Kali – Filipino Martial Arts

Kali (also referred to as Arnis, Escrima or Kali Martial Arts) is a reality based combat system from the Philippines.

There are many different styles and systems that originate from the Philippines. Collectively, they are known as the Filipino Martial Arts.

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Unlike many other martial arts styles which attack the head as a primary target, Filipino Martial Arts tend to attack the limbs first. The idea is to attack the limbs so that the opponent is then unable protect their head and vital organs.

As Kali is a weapons based art, it takes this concept further by attacking the hand that carries the weapon. This concept is commonly referred to as ‘defanging the snake’.

Once you ‘defang’ a snake, you render it harmless as it is unable to hurt you.



Defending and attacking at the same time

Traditional defensive blocks are not used in Filipino Martial Arts. Instead, defensive techniques are aimed at hurting the attacking limb at the same time.

For example, when an opponent is strikes with a stick, rather than simply blocking the stick, a Filipino Martial Arts practitioner would hit or cut the opponent’s hand to both defend the blow and attack the opponent at the same time.

This concept is similar to Bruce Lee’s principle of interception, which is essentially an offensive defense.

Super charging the nervous system

Kali is a weapons based martial art. The weapons commonly practiced are the long blade, short blade (knife) and stick.

The weapons can also be classified as either edged weapons or blunt weapons.

Years of training with these weapons, especially the edged ones, develops superior reaction times and accuracy. With these heightened attributes, empty hand combat becomes comparatively slow and much less threatening.

Tight trapping motions

Trapping range is a range of fighting between punching range and grappling range. It is a very dangerous range of fighting because some of the most devastating weapons of the body, such as the head, elbows and knees, can by used to injure an opponent.

Like many martial arts systems that are reality based, as opposed to competition based, Kali has many techniques within trapping range.

Many people are unaware that Kali has trapping techniques that are almost identical to Chinese Wing Chun, such as the Pak Sao (slapping hand) and Lop Sao (pulling hand). Although, the trapping movements are almost the same, the equivalent technique in the Filipino Martial Arts tend to be tighter, and more effective, as they are aimed to control a hand that is holding stick or a knife.

For those martial artists who want to sharpen their trapping techniques I would highly recommend exploring the Filipino Martial Arts.

Sensitivity Drills

Sensitivity is the ability to feel and read pressure. It is a very important attribute to have in trapping and grappling range as there is bodily contact. The one with greater sensitivity within these ranges will usually be the superior fighter.

The Filipino Martial Arts have many sensitivity drills to develop the ability to feel and read pressure. These drills allow for the repetitive practice of different angles of attack and defence thus making the reactions second nature in a real life encounter.

To advance the drills further, weaponry is used.

When doing drills with weapons, such a knife, a practitioner needs to more accurate and more aware of their movements. This makes the drills much more effective.

Although, only blunt weapons should be used in these drills, practitioners are encouraged to simulate training as if they were sharp to enhance the effectiveness of the drills.

Video clip of a sensitivity drill

The following is great example of a Filipino Martial Arts sensitivity drill. Movements are repeated to reinforce a reaction and the practioners ‘break out’ of the drill to add ‘aliveness’ to the drill. To the untrained eye it looks a like little girls playing ‘patter-cake’ but there are very subtle movements that represents strikes and disarms.

Biting and eye gouging

One of the lesser known styles within the Filipino martial arts is the art known as Kino Mutai. This is a style that predominantly deals with the techniques of biting, pinching and eye gouging.

It is a devastating style which uses ‘dirty’ techniques to gain the advantage in a real life encounter.

My recommendation

Kali is an extremely effective style of martial art for real life self defence. The use of weapons allows one to understand how they can be used and also how to defend against them.

The way that weaponry is practiced allows you to use the same principles and apply them in a devastating way to empty hand combat.

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Filipino Martial Arts - More Than Fancy Baton Twirling 
Hi!

I have trained and continue to train in the Filipino Martial Arts (Kali) for approximately 8 years now. I also train in a variety of other martial ...