Another Vintage (circa 1950's) Arnis Video

Je regrette que mon français est un peu terribles mes amis!

Thankfully though, it was translated with the appropriate subtitles. An old French documentary showing an idyllic, rural town in the province of Tarlac in Central Luzon featuring truly "old school" arnis de mano and their senior practitioners. 

Arnis The National Sport Now In Stamps

Photo from ph.news.yahoo.com

Read the full story here.

Alamid Martial Arts

The Philippine native alamid a.k.a. musang

A long while back, probably in the late 90's, as I was browsing the MA section at a National Bookstore somewhere, I chanced upon an interesting book. It appeared to be a new form of martial art. While I was intrigued, I wasn't impressed with the book itself: it was poorly edited and even looked self-published. But as the old saying of not judging a book by its cover (or its entire contents actually) goes, one shouldn't be too quick to dismiss it outright without having even just a peek into what it's all about.

The Alamid Martial Arts style is one of the more recently-developed FMA's and founded here in the Philippines. If I recall correctly some of the contents of the book, the founder of the style developed and incorporated what he described as "twitching" strikes. The inspiration for these movements are said to come from the mongoose which is the weasel-like quick and agile creature with a reputation as a fearless snake killer. To be accurate though, the animal known as "alamid" is the Asian palm civet (family Viverridae) and since both creatures are lean, slender and do have somewhat of a passing similarity, I suppose it served as the closest equivalent.

That was quite a while ago and I just found out that they have come out with some vids on Youtube.

This is the promo vid. The man demoing I believe is the founder.

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This one shows some techniques.

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Then some form and application.

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Grand Master Jesus Pallorina

I heard of FMA being described as an "old man's art". It means that even in old age, long after the physical conditioning and strength are gone, it can still be relied upon. There were and there are still many masters who can prove this. The weapon is still just an extension of the body's attributes.

Another old maestro with the lively skills still evident -

FMA Empty Hands

An unarmed arnisador? He's without sticks or knives? No problem.

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An FMA Legend

A brief clip of the legendary Antonio "Tatang" Illustrisimo, Founder and Grandmaster of the art of Kalis Illustrisimo (Note the disarm with the elbow at 0:52 sending the stick flying hitting another guy!)





Flowing, effortless, efficient.

Advanced Dekiti Tirsia Siradas

Advanced combination strikes demo'ed GM Jerson Tortal Jr. -

FMA Weapon Transition Skill

Nice "flow mechanics" from this high-level Pekiti Tirsia practitioner from the States.

Maestro Ireneo "Eric" Olavides of Eskrima de Campo JDC-IO