fencing school. Since General Ricarte campaigned in the Filipino revolution
against Spain, these foreign methods may be a result of the revolutionary
experience. Moreover, some FMA styles have European roots. Mariano
Navarro founded the Black Eagle Eskrima Club of Cebu in the Visayas.
Navarro’s Portuguese father taught swordsmanship. An arnisidor(practi-
tioner of arnis) from Bacolod, Federico Serfino Jr., was the national fenc-
ing champion, representing the Philippines in the 1964 Olympic Games.
Serfino learned arnis from his father, but learned about European fencing
at the Indonesian embassy in Manila.
The fourth, or double knife, category is a progression from double
stick and stick and dagger, because the theory of their usage is the same for
gripping two weapons. The way in which the knives are held, gripped in the
hands with palms facing down, is connected with suntukin,the Filipino
boxing style. There are two basic ways to hold the knife: with the point up-
ward in a hammer grip and with the point downward in an ice-pick grip.
The “up and down” knife grips are known as dusakand pakalin the
Visayan language. An important principle in knife fighting is “equaliza-
tion.” The student is taught to carry two or more knives in case an attacker
has a bigger knife. For example, Pekiti Tirsia practitioners carry three knives
at all times. In double knife fighting, there is a dominant and a recessive side
of the body that come into play. One strategy is to hold a single-bladed
slashing weapon in the dominant hand and hold a double-bladed thrusting
weapon in the submissive hand. The dominant hand leads the body into
combat, while the submissive hand destroys the enemy after the closure.
Category five is single knife utilizing empty hands, but this category
also includes dagger versus dagger (daga y daga). Important principles
taught in this category are the following. A single-edged knife is better for
cutting than a double-edged knife, because the wider blade cleaves flesh. A
double-edged dagger has the advantage of penetration, because the knife is
usually more narrow and pointed. Still, the slimmer dagger makes it more
susceptible to breakage than the wider-bellied knife. Different styles favor
various knife shapes and grips. In Lapu-Lapu,the practitioners preferred
to use ordinary tools as weapons, like the songut,or sickle (for cutting
sugar cane), and the bita,used for making shoes. Both knives can be found
on streets and in alleys.
In category five, certain FMA evolved into long-knife or bolo styles
from sword techniques. Thus, Philippine Army general Faustino Ablin
originally developed his Derobio Eskrima for cavalry sabers. After this
FMA went to Hawaii with the late Braulio Pedoy, saber techniques were
practiced with stick, knife, and bolo. An emphasis was placed on locking
and disarming for close-quarter combat, but such techniques were not suit-
able while mounted.
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