Have you ever heard of the Kali martial arts system? “The deadliest system,” “an effective way to survive in a military situation,” “the best self-defense system” — all these phrases are used to describe Kali. Practically half the world is fanatically interested in this martial arts system, yet knows nothing about its origins and purpose. The popularity of this system has spread to the Philippines, America, part of Europe, and has reached the Russian-speaking world. But despite the popularity of the Kali system, the system itself remains a mystery. In this article, we will try to acquaint the reader with some aspects of Kali firsthand.
It is believed that the Kali system originated in the Philippines, has many variations, and is known by different names, such as Pekiti Tirsia Kali, Arnis, Eskrima, and others. There are many questions that even masters who have devoted many years of their lives to studying and practicing Kali cannot answer. Today, the leading expert in Filipino martial arts is Grand Maestro Dan Inosanto. People from all over the world come to him and his students to learn martial arts and take exams. In addition, Dan Inosanto is a writer, actor, and martial arts master, specializing in Jeet Kune Do and Filipino martial arts. He was also Bruce Lee’s training partner and his best student, who continued his work of popularizing martial arts, including through cinema — Inosanto became a stunt coordinator for many films. In addition, he founded and still runs the world-famous Inosanto Academy.
Today, Dan Inosanto is 83 years old, but he continues to train in various martial arts. Surprisingly, Dan Inosanto studied Kali under 34 instructors. The master himself does not often give interviews, but we managed to gain access to unique materials from a conversation about the history of Kali, the influence of Filipino martial arts on modern self-defense and boxing systems!
The conversation about Jeet Kune Do and Kali took place between Dan Inosanto and Academician Oleg Maltsev, who is a research scientist and expert in the field of world martial arts and security (more details about the Academician’s research activities can be found on the official website). Oleg Maltsev also studies Filipino martial arts and is a master of the Kali system. Several years ago, Oleg Viktorovich traveled to Texas to visit John Rister (a student of Dan Inosanto) at the Rister Martial Arts Association and successfully passed all the Kali exams, after which he was able to teach the system to others.
Kali
First of all, it would be good to understand the word “Kali” itself. Dan Inosanto believes that the name “Kali” has Filipino origins: “KA” comes from the word “kamut,” and “LI” comes from the word “lihuk,” which means a hand in motion, or rather, a body in motion. Kali is known by various names: Eskrima, Arnis, Arnis de Mana, Estacado, Estokey, Jat Man, Pakali Rogen, etc. — all of which are Filipino martial arts (FMA). This is because the Philippines itself is a unique place — a cluster of different islands with different cultures, ethnic groups, and dialects. This is probably why there are differences in the Kali system itself. Dan Inosanto studied with representatives of different Filipino ethnic groups and found that each teacher’s system was different — for example, some systems are more effective for hand-to-hand combat, others are more effective with bladed weapons, and still others are more effective with sticks. According to Inosanto, he took the most effective elements from each of these systems and passed on his knowledge to his students, who, in turn, can take what works best for them.
“My father told me that all the people you meet are your teachers. I learn from those whose skill level is higher than mine; I also learn from people whose skill level is about the same as mine, and I even learn from people whose skill level is lower than mine. Teachers are always necessary because you need to learn different tactics from different people. Martial arts always require a certain level of knowledge and skill. I always tell my students to take what they like from my lessons. First, a person personalizes the system for themselves, and then for their students. This is important because a technique that does not suit the teacher may suit his student due to the latter’s physical characteristics. If we draw an analogy with music, each person will have their own collection of music. If I play 100 different melodies, not all of them may appeal to a person, and the same applies to martial arts.” Dan Inosanto
The main part of Kali martial arts is devoted to working with bladed weapons. Accordingly, the first question was related to this.
Oleg Maltsev:
Can we say that Kali is fencing?
Dan Inosanto:
Yes. It is fencing with sticks, swords, daggers, swords and shields, and even without weapons (hand-to-hand combat, fighting with elbows, knees, etc.). To a certain extent, Kali is fencing.
Oleg Maltsev:
So Kali is fencing with different types of weapons, where we use the same technique for all types of weapons?
Dan Inosanto:
Yes. You can use the same technique with different types of weapons. However, some techniques will only be suitable for working with certain weapons.
Oleg Maltsev:
So, it depends on the type of weapon?
Dan Inosanto:
Yes, there are certain similarities, but there are also slight differences. This is easy to see in the example of driving: driving a truck is slightly different from driving a car.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE ON FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS
During the conversation, it became known that Dan Inosanto’s father was a historian and that Inosanto inherited his love of history from his father. According to Dan, the history of the Philippines is misrepresented in textbooks and history books. Oleg Maltsev, founder of the Spanish fencing school “Achinech” and researcher of Spanish heritage, was interested to hear Dan Inosanto’s opinion on the influence of the Spanish Empire on Filipino martial arts. Dan Inosanto believes that the Spanish undoubtedly had a great influence on the martial arts of the Philippines during their 333 years of rule in the territory, as well as on the Philippines itself. He noted that some Filipino fighting systems consist of 20-30% Spanish techniques, particularly when it comes to working with weapons. However, before the Spanish arrived in the Philippines, there were already significant influences from other cultures such as Persian, Arab, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, and even Indian. There were 10 kingdoms in the Philippines, consisting of many different groups that differed slightly from each other, ethnically and culturally. Without a doubt, official history is largely contradictory, especially when it comes to island territories. According to Dan Inosanto, the formally written history of the Philippines is completely untrue (for example, 10 types of alphabets that existed were destroyed by the Spanish). The Philippines is a unique place which, despite its small territory with a population of about 105 million, has been exposed to diverse influences from virtually all major world cultures and powers, thus forming an original mixture.
THE INFLUENCE OF FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS ON AMERICAN BOXING
There is a belief that Filipino martial arts have influenced other martial arts throughout history, namely American boxing, after crossing the ocean. Oleg Maltsev has been researching the origins of boxing for over 20 years, particularly the style of Cus D’Amato, the trainer who raised three world champions: Mike Tyson, Jose Torres, and Floyd Patterson. The result of this research was a series of books on the style of Cus D’Amato, such as “The Uncompromising Pendulum,” “The Lightning Rod as a Lightning Strike,” and “The Barometer of Combat.” As part of the research at the Research Institute of Criminalistics, more than 50 treatises from the 17th and 18th centuries on fencing, boxing, and wrestling were translated. Grand Master Dan Inosanto was asked how he felt about the hypothesis that Filipino martial arts had a significant influence on American boxing. Dan Inosanto noted that the hypothesis was valid. The stances themselves were certainly different, and Filipino boxing is based on fighting with two daggers. It is also interesting that this type of boxing was mixed with the techniques of African Americans, Caucasians, and the navy. According to the grand maestro, most experts would disagree that Filipino boxing influenced Western boxing, but Inosanto himself was taught by the older generation of grand masters that it did have a significant influence. Nowadays, Filipino boxing has become “ordinary” Western boxing, but there are people who teach this type of fighting as a self-defense system rather than a sport in the ring. Filipino boxing is known by various names: suntukan, panatukan, mano-mano, and so on. As soon as the system begins to be used for self-defense, you will immediately notice the presence of blows below the belt, kicks, and so on.
Oleg Maltsev:
Can we say that this system is based on knife fighting, that is, it replicates knife movements, only with bare hands?
Dan Inosanto:
The technique is based more on the dagger. In Filipino boxing, there are a lot of slaps, elbow strikes, and a few knee strikes. The system is very different from other martial arts, even in appearance, if taught correctly. Filipino martial arts themselves are widely used in the US military and law enforcement.
Next year, the Research Institute for World Martial Arts Traditions and Criminalistic Studies of Weapons Use plans to conduct research on the differences between Kali and other martial arts. The research will certainly not be easy, as no primary sources mentioning Kali have been found to date. Research into Filipino martial arts continues…
