Philippine soldiers teach Pinoy martial art to US counterparts

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino soldiers taught their American counterparts the Pekiti Tirsia Kali, a lethal Filipino-style combat martial art developed in 1897, as part of the ongoing Balikatan exercises in San Miguel, Bulacan on Tuesday.

Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the Army troopers introduced the Pekiti Tirsia Kali to the US soldiers at the Scout Ranger School at Camp Pablo Tecson.

Trinidad said the training featured “a Filipino combat training program that focuses on the use of edge, impact and improvised weapons.”

Pekiti Tirsia Kali is described as a strict combat-oriented system adopted as one of the preferred combative training programs by several elite military and law enforcement units around the world. It is considered as a highly lethal method of self-defense.

Research says the Filipino-style martial art features movements based on the traditional blade art of arnis, which is also a native fighting technique that makes use of wooden or bamboo rods or sticks as fighting tool.

Trinidad said soldiers from both camps also trained side-by-side in combat tracking in San Miguel, Bulacan and honed their skills in combat tracking aimed at detecting and gathering information about enemy activities in a particular area.

He said more than 17,000 Filipino and American soldiers are participating in a spectrum of military operations in the ongoing iteration of the largest Balikatan to date.