2011, May 23. Arnis, National Sport
Litho Offset.
Amstar Company, Inc. Perf. 14.
Se-tenant
Pairs, Sheets of 40 (4 x 10)
Se-tenant
Pairs (35,000)
7p
Arnis (Colorful uniform)
7p
Arnis (White uniform)
28p Souvenir Sheets of Four
(5,000)
First Day Cover: Manila
ARNIS – NATIONAL SPORT
Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) refers to ancient and newer
fighting methods
devised in the
Philippines,
the most popular of which are known as
Arnis/Eskrima/Kali.
The intrinsic need for self-preservation was the genesis of these
systems. Throughout the ages, invaders and evolving local conflict
imposed new dynamics for combat in the islands now making up the
Philippines. The Filipino people developed battle skills as a direct
result of an appreciation of their ever-changing circumstances. They
learned often out of necessity how to prioritize, allocate and
utilize common resources in combative situations. Filipinos have
been heavily influenced by a phenomenon of cultural and linguistic
mixture. Some of the specific mechanisms responsible for cultural
and martial change extended from phenomena such as war, political
and social systems, technology, trade and of course, simple
practicality.
Filipino martial arts have seen an increase in prominence due to
several Hollywood movies and the teachings of modern masters.
Filipino martial artists are noted for their ability to fight with
weapons or empty hands interchangeably and their ability to turn
ordinary household items into lethal weapons. Weapons-training takes
precedence because they give an edge in real fights, gears students
to psychologically face armed opponents, and any object that can be
picked up can be used as a weapon using FMA techniques. Empty hands
training is then taught as the stick is merely an extension of the
hand.
What separates Filipino Martial Arts from other weapon-based martial
arts like Japanese
Kendo &
Kenjutsu,
European
Fencing and
traditional Chinese Martial arts that teach the usage of classical
Chinese weapons is that FMA teaches weapon use that is practical
today: how to use and deal with weapons that one can actually
encounter in the streets and how to turn ordinary items into
improvised weapons. No one walks around with sabers,
katanas or
jians
anymore, but knives, machetes and clubs are still among commonly
encountered weapons on the street and in the field, thus making FMA
very practical and geared towards military and street fighting.
Traditional weaponry varies in design, size, weight, materials and
usage but because of the similarity of techniques and that the human
being can move in only so many ways, any object that can be picked
up can be turned into a weapon by a Filipino martial artist as a
force multiplier.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_martial_arts)