| The three major branches of Filipino martial arts | | | | fighting. Born from guerilla combat, Filipino martial |
| are Arnis typically from the northern Luzon | | | | arts are not a systemized form of combat. |
| regions, Eskrima from the central Visayas regions, | | | | Traditions and teachings are transferred from |
| and Kali from the southern Mindanao regions. | | | | father to son, master to student. Teaching |
| Within these branches dwell a long line of masters, | | | | methods vary and documentation of these |
| families, systems and history. Most Filipino | | | | methods only occurred over the last 2 decades. |
| systems will associate with one of these terms | | | | Most traditional martial arts fall victim to this same |
| and their respective regions of the Philippines. | | | | problem. Instructors begin to make things |
| As a guerilla combat art it has proved to be | | | | complicated in order to fill up time and keep |
| extremely effective. The local warriors would | | | | students occupied. Take a look at the Japanese |
| make use of whatever they had around them to | | | | during the Edo period. With no one to fight, the |
| use against many invading cultures. Today is it | | | | samurai warriors began to over analyze, write |
| widely practiced as a exploration into the history | | | | poetry and arrange flowers. The same is true |
| of the Filipino culture. | | | | with the Filipino martial arts, from the basic |
| The use of the stick and the dagger is most | | | | techniques of what actually worked, today we |
| common in all of the Filipino martial arts, but like all | | | | have a complicated and confusing symbolic |
| traditional martial arts it has gotten away from | | | | representation of what happened in the jungle. |
| simple and effective to complicated and useless. | | | | For effective fighting technique and real self |
| At its core, the indigenous martial arts of the | | | | defense it does not need to be complicated, just |
| Philippines are based on the bolo, a machete like | | | | simple and adaptable to the today's modern world. |
| weapon used for everything from farm work to | | | | |