What Does Eskrima Mean to Me?

As a Filipino Martial Arts enthusiast, I am very fortunate to meet Master Mel Balberde. He fine-tuned my diverse and yet sporadic and frail knowledge in Eskrima. I have learned not only essential techniques but also the called for philosophy behind the art. Before I met him, I have never realized how important Arnis is to our Filipino cultural heritage; all I knew, it’s just one out of the many ways in debilitating an opponent (which is practically true to some extent).

Now, I am bound to propagate the art no matter where I go. By doing so, I believe that I would be making my countrymen proud and happy because the presence of Arnis means the presence of the Filipino culture and that we could proudly say, ‘Pinoys are here!’

In the land where people do possess extremely beautiful martial arts like Pencak Silat (read as Penchak See-lat), I teach Filipino Eskrima. To think that some of my most enthusiastic students are experts of the powerful and artistic Indonesian martial arts, I feel the pride that the Maharlika (Ma-har-li-ka (n). noble warrior clan of the ancient Philippine civilization) might have felt; as we usually say, “iba ang Pinoy!”

For me, Eskrima or Arnis is not only a martial arts or a sport, it is also the symbol of the grace, beauty and the strength of the Filipino culture. Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino! Mabuhay ang mga Eskrimador!