Filipino Martial Arts

From MartialTalk Online Martial Arts Encyclopedia Project

The Filipino "war arts" or "arts of war" were a result of Southeast Asian ideas that flowed from one neighboring island to another. Some of the country's earliest settlers were Malay Muslim warriors from Indonesia, during the Majapahit Empire and from Borneo (1293 to around 1500 AD), who had existing combat methods. However, through time, local Filipino chieftains had developed their ancestral methods and fashioned them into an artform designed to defend their territory. These newly formed methods were later known as Kali (knife) or Arnis-Eskrima (fencing).

• Eskrima
• Modern Arnis
• Pekiti Tirsia Kali

Sources

• A Short History of Filipino Martial Arts
• History of Arnis and Eskrima

Resources

• [www.fmatalk.com FMATalk Filipino Martial Arts Discussion Forum]