curer (seruhana, arbolaryo) and chiropractor (manughilot), but not an
FMA practitioner. She uses massage, exorcism, and incense to heal people,
but her skill is “gingering.” Gingering uses prayers to transfer evil spirits
into a ginger root, which is discarded with the trapped spiritual essence.
The metaphysics (lubos) include anting-anting (amulet, charm), kalaki,
orasyon (prayers), and palabras (words). In the metaphysics associated
with Filipino martial arts in the Philippines, overt Catholic religiosity is lay-
ered onto a substratum of Huna magic. Huna (secret) is a Polynesian prac-
tice, says Max Freedom Long (1965). Kalaki, meaning “abilities,” is asso-
ciated with practitioners of the native martial arts. Eskrimadores are
known as mystics, faith healers, and sorcerers, using mesmerism and visu-
alization (larawan). Thus, the potent anting-anting can be made from the
kneecaps of deceased persons. Grave robbers dig up such “treasures,”
which then are made into a belt or necklace. Warriors prepare themselves
for victory or death before combat using orasyon, with palabras (spells)
and incantations worked against sworn enemies.
Otherwise, most Filipinos are resigned to fate, which is tempered only
by Providence. The fatalistic attitude of Filipinos comes from their God
concept. You will often hear the phrase “Bahala Na” (leave it to God). Res-
ignation to fate or determinism is deeply ingrained in Filipino martial cul-
ture. Westerners remark with frustration when encountering Bahala Na,
but it helps people survive in a difficult world. Filipino fatalism shows its
most negative side when people “run amok,” killing everyone in their path
in a frenzy of rage, called jurimentado. This extreme reaction is understood
by a society in which repressed feelings are harbored daily.
Certain concepts are central to all Filipino martial arts. The striking
concept, spatial concept, and sectoring concept are a few. The strikes are
angles of attack; space is the geometry of the fight zone, and sectoring is di-
vision of the problem set into a finite solution. The geometric theory of an-
gles of attack was probably derived from Spanish fencing. Abisidariorefers
to the abekada,or ABCs, of learning how to fight. Usually, there are twelve
basic attacking techniques and striking angles with five (i.e., cinco teros) in
common among all FMA. Included are slashes, thrusts, and butts. Slashes
are strikes with the side of a stick or with the edge of a blade. Thrusts use
the pointed tip, while butts use the blunted end. Weapons and empty hands
are used alone or in combination, depending on the range. There are three
ranges: largo (long), media(medium), and corto (short). Media is often ig-
nored; few fighters stay in the hot spot. Slashes are delivered from long
range (layaw), while butts are delivered from close range (dikit). Besides
the alphabeto (the ABCs of fighting), there is numerado.
Practitioners can reach the counter-for-counter stage of training after
they develop basic (alphabet) techniques, using numerado—to play by the432 Philippines