Kali / Escrima / Arnis

 The Filipino Fighting Art

The Martial Art of Kali was developed over 2,000 years ago by the tribes of the Philippine Islands. The art is also known by the names of Eskrima and Arnis and is a practical self-defense system. This Martial Art is the only one in the world that starts with weapons training first before they teach unarmed self-defense. The believe system is if you can survive a hand held weapons attack, an unarmed opponent should be an easier encounter.

You can use the analogy of running with a weight vest, once you remove the vest it feels easier to run.  All the training drills in Kali are designed to improve the student’s attributes, such as speed, timing, coordination, distance, footwork and spatial relationship. The weapons used in the training consist of single stick, double sticks, stick & knife and knife. Kali is consider one of the most complete martial arts because of both armed an unarmed methods and the covering of all ranges. In ancient times blades replaced the sticks.

Kali has been featured in such films as The Book of Eli, The Green Hornet, The Bourne Identity, Taken, Rapid Fire, The Crow and Enter The Dragon. The Martial Art has also been cross trained into professional sports for its attributes development; both the Seattle Sea Hawks and The Dallas Cowboys have been trained in Kali  for developing footwork, speed and timing.

Former undefeated female Kick Boxing Champion Graciela Casillas was a practitioner of this art! 31-0, with 18 KO’s

Many of our law enforcement agencies and military throughout the country have studied this art. The FBI, Secret Service, DOD and U.S. Customs to name a few, also The U.S Navy Seals Team 6 and Force Recon Marines have studied this art for its self-defense practical applications.

Guro/ Richard Lamoureaux