Styles and terminology

At the Bob Breen Academy we practise a Filipino martial arts system that we call Kali. Our preference for the term 'Kali' comes from our lineage to Guro Dan Inosanto. There are many systems of Filipino martial arts, each with their own names and terminologies. Partly this is because there are so many languages spoken in the Philippines, but also because there have been influences from other cultures, such as Spanish. At the end of the day each teacher and student choses the terms that make most sense to them, so don't get hung up on getting the names right. Just keep training and asking questions.

As an example, you might hear instructors using different terms that essentially mean the same thing. For instance, Kali can also sometimes be called Eskrima or Arnis. Yesterday in class when I was talking about how to grip the stick properly I talked about having about 10 cms (1 fist width) of stick below your grip, called a 'punio', we would probably call this a butt or possibly even a pommel in English. Similarly, I talked about hitting with the 'tip' of the stick (obviously an English word), but I could have called it the point or even the 'punto' (the last one being the Spanish word).

Another two phrases I've used in our lesson so far is 'Abierta' and 'Serrada' to refer to either an open or closed guard.

If you've enjoyed the Kali lessons that we've had it is only natural that you might look for further information on the internet. Be careful, always question the validity of any claims that you might see - there is no ultimate martial art style and very rarely just one correct answer. When it comes to martial arts the main question you need to ask is "can I make it work for me"?