COMPARISON - ARNIS, ESCRIMA, KALI

There are ca. 90 different languages on the philippines. These languages are no dialect of a common language, but are so different, that you cannot understand one language if you have originally learned one of the others. The official languages are english and "filipino", which is based on the "Tagalog"(a language from the Manila-area). Martial Artists from europe, america, australia and other countries tried to put an order to this chaos, but they could not manage it because of a lack in speech-knowledge, so there are the wildest combinations. Some names of techniques habe a totally other meaning on another island, althoug the words are spoken and written equally. You can find these wrong expressions even today in some books, video and the internet. Many clubs and organizations use the names Arnis, Escrima and Kali and they "We are practicing Escrima!" Nobody can say this because all the systems and styles are mixed up today. On the philippines this not of interest for anybody and they call it sometimes Escrima, sometimes Arnis and sometimes Kali. In europe some organization try to differ these expressions because of political reasons, but the only real difference you can make is to say that Arnis is a nothern style, Escrima the central style and Kali the southern style. You will find the most differences in the footwork. All other techniques like hit-direction, disarms, double-stick-techniques a. o. cover nearly all systems. In some there are no double-stick-techniques or no Espada y Daga or no holding-techniques. The other philippine systems like Dumog, Sikaran Kuntaw, Fraile, Panantukan cannot be put in those AKE-categories so easily, as they are used to complete the other systems, as well as they are indepent systems.

KALI:

Kali is an old expression of the Visayas and Mindanaos for blade-weapons, which is not in use any more in the Visayas. On Mindanao it means "Muslim-Dagger". Linguists think, that "Kali" is a mix of the words kamut(hand) and lihog(movement), which was connected to "Kali" - Handmovement. On the islands Pany, Negros and Samar you can also call it Kaliradman, Kalirongan or Pankalikali. Others think, that "Kali" comes from the old indonesian sword-art "Tjakalele" and some other people draw this back to the indian war-goddes "Kali", which expressions came under the hinduistic empire "Majapahit" to the philippines.

ARNIS / ARNIS DE MANO:

is a combat-style, which evolved after 1764 and which was influenced by MoroMoro-games, Sinnulog-dances the spanish war-art. The expression "arnis de mano" (hand-protector) comes from the spanish sword-fighters. This style got very fast very popular on the philippines.

ESCRIMA:

philippine edition of the spanish word "esgrima" (sword-art). This means the overtaking of spanish sword-techniques into the Kali and Pangamut and was used the first time by philippine warriors, which served as soldiers to colonial-countries.