Kali
Sticks are an extension of the hands. Without the hands, there can be no sticks. Sometimes people ask, often sarcastically, “Why do you practice stick fighting – it’s not like you carry sticks everywhere you go?” It’s good to be able to answer them and it’s good to be able to remind yourself when you need to. Although practitioners of many styles do lip service to this statement, only practitioners of the Filipino martial arts back it up by doing the same exact techniques with and without weapons. The Filipino martial arts (Kali, Escrima, Arnis) teach weapons first, after which come the empty-hand techniques. Although it may seem backward to some martial artists, most if not all FMA hand to hand combat techniques originate from the principles that underlie the historical stick and sword movements.
The Filipino martial arts represent the most well-rounded and practical fighting techniques in the world. They cover all distances in which combat takes place: long range (kicking); middle range (boxing, elbowing, kneeing); and short range (grabbing, poking, grappling, biting). Kali does not focus on fancy or complicated moves that are likely to fail under duress – even the forms (Anyo), are composed of actual fighting moves. Historically those components were hidden in a dance, (Sayaw), for a variety of reasons.
Instructor; Paul Whyte
