u
ringtheea rlyd aysthatitwa sk nowna s
th
es porto fki
ng sando ft h
emember so fther o
yal
bl
ood.Th ef i
rsta ndf or
emo stex pertso fthea rt
weret her aja
ha ndma harl
ikao ft he Vi
sayasa nd
Tagal
ogr egi
ons,Ama nd
a kwa in Pa ngasi
nan,a nd
Baru
wa ngo ftheCa gayanVa l
l
eyr egion.
Thea rtwa sn otco n
fin
edt ot heelit
ea l
one.
Ordi
n aryF il
i
pi
nosp ract
icedk al
inoto n
lyf orself
-
defen sebuta l
soforen t
er t
ain
ment.Itwa sth
emo s
t
awaiteden terta
inmentfea t
ureinfiesta
sa ndother
gat
h er i
ngs
.Ka l
iwasas t
a n
dardfig
htingtechni
quein
han
d -to-h
andc ombato ft heF il
i
pi
n o
s wh en they
rev
o l
t eda gai
nstSp a
in.Usingtheitako rbo l
ot he
Kati
p unerosengagedt heSp ani
shsol
diersinsavage
ski
rmis
hes.Hi
s t
orysta
testhatBonif
a c
iobr a
n d
isheda
bol
o,as tand
a r
dwea poninkal
iinhisfamo u
s" Cryo f
Bal
intawak.
"Ho wever,kal
idecli
nedinp o p
ulari
tya s
earl
y a s 1 596 wh en the Sp anis
h a ut
horit
ies
di
scourag
edt hep r
act
iceofthea r
t(itwa seventuall
y
bannedin176 4
).TheSpani
ardsmusthavec onsi
dered
th
ea r
tlethalordangerou
ssinc
et heyd ecreedt hat
nat
ivesf oundp ra
cti
cin
gk al
iwo ul
dbe c onsi
dered
Tul
i
sa n
eso routl
aws.
In1637,thef ri
arsintr
oducedthemo ro-
moro,a
soci
o-r
eli
giouspla
yd r
ama ti
zin
gt het r
iumphoft he
Chri
sti
anSp ani
ardsovert h
eMu sl
imMoorsofGranada,
Spai
n.Th ep l
ayc al
l
ed f ort heu s
eo ff i
ghti
ng
tech
niquesu s
ingas wo rdo rsi
mil
arbladedwea pon.
Withthei nt
roduct
iono fthemo ro-
moro,theFil
i
pi
nos
agai
nh adac h
ancet op ract
icetheira rt
,t hu
s
i
nteresti nk al
iwa sr evi
ved.Int hep l
ay,Spanis
h
sol
di
ersf igh
tin
gf orCh r
is
ti
anit
ywer es uppos
edt o
weara rnes,aSp ani
shwo rdfort h
eEn gli
shhar
ness,
thecolo
r f
ultra
pping
swo r
nbymed i
eva
lso l
di
ers
.From
th
ewo r
da r
nesca
met hepres
entAr
ni
s.I
n1 853,t
he
wordk
aliwa
scompl
etel
yrep
lac
edbyArni
s.
Arni
st odayha sex p
er i
encedc hangesi nt h
e
weaponsused.Al
thoughthea r
tstil
lma kesu seo fth
e
i
tako rbol
on owa ndt h
en,ithasr eli
edc ons
idera
bly
ontheu seo fthec anea sas elf
-d efensewea p
on.
Thi
si snotbec aus
et hec aneisl essd eadlythan
bl
adedwea p
onsbu tma i
nl
ybec ausei nl atery ears
,
Arn
isisen gagedinmo rea sas po rt
.Mu cho ft h
e
ant
iqua
tedt echni
queso ftheo ldAr ni
sh ave been
moderni
zed t oa v o
idi nj
uryt os t
u dents
.Mo r
e
i
mportant
l
y,d i
sci
pl
inea ndo t
hermo r
a lv a
luesa r
e
i
mpressedupont h
es tudentstos t
r engthenn oto n
ly
th
ebo dybutthes p
iri
taswel l
.

NONNAD.
LIPANG CECI
LI
OI.
CABI
LOGAN
BTLEDHE2 I
NSTRUCTOR