Can anyone give me a brief history of Arnis (not modern Arnis)

Question

Please post an the history please... just a brief one

Answer 1

Unfortunately,most of the Filipino history of Filipino Martial arts is orally past on and you will never find a written account that is physically on paper. The information you get from the internet and other people are from interviews made form Masters and instructors of the art. The only history that I can tell you is that Arnis or Filipino martial art is a mix of  arts brought  by Malayan people and other east Asians that settled in the Philippines. Most people believe that it originated from the art Silat or the Muslims form Malaysia but then some say the Aboriginals of the Philippines had there own Martial art already. From there, Swords were banned by the Spaniards  for fear of rebellion (we were colonized by Spain) so most Martial artist are force to use an indigenous weapon made from hardened wood, which is the stick (made of any kind but back then it was Kamagong- Iron wood). It evolve to just using the stick in the North which is what it is now called Arnis (that is way it has a Spanish derived name)

I recommend reading ‘Filipino Martial Culture’ by Author Mike Wiley. It does not claim to be the truth plus He research and documented most of the popular styles that are well known today.

Good luck to you and I hope you find the truth.

Phil

Answer 2

Arnis” is a Chabacano word that comes from the Spanish word “Arnes” which literally means armor.  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€ÂœArnis de Mano” literally means “armor of the hand” but has reference to hands as a weapon or empty hands fighting or fighting without the use of a weapon which is also known as “Panantukan”.

Answer 3

I bet wikipedia can!