Overview of Sports Arnis

Arnis is a martial art discipline that has roots in the Philippines. It began as a bladed combat art
and now into astick fighting system, which incorporates strikes, locks, traps throws and
takedowns, footwork and cultural expression of nationalism and identity.
Sports Arnis is an evolution of the combative art into a competitive sport. Its main goal is to
promote the values of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and discipline. The quest for excellence and
perfection of basic techniques is being pursued in this field of sports science.
Sport Arnis is a combative sport played by two individuals in a court using prescribed padded
sticks in delivering artistic and legal blows, strikes, and thrust and disarms to gain a point score.
It adapted the bladed concept of strike wherein every contact of the stick to the opponents body
creates an equivalent point. A point system is designed in harnessing a score. Every player is
aware that delivering an attack is a crucial decision wherein chances of being counter attacked
and hit are inevitable.
Arnis is the indigenous Filipino Martial Art which utilizes various implements such as sticks and
bladed weapons and even empty hand fighting techniques.
On December 11, 2009, by the virtue of Republic Act 9850, Arnis was officially declared as the
Philippines National Martial Art and Sports.
Brief History of Arnis

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ARNIS

Arnis, as a martial art, was spawned in the Philippines soil. It was known in ancient Philippines
as Kali, as ancient Malayan word which implies a large bladed weapon longer than knife.
This art was practiced primarily for self-defense by the pre-Spanish Filipinos who were noted for
their friendly nature and legendary hospitality.
Kali must have been derived from tjakalele which is a native fencing in Indonessia. This
linguistic kinship is not without basis considering that what is now Indonesia was once, in
ancient times, a part of the Sri Vishayan and Madjapajit empires whose spheres of influence
reached the Philippines. Scanty records show that is possible that the ten Bornean datus who
landed in the island of Panay in the 13 century were subjects of either of these two ancient
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empires. History is quite definite, however, that during the reign of the ten datus in Panay, kali
was taught to children in a school called bothoan as part of their education.
The art of hand-to-hand combat has always been an integral part of the Filipino in his long,
turbulent, and bloody history. By force of necessity and self-preservation he became an expert in
fighting with his hands, either bare or with a stick and a bladed weapon. Even before the
introduction of bladed weapon, the early Filipinos were already a fighting people using the bow
and arrow or the longbow. The primitive Negritos, coming from Central Asia during prehistoric
times, were experts in these weapons.
However, about 200 B.C., the Malays migrated to the Philippines and brought with them the
long knife. Their coming enriched the Filipino arsenal in the fighting arts. Besides their sticks
and bows and arrows, the early Filipinos were now also expert in the use of bladed weapons and
daggers. This is especially true of the Muslims in Mindanao and Sulu who have a special
inclination for these weapons. Their skills in hand-to-hand combat with a bladed weapon had
been proven in their untarnished history of successes in repelling foreign invaders in their land.
The numerous attempts of the Spaniards, the Americans and to colonize Mindanao always failed.
As testimony of the Muslim love for the blade weapon is their variety of the styles and types of
knives which include the Kris, bolo, kalis, laring, barong, gunong, kampilan, gayang, pirapunal,
itak, banjal, bangkcon, lahot and the panabas. Even today, one can find the most artistic styles.
The freedom-loving Muslims of Mindanao and Sulu are credited with the experimentation,
systematization, and martial use of bladed weapon.
Inter-regional contact and influence brought about by trade and travel linked the Muslim
fighting art with the bladed weapon in the South with the kalis, the forerunner of Arnis of the
Tagalogs in the north Kalis, a terms which was shortened to Kali for convenience, is also a
fighting art which uses a long-bladed weapon or knife, stick or cane and dagger.
Arnis de mano is the best known and most systematic fighting art in the Philippines. It is a
perfected art after a long historical development from the kali systems designed to train the
student to defend himself against armed or unarmed attacks. Arnis as it is commonly called, has
been also known in other dialects as estocada among the Tagalog provinces and estoque or fraile
in other regions.
As a fighting art, Arnis has three forms of play. They are the espada y daga (sword and dagger)
in which a long wooden sword and a short wooden dagger is used; the solo baston (single stick)
in which a single long muton or baston (wooden stick or rattan cane hardened by drying or
heating) is used; and the siniwali, a native term applied because the intricate movements of the
two muton resemble the weave of a sawali (criss-cross fashion), the bamboo splits weave pattern
used in walling and matting.
Arnis is a close-combat affair, thus skill in parrying and striking must be developed with utmost
dexterity. The expert use of the leg and the leg-hip fulcrum maneuver to outbalance and throw an
opponent must be perfected. Unlike other martial arts which make use of complex body
maneuver, Arnis as it was then and as it now in its modern form, puts emphasis on the use of the
stick and the hand-arm movements.
Like in the early times, Arnis today has three traditional training methods: They are (1) the
muestrasion or pandalag which teaches the artistic execution of the swinging movements and
stroking for offense and defense in repetitive drills, (2) the sangga at patama or sombra tabak
wherein stiking, thrusting, and parrying in a prearranged manner is taught, and (3) the larga
muton or labanang totohanan, in which two trainees engage in a free practice trying to auto-
maneuver each other using all their skills. This is the ultimate phase of Arnis training.
This was Arnis, the pre-Hispanic martial art which was the brawny and bloody power of the
early Filipinos in the protection and preservation of their dignity and honor.
Kali (Arnis) became so popular during the early days that it was known as the sport of kings and
of the members of the royal blood. The first and foremost experts of the art were the rajah and
Maharlika of the Visayas and Tagalog regions, Amandakwa in Pangasinan, and Baruwang of the
Cagayan Valley region.
The art was not confined to the elite alone. Ordinary Filipinos practiced kali not only for self-
defense but also for entertainment. It was the most awaited entertainment feature in fiestas and
other gatherings. Sometimes, combatants used their skill in kali to settle their differences.
Kali was a standard fighting technique in hand-to-hand combat of the Filipinos when they
revolted against Spain. Using the itak or bolo the Katiponeros engage the Spanish soldiers in
savage skirmishes. History states that Bonifacio brandished a bolo, a standard weapon on kali in
his famous “Cry of Balintawak”. The greatest Filipino hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, studied kali or
Arnis before he left for Europe. Generals Gregorio del Pilar and Antonio Luna also studied Arnis
even before the start of revolution. Rev. Fr. Gregorio Aglipay, was known to have practiced the
art too. Acceptance of Arnis became so widespread that in 1896 Jose de Azas started a school for
the study of Arnis and foil fencing.
Equipment Used in Arnis
White T-Shirt
Belt (White, Brown, Black)
Red Loose Pants
Assorted canes/arnis and bladed weapons used in arnis
The Grip
The grip is the soul of all fighting techniques in Arnis. It is the correct grip that packs power to
and controls the cane.
To do the correct grip, hold the cane an inch from the base and tighten your fingers
around it with you thumb pressed against your forefinger. The hold must be firm when striking.
Relax your wrist a bit after strike.
Courtesy
Courtesy means respect to one’s opponents and for the cardinal rules and principles of
sportsmanship. In the revered tradition of martial arts, courtesy in modern arnis is the trademark
which makes players worthy of protagonists.
At 45 degrees angle, heels closed, body erect, hands at 2-1/2 inches apart holding cane,
and feet together, bow your head slightly towards your opponent.
Courtesy in Arnis can also be executed with two canes.