The history of “Arnis”

To: Ma’am Kimberly Claire Grona

From: Kael T. Navarro
 Introduction of Arnis
• Arnis is the official national sport and the martial art of the Philippines.
It is also known as "Kali" or "Eskrima". These two terms are used for the
traditional martial art of the Philippines (“Filipino Martial Arts”, or
“FMA”) that focuses on weapon-based fighting with knives, sticks,
bladed weapons and some improvised weapons. Arnis is a combat sport
to defend oneself from attacks using hand to hand
combat, grappling and weapon disarming in weapon-based fights.
Arnis was first introduced in 1969 to some public and private school
teachers when Remy Presas taught his personal style of Arnis which
he called "Modern Arnis". He taught his own style to the students of the
National College of Physical Education (NCPE) when he was given the
chance to teach there.
 Origin of the Name
• The word Arnis got originated from the old Spanish term, arnés,
meant “armor”and Eskrima is a Filipinization of the Spanish
word, esgrima for fencing. Whereas the name ‘Kali’ was derived
from the pre-Hispanic Filipano term ‘Kalis’ which
meant Blades and Fencing.
Practitioners of the sport are
called “arnisador” for male and “arnisadora” for female in Arnis
and “eskrimador” for male and “eskrimadora” for female in
the Eskrima and Kali Art.
Moreover, all the three, Arnis, Eskrima and Kali belong to the same
family of Filipino weapon-based martial arts and fighting systems.
 History of Arnis
• Philippine is an island nation that is not only rich in culture,
heritage, and history but also in sports. The Filipino martial
art widely known as Arnis / Kali / Eskrima has contributed to
both the history and diversity of Philippines.
• Some common questions that arise in every reader’s mind
are (a) “Where did this Sport Originate From?” (b) “Why is it
played?” Therefore, to get a better understanding about the
sport we need to dig into the past.
 History of Arnis
• Initially, the sport was practiced by peasants or by commoner
class people. But these practitioners lacked the scholarly
knowledge due to which this sport has no written records.
The origin of Arnis can be traced back to native fighting
techniques during the conflicts among the various Pre-Hispanic
Filipino tribes or kingdoms. Whereas, another form of Spanish
fencing dating back to the 15th Century, also influenced the
current form of Arnis, moreover it also has
the impact of Chinese, Arab and Indian martial arts.
 History of Arnis
• It is also believed by some people of Philippines that the Filipino art of Arnis
has some roots connected to India as the people who traveled
through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippine islands had brought this art
with them. Silambam, a stick based ancient martial art of Tamil Nadu,
India, has influenced many martial art forms in Asia like Silat among which it
is also believed that the Filipino Martial art sport, Arnis, also shares ancestry
with India’s Martial art, Silambam, as it has some similar moves with the short
stick (kali or kaji) and other weapon based styles of Silambam. Arnis originally
belonged to the people of Philippines, but as time passed by, the art spread
over to other countries and by the time of World War II; many continents
adopted it. Arnis also played a significant role during
the Philippine revolutionaries against the Spaniards.