Kali and the weight of history: a Fil-Am's thoughts

[bayani]

Hello, I'm Bayani and new to this forum, which is one of the most thoughtful Martial communities I've ever run into...just figured I'd float this thought out to you all and see what you all might say...

As a Filipino-American practicioner of Kali (Bakbakan Kali Illustrisimo, to be precise--hi, Wileen!), this art means infinitely more to me than merely it being one of the most brutally effective fighting arts on the planet. It's kind of a (not to get gooey and New Age-y on you all)spiritual transmission of sorts...a physical manifestation of the spirit of my ancestors, as they faced terrible conflict and deep human darkness. Regardless of the systems floating around out there, FMAs are fierce and unrelenting, beautiful to look at, terminal in their application.

Now, to me, that's fantastic and truly wonderful--but, to tell you all the truth, there's a part of me that is somewhat saddened by the notion that the Filipino art of Kali (in other words, the way we did in our enemies)is one of the only indigenous things that survived all the years of colonial rule (Spain, America, Japan,etc.).

To put this in some kind of context for non-Filipinos, suppose the only things that were extant of European culture were George Silver's sword techniques and the Applegate-Fairbairn systems of point shooting and CQC...no Shakespeare, no Hemingway, maybe Mozart, but definitely no Picasso, and only vague fragments of Plato and Aristotle--or imagine, if you will, Chinese Kung Fu without Shaolin and Taoism, Aikijujutsu and Kenjutsu without the Samurai and the code of Bushido. Pragmatic fighting skills are great, but, geez! Sometimes, that's how I feel about all of this...

While I'm totally proud of my art, my system, and my training brothers and sisters, and I'm excited about the spread of my people's fighting art within the community of true martial practicioners--I truly wish that more of my parents' ancient culture was recorded or survived. The civilizations of Southeast Asia are ancient--encompassing the people of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. But, while the Indo-Malays were able to preserve all of Silat's legends and philosphical/moral teachings against the occupying foe, Filipinos didn't...or couldn't. When I have kids someday, I would have liked to tell them stories of heroes and kingdoms...I don't know how much of that I can realistically do. Heck, I'd have liked to hear those stories myself when I was a child...

I'll be interested to read all of your comments...Stay safe and sharp everybody, and take care.

 

[thekuntawman]

i feel the same as you, except i had my grandfather to give to me some of those stories. also i was in a circle of arnisadors and other practicioners who told to me some stories, as well as my mom. sadly i later grew up to find that many of them were not accurate although my grandparents try to make them as real as they could (papa did not believe in those wild stories like one man killing 20 or something like that). on the other hand i also read later about many of the stories they are true, like the role of katipunan with the fighting arts of the philippines, and our relationship to the indochines and other island peoples.
i cannot be so arrogant to offer advice but i can tell you what i do, i read what i can and i think about the source of the words you read, did they come from spaniards or "free-mind" pilipinos, or "sleepwalking pilipinos", or pilipinos who wish they are spanish (you know, the ones who say,'my great grandfather was a spaniard' and they are proud! even though he did not marry his grandmother). many times the story can be twisted because they want to send a image. or we can take the lesson we learn from Lot and his wife, DONT LOOK BACK. i should follow that because i sometimes dwell on the past, but our history is gone almost, yet we can be proud of the little bit we do know about.

i would like to see you become the best example of the pinoy fighter one can find, so that when people see you demonstrate it, they respect the philippines even if they dont know our history.

i would like to meet one friend of mine who live in cebu. email me and i will give you his number.

 

[jrf]

deleted.

[This message has been edited by jrf (edited 12-26-2000).]

 

[jrf]

deleted.

[This message has been edited by jrf (edited 12-26-2000).]

 

[sing]

Bayani,

A very thoughtful post.

As a first generation Chinese who has been in this country for most of my years, I have acculterated in many ways. There were times in my early life where I wished I was not "different" from the majority. There were times where I had to fight because of that perceived difference, whether I liked it or not.

To a large degree I have to accept that I am different from the mainstream. But I am also different from those of my ancestor's land. Yet part of me flows from my parents, to theirs and those before. I am proud of that in so much as this heritage has helped shape who I am.

I think we should look back and learn from that as much as we can. But I also think we can't go back there. Things change and we change individually. We forge ahead doing the best we can.

Some of my rambling thoughts this morning.

sing

AKTI #A000356

 

[bhott]

True, sometimes it's frustrating to realize that we know very little of our own history. The more than 300 years of Spanish rule has seen to that. But let's be proud of what our forefathers have given to the world - the arts of kali and arnis. Don't forget also, the yoyo, which is now a toy, but once considered by the ancient Filipinos as a weapon. Anybody out there has any idea on how to use the yoyo as a weapon?

 

[PROTECTOR]

bayani,

I am of pale white, bog-Irish descent, straight from my raised in America father. However, my father was in the Phillipines during World War 2 and he felt it was one of the most amazing places he had ever been. He hd many stories aobut the people, the culture, the fierce, never give up attitude..

He would tell stories of being on patrol or in the area with Filipno troops and describe things he had seen them do with knives and bolos. He didn't understand what he was seeing, but his descriptions were vivid and when I later started training in the FMA I could recognize techniques and styles he had described.

When he was 77 years old and starting to fade mentally, these impressions of the Phillipines were still strong with him and he still loved to tell the stories.

I have tried to learn the history to go with the art I love and when I win the lottery (please Lord!) this is one of the first places I would like to visit.

 

[bayani]

Hey, everybody, thank you kindly for your replies... (kuntawman, kababayan, kumusta ka na?) No, jrf, you didn't misunderstand me--no apologies needed. I read and study, think and write constantly about this stuff--so perhaps it lingers with me more than other folk. One of the things I like about my Bakbakan group is that Guro Rey (my teacher) is a total history buff, and deeply cognizant of the particular issues we Fil-Am Kali/Eskrima guys deal with--it's kind of a big thing with us, we feel the real responsibility to work/train extra hard, and to try and "go deep" because we're "flying the flag", so to speak. For many of us, myself included, FMAs were the first and most basic step in learning about & seeking to understand, encompass, and embrace our complicated cultural histories--as not only citizens of the good old USA, but also as part of the Philippines, Asia, the global whole... It's funny to think of martial arts as the distilled wisdom of a people in crisis, when you realize that all wisdom is drawn from deep pain--kinda lends a rather poignant quality to my practice, when I think of the sacrifices made, and the lives lost, so that many hundreds of years later I can mess about w/knives,sticks and swords with my friends, and make all these discoveries. The footprints we all walk in are deep, the debts we all owe are great--may all of us continue to work and try, may all of us be ready when and if we're needed, may all of us be worthy. Thanks everybody, keep thinking & writing, stay safe, stay sharp.

bayani

 

[Wileen]

Welcome aboard "Bayani"

Glad to see you finally made it on to BladeFourms!

Interesting post. I'm trying to learn about my ancestry through my family and relatives, the farthest I get is WWII! (PROTECTOR, I know what you mean about the stories)
I hope one day we'll get history straight for the next Fil-Am generation.

Bayani, your right about Master Rey Galang he has a wealth of knowledge, I'm trying to learn as much as I can from him.