Not very many people know about the history of the Philippine martial arts, as this martial art has been practiced secretly for so long in my country. In fact, even if you asked a grandmaster of the art, they probably would not know, as it is such an old art. I have interviewed at least about 8 grandmasters, and none of them have valid basis for their information. Grandmasters after all, are teachers of the art, not teachers of history.

I appreciate the fact that you are helping educate the world about the existence of this art. Maybe your article was not meant to offend, and maybe the many people that read it that did not know the difference, would not have cared. But you did put in some misinformation in your page which hurts the history of this art for the Filipino people and for the sake of respect for our history, it needs to be changed, in your report.

The part of your article where you stated that Arnis-Eskrima-Kali came from Chinese traders in the 9th century is not true. Kali is not a Chinese term, neither is Arnis or Eskrima. Filipinos do not change the names of martial arts of other countries then call it their own. If China or Japan or Korea would have brought a martial art form into the Philippines, it will bear the name that they brought it in with. Filipinos do not alter the names Karate, Judo, Tae-Kwon Do when they come into the country. The culture of the Filipino people do not support this.

In fact when Judo or Karate is mixed in with Kali, the grandmasters tell you which one is which. They do not steal from other cultures.

What offends me is that other countries try to take away what is Filipino and call it their own. It offends me that people, by their carelessness take away something that belongs rightfully in our heritage. For example, some things which were originally from the Philippines, and which were adapted by other countries and now call it their own are boxing, the yo-yo, the chako, and Kendo stickfighting.

When you write in your article that China brought this art to the Philippines, it is like you are attributing something which comes from us again to another country. This is stealing. And this is offensive to me, and should be offensive to any Filipino once they find out what is happening.

Kali is the oldest term used for this martial art. In the south, it is called Kali-Silat, with Silat attributed to the lower extremity movements. When the Spaniards came to colonize the islands, they forbade the use and practice of Kali, but they called it Eskrima or Arnis. The Filipinos, who were then under the yoke of the Spanish, and who also spoke Spanish at that time, started to use these Iberian terms when they referred to the art.

Kali is a prefix for many Filipino languages. One of the oldest languages is Karay-a in Panay. Here, typical words which start with kali are: kalipay (happiness), kalibutan (world). Kali also was used as a suffix: Sakali ( "if fate deems", or it could mean "to Kali" ).

History books state that early Filipinos migrated from the south, from the Celebes and Borneo. Kali is also used extensively in the languages of these areas.

Kali is also used in India, as it is the name of a god. Gods in India have a duality, hence Shiva and Vishnu are paired as the Destroyer and the preserver. Kali is worshipped in Bengal (East India) as a goddess of destruction, so that new seed could sprout and come into the world.

The people of Indonesia have strong traces of Indian culture - their religion, dress, customs, etc.. Indian culture travelled south to Sumatra and Java bringing their religion and way of life. Remnants of this culture trickled east to the Celebes and north to Borneo and Mindanao. In our history books, there were even 10 Datus who traveled from southern lands to settle in Panay (where karay-a is still spoken, and karay-a has the most similar words to the Indonesian language by the way).

In East India, there is a very old and tracitional dance of sticks which I thought could have been the source of this martial art. But Indian dance teachers say that those are mostly harvest festival dances, and the sticks are nothing else but props that they use. The pattern of the arm movements are also not the Kali martial art patterns. So definitely, the martial art form did not come from India.

In Indonesia, they fight more with Silat than Kali. In Pentjak Silat is included a study of the body's center of gravity and how to constantly topple it. In Southern Philippines, Silat is used in dances, as martial arts, and as games. We played it as young children of 6-8, and we never thought of it as a martial art, just as a funny game of physical wit.

Dance relates to the culture of the country. A study of the dance forms of the Philippines shows that the kali pattern is ingrained in all the hand gestures and footsteps for agility. None of these kali patterns are seen in the dances of India, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan, Pacific islanders. Only in the Philippines will you see these dance patterns similar to the kali patterns. So even if there is similarity to the Silat of Indonesia, Kali still developed into its own, in ancient Philippines.

The Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company in their world travel tours created a lot of confusion when they mistakenly described in their program notes, the dance called "Sakuting" as a dance taken from Chinese chopsticks. That was a big mistake and stemmed out of ignorance. At that time, Kali-Eskrima-Arnis was not a widely practiced sport, and the poor dancers did not know any better. But yes, they did perform kali movements with those sticks, including attacks on the lower extremities and feet.

So you see, in the 9th century, when China was trading with us, they were only bringing their porcelain to us, not their martial arts. Filipinos at that time were good to all traders. They were peaceful people. There was no need for the Chinese to fight any Filipino and show their martial art, as they freely came in peace and traded.

The Filipinos however used their martial arts among themselves to establish and defend the territories of their small kingdoms. Kingdoms were so small, you go over a river, and the people there would already be talking in another language. The martial art was practiced by men and women equally. Princesses of kingdoms also led armies to fight enemies. In fact, way into the Spanish colonization (1521-1898), despite the fact that the Spanish relegated the women to childbearing, childrearing, housekeeping and cooking, it was not uncommon for the wife of a slain warrior to take the sword or bolo and pick up the fight, leading their husband's armies into battle. The Ilocana Gabriela Silang was one. Teresa Magbanua in Iloilo, was another one.

I have researched this from a lot of angles. I am happy that you have interest in sharing knowledge of the art on the web. But the advice given me by the editors and historians of the NCCA (National Commission on the Cultural Arts of the Philippines), a national government agency based in Manila was this: "if you have no proof, there is no need to mention countries of origin. Just describe the art, and even with only that, you can surely fill up many pages. You will still have your story."

I hope that you will show the respect for this art which it deserves by giving it its true place in the world. It is not a borrowed art, especially not coming from China. It has come into its own, and has developed into what it is today - a dynamic hubad-lubad of intricate systems, in a chain which goes into infinity, with no perceived beginning and no end.

Zonia Velasco