Kali, escrima

Roland Dantes has come back to the Philippines to settle some unfinished business. When he left about 20 years ago, it was partly in disappointment with the way arnis was being handled (or not handled) in the country. He based himself in Australia, where he successfully built an arnis training center, and spread the word about the sport from one country to the next.

Dantes was fully aware of the rich Filipino cultural heritage he was carrying. Since Filipinos were forbidden from practicing swordplay in Spanish times, they invented kali and escrima, to disguise their practice. Arnis, with the simple use of a bamboo or wooden baton as a substitute, soon followed. Gabriela Silang was supposedly one of the first practitioners of kali, which explains why she always carries a bladed weapon when represented in statuary.

Unfortunately, as other countries embraced what is now called FMA (for Filipino Martial Art), its own country of origin deteriorated.

“If you look at the history of arnis and its precursors kali and escrima, it’s part of the noble warrior tradition of the Filipino,” says Dantes, a Hall of Famer in both bodybuilding and martial arts.

“What has happened to our sport? Nothing.”

Although there are independent groups that hold successful arnis tournaments, particularly in the Visayas, there has not been a large-scale national tournament in recent memory. Some 22 years ago, the arnis community split over how to run the sport. In fact, one of the things they argued about was whether to pad the fighter or the stick. Nowadays, they do both, for the participant’s protection.

“I’ve been fighting a lonely battle to get arnis into the physical education curriculum, but it’s been difficult,” says Dantes, who was a movie star back in the late 1970’s, after he placed fourth in the Mr. Universe contest which Arnold Schwarzenegger won in 1969. “Why do we have karate (which is Japanese) and taekwondo (which is Korean)? Why not a true Filipino fighting art?”

Dantes is concerned that the fighting arts would not be able to pass on their heritage and history, so he formed the Philippine Council of Kali, Escrima and Arnis Masters (PCKEAM), in the hope that their combined knowledge would give the sport new life.

One of their first projects is a national tournament, to be followed by a world invitational, where we will finally see how strong we are, and how far the rest of the world have come.

“The Italians are very good,” adds Dantes, who has constantly been training security forces, airline personnel and armed forces in self-defense. “The Australians have also become very strong. In the forms competition, other European countries have blended the kata with their own folk dances. It’s very beautiful to watch.”

Dantes vows he will do everything to elevate the sport, not just internationally, but within our shores. He says it only makes common sense, since the stick is found everywhere.

“Why are other sports like muay thai part of the SEA Games, while arnis is only a medal sport when the games are held here?” he asks. “If you look around you, the policemen and barangay tanods all carry batons. That is a huge potential talent pool, and a big force for peace and order. Even children can do arnis. They can master the movements without hitting or being hit. It teaches discipline and respect.”

If he can muster the support, Roland Dantes vows to promote arnis until it gets the respect it deserves. In his eyes, the Filipino has always been a giant in the world of martial arts.

We just have to remember that.