Escrima Martial Art: History, Techniques, and Filipino Legacy

[Music] hey enough the fighting art of a screamer is

fast becoming the national sport of the Philippines its acknowledged Champion is kakoy

kenti he lives on the island of cibu one of the large islands that make up the Philippines his home has always been in

cibu City the capital of the island a place of harsh contrasts

[Music] just outside the city center is the headquarters of the small club which

sets the standard for a screamer throughout the nation the name of the Club Dos Paris

means 12 Pairs and is taken from the name of charlamagne's bodyguard the club celebrates its 50th

anniversary in 1982 it was started by the family ketti to train themselves and their friends it

is still a family Club the training ground is beside kac's house which he shares with his children and their

families esrea is a fighting system in a state of transition it has been used for hundreds of years throughout the

Philippines now people like the ketes are adding to the basic art the sophistication of Japanese

techniques an indication of this is the practice of forms or Carters they are long elaborate solo

performances this one is a speciality of donon ketti he spends most of his time in Manila working as a very successful

businessman though they are adding Japanese ideas to the techniques 50 years is not long enough to also import

Japanese formality any activity on the training ground is watched by every curious eye

in the neighborhood so I'm prepared again

okay most of the sianos speak two languages training is conducted in both English and in the language of

SIU [Music] ready a screamer is a complex

sophisticated and effective fighting system much of the credit for its present status is due to the J Paris

Club with kako ketti as its leading fighter publicist and master the most common and the most effective type of

ping is the full grip type this in this manner even if it hit hit on the side any from any Direction

Still you can control the stick and the there's an allowance of about 2 in from the

but purpose is to use this for for disarming for for hitting any part the body at close range then you can to

stick in any direction see and there are people there are scors who 12 they St in this

manner they always open their pal I observed many there in the United States uh scri openingly found whenever they 12

but the parish people are always full G the stick see see many weapons are used in a screamer but kcoy has always

concentrated on the stick made from a special tough light wood hardened by fire he has brought new strikes into the

system developing curving strikes rather than straight or linear ones and the most effective strike is the CB strike

you can easily block the linear strike but when the strike is cing no matter how hard you try to block

the strike the the four end of the stick will always reach the target so even gentle sparring is a painful

process for kac's opponent he is an advanced student but he never manages to hit kaco

once kaco has had many real fights all his life he has been challenged always

having to use his techniques against new opponents he has never lost in over a 100 fights after a few moments The

Challengers always collapse before him the only way to prove that your style is the best is to accept any

challenge how can you how can you claim that your style is the best when you do not accept any challenge that's why in

our group Whenever there is a student who refuses to fight I always uh ask him to

retire so what what will be what what use will will our techniques be if he has all the techniques and he doesn't

use it in actual f a screamer is above all a practical

fighting art it has developed out of the need to survive in a violent Society where knives are a common

weapon okay mhm these defensive moves are designed to push the knives away so that

they don't slice into the vital veins and arteries on the inside of the arms then both opponents are disarmed again

avoiding the knife blades because you can't take the further the further the yeah

okay Elio ketti is the oldest of the founding Brothers he has always been the president of the dosy Paris although

over 80 he is still a formidable fighter you know yes just like in just like it is like this

oh without a STI it's actually the same now if you have this it's the same technique black

then huh one of the Masters at dosy Paris is alive because he was taught how to defend himself against knife attack

it happened when he was walking with with a friend neither of them had weapons the friend ran away when they

were attacked by seven men with knives Master Karen nearly died in the attack but fought back killing one of them he's

lucky that he survived that fight of course one of the brothers who got killed look this one hit my L and my

stomach see there this is an operation but that's the evidence that he

engage I was sit in the head that's why I down and they make a stabbing position while I'm down I'm I snatch all the ders

and that dger which I snatch hit one of the my hit one oppon if his

opponent was the only one he could easily beat his opponent but then there were were three four brothers and three

companion Stone you are lucky you should be thankful to God thankful to God for

Having learned thankful to our organization especially it because of my scale

andness and combat I'm already under below the ground the only y s for skill is to have

a actual fight TR yeah inspiring it's not enough that that you deliver the

strike but if you deliver multiple St lik for example I deliver here you see see rap it then

here see see all in our movements so you put your

opponent on the defensive position but if you deliver only one strike that he will fight back

surely he will fight back but you deliver series of strikes he'll be on the Run who will be always on the

defensive you understand sir the function of the stick in esrea is obvious but the left hand is just as

important kac's left hand moves independently of his right all the time it controls his opponent's stick never

allowing it to strike him are kac's opponent is one of his sons

Edgar though he was trained by his father he is not yet in the same class he just cannot penetrate his father's

defenses kaco strikes curl around Edgar's body he can achieve six strikes a second apart from the pain the speed

of such an attack is absolutely demoralizing [Music]

dos Paris shows its techniques to the public in January each year there is a procession through SIU City and the club

prepares a special demonstration to perform as they March along the procession celebrates the

arrival of the Spanish explorer melan in cibu and his death at the hands of a local chief

[Music] the chieftain called Lapu Lapu is now a national hero for his resistance to the

Spanish [Music] colonizers when miguelin arrived in the

Philippines he landed where cibu city is now he made friends with the local tribes and their chiefs were baptized

into the Christian [Music] faith after melan's death his ship

sailed away to circumnavigate the globe 44 years later the Spanish returned and this time stayed to govern the

Philippines for 350 years they set their Mark upon the people and customs of the country

including a screamer certainly European sword fighting techniques have been added to the fighting system that

existed when the Spanish arrived before they arrived the techniques were probably influenced by Chinese and

Indian fighting Arts modern esrea developed out of this mixture the same system is called Arness in other parts

of the Philippines when melum baptized the chieftain they told him about another

chief called Lapu Lapu who lived on an island nearby unfortunately for melan he was a tough

fighter the Spanish set up this Monument to melan near to where he died surprisingly miguelin made the

mistake of sailing around to attack Lapu Lapu without thinking about the state of the

tide the water around Lapu lau's Village was shallow and the battle between the Spaniard and the Filipinos took place in

that the Spaniards wore heavy clothing and armor their opponents wore very little Lapu Lapu of course has a

monument put up by the Filipinos here on the 27th of April 1521 Lapu Lapu and his men repulsed the

Spanish Invaders killing their leader Ferdinand mcelin thus Lapu Lapu became the first Filipino to have repelled

European aggression the Spanish stories of the battles say that Lapu Lapu and his men

fought with wooden sticks the first reference to a screamer however patriotic artists always give Lapu Lapu

a [Music] sword before his death melan gave the

friendly Chieftain a carved image of the baby Jesus when the Spaniards returned 44 years later they found that

miraculously it had been kept and so Santo Nino the sacred child became the patron saint of the

Philippines today's procession is in his honor people travel great distances to be at his church on his day outside it a

lady selling candles and dancing the special steps that are also a prayer to the

[Music] saint nearly everyone buys candles and sets

them to burn in special trays the melted wax is collected and recycled inside the church the people

ceue to worship the original Statue left by melan they believe his virtue is

transmitted through his protective glass as they kiss the glass the people pray to the sacred child for for special

[Music] favors many of the worshippers who traveled to be here slept in the streets

around the [Music] church after the procession in January

dos Paris started to practice for their anniversary celebration every night there were training sessions special

tracksuits and t-shirts were designed and invitations sent to Filipino communities throughout the

world es screamer is not exclusively a male activity though not many women practice it kac's daughter Kathy has

studied other martial arts and has a black belt in karate okay it's fine okay very nice

it is not easy for a woman to be a student of fighting in the Philippines since masculine pride is so easily

offended Kathy stopped practicing karate when she discovered that it frightened away

boyfriends dos Paris also sent invitations to senior members of government and

expected at least one General to attend their celebrations the club planed to display

as wide a range of techniques as possible they particularly wanted to make clear the difference between the

classical style and the modern style developed by kaco his main teacher had been his brother mumo ketti a very hard

Master to learn on mumo is a traditionalist he still uses the longrange style that was the most

common fighting style there has been family tension between him and kcoy because of the way that kaco has changed

a screamer especially the added techniques from Judo and other Japanese fighting Arts it's lock

now St very fire mumo is practicing his demonstration of an advanced technique

this combination of stick and dager is formidable the grips and locks can be used to hold an opponent or the dagger

can be used to kill him lock there now he's lock

[Music] now nice lck a that's the traditional style of

esrea has been exported to any country that accepted Filipino immigrants especially the United States many people

practice it there usually under its other names Ares or car the canetti family have been to the

USA demonstrating their skills and they always call on Dan inosanto in Los Angeles turn

around and then you strike this way Dan in a Santo is an American Born Filipino he is very well known in the martial

arts world because of the time that he spent working with Bruce Lee I go like this

that's something I like to learn it hope I can learn it in the Philippines what you yours your well I never really got

in deep into the spot of dog I really would like just like my father this you know this style but uh

this is the the one the the the classical form yeah the classical form this is what my uh

unclees when was this form developed somebody said it as far back as 1930 was it 1930 when they devel

1930 Dan teaches Chinese Bing and the Filipino [Applause]

[Music] systems his training techniques are very organized and yet

[Music] relaxed [Music]

[Music] es screamer has yet to gain an international reputation Dan is in a

unique position as a master of both Chinese and Filipino systems he is able to compare the two and to assess a

screamer okay time with Weaponry it is very hard to beat I'm talking about dagger and stick

uh I've always maintained that the Chinese are the prettiest and that the Filipinos seem to be the most practical

as of right now but I'm not saying that a Chinese martial artist wouldn't be as effective as a Philippine martial artist

I'm trying to say that the way it is taught it is functional so I want you to strike the diagonal diagonal diagonal up

diagonal up horizontal horizontal then your overhead which is this way your back hand over here which is this

way up cut this way see so this one to practice your blows I want you to slowly get from if you go like

that okay this usually with tick with tick and

out okay okay let's give it a try though it is light the stick used in a screamer is a powerful weapon it can be used to

strike quickly at many points on the body when a blow lands it is painful perhaps paralyzing rather than bone

breaking it makes its effect by the number of places that can be hurt in a few

seconds it is the quickest art to be the most dangerous just because of the Weaponry uh its destruction of kicks

makes all kicking Arts kind of obsolete uh it's destruction of the limbs very quickly uh it makes a lot of

the punching Arts obsolete okay now what I want to do is you feed one and you follow you deflect and follow with three

follow-ups and you feed one and you follow with three okay slow motion okay deflect three

hits you three three hits its techniques are basically the same whether the fighting is with fists

daggers or larger weapons so you go three you attack a three and he blocks a three okay that's the position okay

all right time to me it's one of the most well-rounded martial arts that I've ever ever seen and that it's not taking

anything away from the Chinese because they're they're very good excellent but I've always maintained that uh everybody

has something to [Music] offer

[Music] rust but strike he takes down

see this is it see so that's the drill see CU I want to get the p in

here almost like the flow right which you're using the butt now in reality this is not going to

last very long see we just catch it here like that see for the training

see as I said before this is not going to last very long we just just to get the

floor [Music] okay okay you can do do it okay let's TR

so you take it down okay okay ready flow very slowly rust butt strike thrust butt catch strike take

[Applause] [Music] [Applause]

down the techniques taught by Dan are mainly the classical ones but he hopes to go to

SIU City to study with kako there are two of his techniques that Dan doesn't use yet the curved strike and the

complex disarming tricks now there are two types of disarming this arming in which you cease

when you cease this on him and secondly is when you knock the stick off his hand in

actual sparring see you can disarm him that way or actual sparring then you hold him

then disarm these disarming techniques are probably kac's greatest pleasure he is constantly thinking of new ways of

taking weapons away from opponents his hands s seem to have minds of their own all the disarming techniques are

based on applying leverage in various ways to his opponent's stick

ready ready ready

up ready Up N is forward ping

okay follow follow kakoy calls the style that he teaches ESO the way of es screamer he is

deliberately copying Japanese customs in this there is no no doubt that he has made a screamer more

[Music] [Applause] effective

serious serious no smiles okay

move back to your respective places and do the [Music]

Amar face the front Okay face your partner and do the pinky

[Music] pinky enough we back other

places in order to hold sporting competitions they have devised the system of body protection wearing this

armor made it possible to hold a national contest in 1976 this was the first such competition

D Paris swept the field and kcoy naturally was the champion Master Okay the judges estimate the

effect of the blows to decide who scores points even wearing armor they still hold back

from hitting H ready begin on the day of the 50th Anniversary

people started to arrive from many parts of the Philippines there were fewer than they had hoped for because a typhoon

disrupted travel some people got to seu after wading Through Rivers others arrived more comfortably the airport

reception party waited some hours for the important guests of honor to arrive the Philippines were until recently

under martial law president Marcus has reestablished civilian government it is however a country under severe political

strain the generals are still powerful in government it is a measure of the importance attached to a screamer that

General Estrada made a special journey to attend the event he flew in a government plane with many other guests

there are many reasons for promoting a screamer it has its national hero Lapu Lapu it is fast becoming the national

sport it is an effective fighting system especially suitable for crowd control and other police work kakoy regularly

trains groups of soldiers General Estrada is often referred to as the third most important

man in the country after the president and general ve they invited General ve but he could not come amongst his other

duties General Estrada is head of internal security hey how are [Music]

you ladies and gentlemen Brig General Will Fredo estada narel vice president and special guest in tonight's

celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of [Music]

par distinguished guest

General wifredo cada and the loan eagle from San Jose California United States Fred

Balan master of [Music] Kimo

[Applause] and Mr Bing Vin the assistant of

R fellow scors friends ladies and gentlemen I welcome you all I thank

you it was an occasion for speeches and emotion especially when the five surviving cany Brothers stood on

[Music] Parade the brothers inherit their fighting ability from their grandfather

who fought as a Guerilla against the Spanish in 1890 then the Philippines became an American colony until the

Japanese invaded the brothers became involved in the highly successful resistance

movement that tied up so many Japanese troops finally the Philippines became independent and the ketes with their

Devotion to a holy Filipino fighting force form became part of the search for a national identity friends ladies and

gentlemen as a sports Enthusiast myself I find gratifying our increasing appreciation of the importance of arnes

which was very much part of the way of life of our four beers to them it was more than just a

sport Recreation or art it was a vital skill M jelan was killed in mtan helan because l Apu was

very very good in Earnest that's really credit to the shanos may I reiterate my sincer

congratulations to all of you carry on the good work thank you and good day the rest of the evening was devoted

to demonstrations by people from all parts of the Philippines The Swordsman start

performing in slow motion then steadily speed up even though they're using real swords not sticks they still use their

left hands to try to control or Parry their opponent's sword [Music]

[Applause] [Applause] hand

[Applause] is the regional

[Applause] now Edgar is against three opponents one is

down two tble another one again kakoy ketti commentated with a father's Pride on his son Edgar carefully stage fight

against overwhelming [Applause] odds downar down

[Applause] onas [Applause]

[Music] [Applause] perfect perfect performance perfect

father father second instor division tournament junor

division chion finally kcoy himself demonstrated his

techniques the history of the fighting Arts is full of men like him they invented new

techniques improving their particular fighting art they themselves are forgotten but what they taught will be

remembered by the generations