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Eskrima and it's many
styles - July 5th
Eskrima or Escrima refers in a general way to Filipino martial arts.
Other terms in common international usage are Kali and Arnis de Mano;
occasionally the abbreviation FMA is used.
Many
different systems of Eskrima exist. In most systems, skills with weapons
and with empty hands are developed at the same time, using training
methods designed to emphasize the common elements. Practitioners of
these arts are noted for their ability to fight with weapons or empty
hands interchangeably. Most Eskrima systems include fighting with a
variety of weapons, striking with hands and feet (kickboxing),
grappling, throwing, biting, and all the other skills that would be
needed for a warrior's complete training in the old days of tribal
warfare. Perhaps the only major exceptions are that the skills needed
for fighting effectively in groups are being lost, and traditionally,
Eskrima would have been taught alongside Hilot, a Filipino system of
healing and medicine that has now virtually disappeared.
Names
There are basically no differences between Arnis, Eskrima and Kali. The
general martial arts community uses the different names to refer to any
Filipino martial art, although most teachers have a preferred name for
their art. Originally, the difference in the name implied the region
from which the art originated.
Eskrima and Arnis are the names primarily used in the Philippines today;
the term Eskrima is mostly used in the Visayas region. The name Kali is
seldom used except for a few areas in the Southern Philippines, but has
seen revival due to the teachings of modern masters such as Dan Inosanto
and Cass Magda. The name Eskrima is the Filipino spelling which comes
from Spanish-language esgrima, "fencing". The name Arnis is short for
arnés de mano, Spanish for "harness of the hand". The origin of the name
Kali is not certain, although some suggest it is related to the
traditional weapon called a kris or karis. Another explanation is that
the word is a portmanteau of the Filipino words Kamot, meaning hand or
body, and Lihok, meaning motion.
History
As
with most martial arts, the history of Eskrima is surrounded by legends
and it can be difficult to pin down facts. This is complicated by the
fact that there are actually many different fighting systems with
different histories that are called Eskrima (or Kali or Arnis de Mano).
The most commonly accepted explanation for the origin of Eskrima systems
is that they were originally the fighting systems posessed by every
tribe in the Phillipines and used by them to fight each other.
When
the Spanish conquistadors arrived, some tribes fought them, using native
weapons and techniques. Magellan, in particular, was killed in the
battle of Mactan by the chief Lapu-Lapu in the Philippines. At this
point sources differ on the history of Eskrima. Certainly by the time
the Spanish reached the Philippines, they were extremely experienced
conquerors, and had their own highly effective fighting systems, along
with higher-quality steel and weapons. The degree to which this affected
the practice of the native fighting arts is a matter of debate, but it
seems likely that the Filipinos borrowed what worked and discarded what
didn't (or at least, the Filipinos that survived to pass on their
fighting arts did so).
Since the time of the Spanish conquest, there have been guerrillas in
the Philippines, fighting the Spanish, the American, the Japanese, and
finally the native Filipino government (current guerrilla and terrorist
groups include the Hukbalahaps, the Philippine Revolutionary Army and
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front). However, most Eskrima practitioners
were farmers training to protect themselves with machetes, flails and
other farm tools.
For
the last century, the most important practice of Eskrima has been in
dueling, which is common in the Philippines and among Filipinos
elsewhere. The founders of most of the currently popular Eskrima systems
are famous duelists; legends circulate about how many people so-and-so
has killed in duels. Certainly duels did happen and deaths did result.
Duels would often be fought with hardwood sticks, to reduce legal
problems, but some duels were fought with blades.
Even
today, people in the Philippines are much more likely to carry knives,
and much more likely to use them when tempers rise, than people in North
America or Europe. As a result, knife-fighting (and to a lesser extent,
fighting with machetes) is still very much a living skill there.
For
a more precise history, one must distinguish between the different
systems of Eskrima (see below). One must then attempt to trace back the
lineage of their teacher as far as possible in order to understand where
the techniques came from. Often this is difficult; Antonio Illustrisimo
seemed to have learned to fight while travelling around the Phlippines
(and the rest of the Pacific) as a sailor, while Floro Villabrille
claimed to have been taught by a blind princess in the mountains. Both
teachers have passed away.
In
recent years, there has been an increased interest in martial arts from
cultures all over the world, including Eskrima, Capoeira, Savate, Muay
Thai and others. As a result, most Eskrima systems have been modified
(to varying degrees) to make them more marketable to a worldwide
audience. Usually ths involves a greatly increased emphasis on locking,
controls and disarms, as well as "self-defense" aspects, along with some
influence from Asian martial arts (sometimes in just the name). It also
tends to decrease the emphasis on careful footwork and low stances.
Eskrima has also begun to be practiced as a sport, although there is as
yet little standardization or uniformity. The rules, with their
corresponding effect on technique, have yet to be decided upon, although
several tournaments have been held with various sets of rules.
Weapons
The
most obvious feature of an Eskrima class is that it is usually
weapon-based. Most systems begin by teaching the student to work with
weapons, and only progress to empty-hand techniques once the stick
techniques have been learned. This is reasonable because most systems
have unified their teaching so that the empty-hand techniques are
learned through the same exercises as the weapon techniques.
The
most common weapon used in training is a rattan stick about the length
of the practitioner's arm; in the Philippines, these are known as
sparring sticks as they are light enough that they can be used for
sparring with no protection. Most North American and European schools
use protection when sparring with rattan sticks.
Other sticks used for training and for some duels are made of hardwood
that is burned and hardened. They can also be made out of metals such as
aluminum or can be padded for training purposes.
The
length of the sticks used in Eskrima classes varies from about 45cm to
70cm for single-handed sticks. Some schools prefer sticks of a
particular length, while others expect students to learn which
techniques are appropriate for a variety of lengths.
Many
systems in fact begin training with two weapons, either a pair of sticks
or a stick and a wooden knife (called espada y daga, Spanish for "sword
and dagger"). This is sometimes justified by pointing out that warriors
would not have gone into battle with an empty hand; another common
explanation is that having two weapons forces the practitioner to use
both hands, which is valuable even when working with one weapon: the
extra hand is used to control the opponent's weapon and to strike when
the range is sufficiently close. (Such uses are banned in modern sport
fencing, so sport fencers generally hold the unused hand away from
danger.) Historically, people all over the world, including Filipino
warriors, samurai and Renaissance fencers often trained with a long
weapon in one hand and a short weapon in the other. |
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The
stick techniques used in Eskrima fall into two categories: the stick
techniques that are training for sword fighting, and the stick
techniques that are training for stick fighting. As usual, most systems
are designed so that the practitioner can adapt their training to either
weapon. Other weapons traditionally included in Eskrima training include
spears, shields, whips and flails.
This
last item, the flail, is usually called nunchaku, the name for the
weapon used in Japanese martial arts. It was popularized by Bruce Lee in
several movies and inspired a wave of people to study Japanese arts for
using the nunchaku. This is odd, since Bruce Lee was depicted using
flail techniques from Eskrima, and the two look rather different: the
Eskrima usage focuses on striking, while the Japanese usage focuses on
gripping and breaking.
Ranges
Most
systems recognize that the technical nature of combat changes
drastically as the distance between opponents changes, and generally
classify the ranges into at least three categories. Each range has its
characteristic techniques and footwork. Of course, some systems place
more emphasis on certain ranges than others, but almost all recognize
that being able to work in any range and to control the range are
essential.
In
order to control the range, and for numerous other purposes, good
footwork is essential. Most Eskrima systems explain their footwork in
terms of triangles: normally two feet occupy two corners of the triangle
and the step is to the third corner. The shape and size of the triangle
must of course be adapted to the particular situation. The style of
footwork and the standing position vary greatly from school to school
and from practitioner to practitioner. For a very traditional school,
very conscious of battlefield necessities, stances will usually be very
low, often with one knee on the ground, and footwork will be complex,
involving many careful cross-steps to allow practitioners to cope with
multiple opponents. The Villabrille system is usually taught in this
way. Systems that have been adapted to duels or sporting matches usually
use simpler footwork, focusing on a single opponent. North American
schools tend to use much more upright stances, as this is much easier
for the legs. There are, of course, many exceptions.
Drills
Eskrima training is also notable for its emphasis on flowing, looping
drills. Several classes of exercises, such as sumbrada, contrada,
siniwali, and hubud-lubud, are expressly designed to allow partners to
move quickly and experiment with variations while remaining safe. For
example, in a sumbrada, one partner feeds an attack, which the other
counters, flowing into a counterattack, which is then countered, flowing
into a counterattack, and so on. The hubud-lubud is frequently used as a
type of "generator" drill, where one is forced to act and think while
fists are already flying. Initially, students learn a specific series of
attacks, counters, and counterattacks. As they advance, they can add
minor variations, change the footwork, or switch to completely different
attacks; eventually the exercise becomes almost completely free-form.
Disarms, take-downs, and other techniques usually break the flow of such
a drill, but they are usually practiced beginning from such a sequence
of movements in order to force the student to adapt to a variety of
situations. A common practice is to begin a drill with each student
armed with two weapons; once the drill is flowing, if a student sees an
opportunity for to disarm their opponent, they will, but the drill will
continue until both students are empty-handed. Some drills for
practicing disarms use only a single weapon per pair, and the partners
take turns taking it from each other.
Rhythm is also an essential part of most Eskrima drills; to ensure the
safety of the participants, most drills are done at a constant pace,
which is of course increased as the students progress. Traditionally,
Eskrima classes would have had a drummer beating out a rhythm for the
students to follow.
Subsections of Eskrima
Special terminology is used to refer to some of the subdisciplines of
Eskrima. Some schools teach separate classes in these disciplines, and
some schools teach only one.
- Pangamut is
the empty hand component.
- Dumog is the
grappling component; often it emphasizes disabling or control of the
opponent by manipulation of the head and neck (neck breaking is very
common). Usually too dangerous to allow free sparring.
- Panantukan
is the kickboxing component; it focuses on striking with (empty)
hands and feet, although it does not assume the opponent is unarmed.
- Pananjakman
is the kicking component; it is a subset of panantukan.
- Gunting,
meaning scissors, is the component that focuses on destroying the
poopnents ability to wield their weapon. This can be done by cutting
the hand or wrist with a pair of blades (hence the name) but it can
also be done with a single blade or with the empy hand by striking
nerves and tensed muscles.
- Espada y
daga is the use of a sword and knife (often simulated with a stick
and a wooden knife).
- Doble baston
is the use of a pair of sticks.
- Solo baston
is the use of a single stick.
- Mano mano is
empty hand combat.
Strikes
Many
Filipino systems focus on defending against angles of attack rather than
particular strikes. The theory behind this is that the technique for
defending against an attack that comes straight down the center is very
similar whether the attacker has an empty hand, a knife, a sword or a
spear. Older Filipino systems gave each angle a name, but more recent
systems tend to simply number them. Usually a system will have twelve
standard angles, although what these angles are and how they are
numbered vary from system to system. These standard angles are used to
describe exercises; to aid memorization, a standard series of strikes
from these angles called an abecederio is often practiced.
Some angles of attack and some
strikes have characteristic names.
- San Miguel
is a forehand strike with the right hand, moving from the striker's
right shoulder toward their right hip. It is named after Saint
Michael or the Angel Michael, who is often depicted holding a sword
at this angle. This is the most natural strike for most untrained
people.
- A redondo is
a strike that whips in a circle to return to its point of origin.
Especially useful when using sticks (rather than swords), such a
strike allows extremely fast strikes but needs constant practice.
- An abaniko
(from the Spanish for "fan") is a strike executed by whipping the
stick around the wrist in a fanning motion. Not very forceful and
not well suited to swords, this strike can be very quick and arrive
from an unexpected angle.
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Hakbang is a general term for footwork. For example, hakbang paiwas
is pivoting footwork, while hakbang tatsulock is triangle stepping.
Perhaps
because of its recent history as an art of duelists, Eskrima techniques
are generally based on the assumption that both the student and their
opponent are very highly trained and well prepared. For this reason,
Eskrima technique tends to favor extreme caution, always considering the
possibility of a failed technique or an unexpected knife. On the other
hand, the practitioner is assumed to be able to strike very precisely
and quickly. The general principle is that an opponent's ability to
attack should be destroyed (rather than trying to hurt them to convince
them to stop). Thus many strikes are to the hands and arms, hoping to
break the hand holding the weapon or cut the nerves or tendons
controlling it. Strikes to the eyes and legs are also important.
Major Systems of Eskrima
- Cabales
Serrada Eskrima - Founded by Angel Cabales.
- Doce Pares
Escrima - Founded by the Cañete family, headed by Dionision Ca?ete.
- Inosanto
Kali - developed by Dan Inosanto from various other styles; he does
not call it a system in its own right, preferring to refer to his
teachers.
- Kali
Illustrisimo - Founded by Antonio Illustrisimo; important as the
ancestor of many current Eskrima systems.
- Lameco
Escrima - Founded by Edgar Sulite. The name comes from the three
ranges of the system, largo, medio, and corto.
- Pekiti
Tirsia - Founded by Leo T. Gaje, the name means "to cut into pieces
at close range", although the system includes techniques for all
ranges.
- Villabrille
System - Founded by Ben Largusa on the teachings of Floro
Villabrille, the system pays an unusual amount of attention to
traditional weapons such as the spear or the sword and shield.
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