The names Arnis,Kali Eskrima, Telebangco,System refer to a weapons based martial arts developed from traditional roots in the Philippines. The Philippines are an archipelago of islands, and the names used vary with region. The art is referred to as Arnis in the northern islands, including Luzon, Eskrima in the middle, Visayas islands, and Kali in the south including Mindanao. While Telebangco, is the Surname of the Grandmaster Edgardo M. Telebangco, which now called Telebangco System.
Description of the Art
Arnis , is different from many other martial arts in that the student is trained with weapons from the very beginning. The primary training weapon is the baston, a rattan stick usually about 30 inches long. The baston is both a weapon and a training tool meant to simulate a short sword or kris, the traditional knife of the archipelago. In the southern dialects, the kris is referred to as a kalis, from which is derived the name “Kali”. Eskrima practitioners believe that training with baston builds manual dexterity and trains fasters conditioned responses. The various Eskrima drills are certainly very fast, and typically include either programmed or semi-programmed exchanges of attack and defense using the baston. Although weapons based, Eskrima also included striking with the hands and feet, wrestling, grappling and even some groundfighting. Additionally, many of the armed offensive and defensive techniques may be used empty handed. Thus, Eskrima offers practical defenses against most hand weapons.
Kali is a martial art of the Philippines with a long and varied history. It originally was developed by the peoples native to those islands over the centuries before the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and the Spanish in 1521. At that time, it was in part based on a wavy-edged sword typically 30 inches long made of wood called (in at least one dialect) a "kalis" a modern derivative of which is the "kris". Upon their arrival, Magellan's force was engaged in a ferocious battle (or so the legend goes) by the islanders wielding such weapons. Their leader Lapu Lapu killed Magellan and the Spanish were repelled even though the heavily armoured Spanish had superior metal weaponry. Today Lapu Lapu is considered by many to be a national hero of the Philippines (Dr. Jose M. Rizal is the official national hero). Eventually the Spanish did take over the island, kali was banned, and the traditional weapons confiscated. The art was subsequently taken underground. The use of kalis shifted to sticks or "baston" commonly made of rattan.
