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Arnis/Escrima/Kali (Philippines)

Arnis, Escrima, and Kali are all terms for the native fighting arts of the Philippines, specifically the arts that use weapons. European sword fighting, mostly Spanish, with some evidence of Italian and possibly other European countries, influenced native fighting styles when mercenaries fought (and possibly taught) there. The most popular legend concerning the Filipino arts is that Datu (Chief) Lapu Lapu killed the Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan in personal combat.

Arnis, whose name is derived from the Spanish expression "Arnis de mano (harness the hand)" is from the northern parts of Luzon Island; Escrima is from the central Philippines, such as Cebu City; and Kali is from the southern island of Mindanao.  Some claim that, since Mindanao was never conquered by the Spanish to the extent that the rest of the Philippines was, Kali (the older of the three) more closely resembles the original pre-Spanish arts of the area and is more complete and covers more combative possibilities. Some claim that the word Kali is part of a modern attempt to marginalize the Spanish (and other European) influence on Filipino martial arts, and some go so far as to refer to Kali as a "Filipino-American" style. Most people tend to say that the words do not matter. Every village, and often every master, has a distinct style, so people tend to ask "do you study Illustrisimo, Caballero, or Cabales style?" Not "do you study Escrima or Kali?"

Kali is more of a "warrior's art" while Escrima and Arnis are "soldier's arts". Escrima and Arnis were developed as streamlined, simplified ways to teach people to fight the Spanish invaders. Some people say that Kali is a blade art, while Escrima and Arnis are stick arts, but this is a matter of contention.  A distinctive feature of all of these Filipino arts is their use of geometry, and lines and angles of defense and attack; movements are important. The use of the hands and feet, to do two different things at the same time, requires a lot of training. Most Filipino arts, Kali in particular, stress the importance of disarming an opponent by destroying the attacking weapon.

There are many different styles of Filipino martial arts, but general categories can be drawn along the lines of range. Largo-mano styles tend to prefer staying at long distance from their opponents, and using well-timed and placed strikes to the hands of their opponents to disarm them. Corto or Serrada styles are the opposite, tending to crowd into their opponents, where the opponent will hopefully be uncomfortable and unprepared. Other styles prefer the medio, or middle range, which is between largo mano and serrada. There are also styles, such as Lameco Escrima, which address all three ranges. The name lameco even comes from these ranges; (la)rgo mano, (me)dio, and (co)rto.

The different Filipino styles typically cover some (or all) of the following areas: single stick (or long blade); double long weapon; long and short sword, daggers (such as single dagger, double dagger, and palm stick/double-end dagger), empty hands (punching, kicking, and grappling), spear/staff, long weapons (two-handed), flexible weapons (whip, sarong, etc.), throwing weapons, projectile weapons (bows and blowguns), and healing arts .

Some arts, such as Sayoc Kali, focus on the knife almost exclusively, while there are others, such as some lineages of balintawak eskrima, focus almost entirely on the single stick. This focus in certain lineages or styles may be the origin of the notion that Kali is more "complete" than Arnis or Escrima.

Filipino styles normally classify attacks not by their weapon, or their delivery style, but by the direction of their energy, for example, a strike to the head is usually analyzed in terms of "a high lateral strike." A punch to the gut is treated much the same as a straight knife thrust to that region would be. Students learn how to deal with the energy of the attack, and then apply that knowledge to the slight variations that come with different lengths and types of weapons.

Filipino arts place great emphasis on footwork, mobility, and body positioning. The same concepts (of angles of attack, deflections, traps, passes, etc.) are applied to similar situations at different ranges, making the understanding of ranges and how to bridge them very important. The Filipinos make extensive use of geometric shapes, superimposing them on a combat situation, and movement patterns, to teach fighters to use their position and their movement to best advantage. Some styles emphasize line-cutting (similar to Wing-chun), while some are very circular (similar to Aikido). Some prefer to stay at long range, while some will move inside as soon as possible.

Most Filipino arts stress the importance of disarming an opponent in combat. This is not usually done gently, or by using a complex disarm, but by "destroying" the hand holding the attacking weapon using your weapon. This is often referred to as "de-fanging the snake," since a poisonous snake that has no fangs cannot harm you.

Other sub styles include: Latosa Escrima, Serrada Escrima, Dumog, Panandiakman, Panantukan, Sikaran, Balintawak Escrima, Modern Arnis, Garimot Arnis, Inosanto/Lacoste Kali, Sayoc Kali, Doce-pares, Pekiti-tirsia Kali, and many more.

Bandesh (India)

Bandesh is an Indian martial art. In keeping with the Hindu belief in the sanctity of human life, it practices using weapons without killing. In Bandesh competition, the winner is the one who takes the weapon from the other. 

Bando

Bando is a general term meaning "way of discipline" or "system of defense." It refers to those styles of unarmed and armed self-defense developed in Burma that employ striking, kicking, grappling and locking techniques, and throws, plus weapon techniques introduced into the U. S. by Dr. Maung Gi, a college professor in 1960 (Head of the American Bando Association). Bando is often called Burmese karate, since it comes from the southeast Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is also known as Thaing, and may contain a subset of weapons skills called Banshei. Because of Myanmar's geographical proximity to Thailand, much of Bando's empty hand techniques resemble those of Muay-thai kickboxing. The art was also influenced by fighting arts imported from nearby China. Bando emphasizes the use of knives but it uses foot and hand strikes, throws and joint locks, along with numerous other weapon techniques.

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