Kali training is hard and very
complex. It embraces almost all combat techniques of Martial Arts. The principle and
applicability of each technique is weapon oriented during the process of learning. Every
single detail must be implanted and retained in the brain to be utilized during the
application of each technique, against coordination with the foot and the mechanics of
hand movements: The martial art of Kali emphasizes discipline as the major factor in
turning out each student to be a real quality Martial Artist.
It is our principle that we produce the best, not
a second rate quality of the student is expected. We prefer to have a few but dedicated
students rather than hundreds of dropouts.
Every student that embraces Kali is
expected to have absolute concern of his will. Being respectable individuals with dignity
and honor, with ambitions and aspirations for a brighter tomorrow, hoping to improve all
aspects of activity. Kali training is character building as well as physical and mental,
focusing on self-control in all aspects of life.
Every student is required to wear a clean
uniform as prescribed by the faculty of instructors and should be equipped with the
required training aides, such as the baston and other materials needed. The faculty of instructors at the GUNG FU INSTITUTE expect
100% attendance of each student throughout the duration of the training periods. Behavior
and attitude of each student must be carried out all the way from inside and outside
training areas. The faculty of discipline is empowered to execute disciplinary action to
any student that is will fully violate any rules and regulations of the school. Expulsion
or other actions will be enforced as the case may be. Financial obligations are the
responsibility of each student unless a student makes necessary arrangements to
discontinue the training and such can only be admitted back upon completion of fees
due.
After colonizing Borneo in their
conquests, the Sri-Visyana invaded the Philippines Islands. Their superior weaponry and
organization enabled them to conquer the early Filipinos and forced many of these early
inhabitants to flee to distant islands. Others of the conquered Filipinos moved yet deeper
into the mountains and forests to escape the invaders. An equal number stayed, made
friends with their new rulers and eventually these two cultures merged.
The Sri-Visyana had a great impact on the
development of Filipino culture. Aside from being skilled warriors, farmers, and seamen,
they brought a more balanced form of civilization to the islands, introducing new laws, a
calendar, a written alphabet, new religious practices, and the use of weights and measures
for trading purposes. Over the years, the original Sri-Visyana people, populating what is
currently the central Philippines.
Still, another great empire formed in
Java around the 12the century. Called the "Madjapahit Empire' it was influenced by
Arab missionaries spreading the Moslem religious faith. The predominately Moslem
Madjapahit warriors conquered the Sri-Visyana and began spreading the Muslim religion
throughout the Philippines in the later part of the 15th century. Fiercely independent and
proud of these 'Moro' (Muslim) Filipinos settled heavily in the southern portion of the
Philippines where they exist today as a distinct culture. Following the 12th century
Manchurian invasion of China, the Chinese began to exert a tremendous, but peaceful
influence on Philippines' culture as thousands of them immigrated to the islands as
traders and merchants. The fact that trade had already existed between China and the
Philippines for more than 400 years allowed for their easy assimilation into the Filipino
culture.
By the 16th century a Spanish explorer
named Magellan had circled the globe. Magellan's Spanish conquistadors invaded and the
Filipino's was once again a conquered people. While Magellan's men would finally sail home
without him after he was killed by a Macon chieftain known as "Lapu Lapu," but
the Spanish would return.
The battle, even by modern warfare
standards would have been a sight to behold. The Spaniards stormed ashore on the island of
Mactan into what is now the province of Cebu, several hundred miles south of Manila. Lapu
Lapu and his men met armored Spanish soldiers head-on wearing only their cotton and
fire-hardened-pointed sticks. Lapu Lapu and his warriors parried every thrust of Spain's
finest steel. They meted out death to all so unwise as to continue fighting. Magellan paid
with his life as his soldiers fled seaward to the ship.
Although Lapu Lapu and his warriors won
the battle, it was only the beginning of a 400 year struggle that saw the Spanish return
to conquer the Filipinos.
Once Spanish rule was established in the
Philippines, the Filipino martial arts were outlawed by the conquerors. Skirmish, a
translation of the Latin word, "escrima" wasn't something the Spaniards wanted
their newly conquered people to practice. Escrima immediately became a clandestine art,
hidden from Spanish eyes. Meanwhile, the lace and steel clad Spanish nobles developed a
new interest in some of the quaint island dances. In one particular dance, the performers
wore decorated bracelets made of leather to accentuate their graceful hand movements. This
became a favorite of the Spaniards who commissioned the dancers to perform at special
functions. Some were even taken to Spain to perform. The Spaniards were highly amused by
the villagers dancing in their island costumes, rolling their outstretched to the beat of
the native drums.
Undoubtedly, the Filipino's must
have been quite amused as well. These native dancers employed a majority of the
devastating 'Kali' combative techniques. In this way, the Filipinos practiced and
preserved the outlawed martial arts-right under the noses of their Spanish captors! The
decorative designs on the costumes the Spaniards found so amusing preserved the native
language alphabet long after the Spaniards had burned all of their books.
The earliest Filipinos, who made stick
fighting an art, preferred a stick to a blade. Instead of a clean cut, the stick left
shattered bone. The business end of a stick travels at many times the speed of the empty
hand and it feels nothing, whether hitting flesh or bone. With this in mind, it's little
wonder the swiftly vicious sticks of the Filipinos came to be feared far and wide. Their
elliptical motions, reversals, fluctuating angles, and constant motion made the Filipinos
very tough to deal with. Stick fighting was the savage art of a savage land, cultured over
a thousand years of bloodshed that continues even today (read your newspaper if you doubt
this continues).
The old Filipinos were a clever people, and were duly impressed with the
Spaniards' techniques of fighting with both a long sword and a short dagger. Imitating the
Spanish system, they soon discovered its strengths and weaknesses and incorporated the
best of it into their own system using a short and long stick. The system ultimately
became known by the Spanish name of 'espada y daga' or sword and dagger.
When more invaders came to the islands,
the islanders who developed new styles and methods to combat them too studied their
fighting styles. Many of the methods took names that described their tactics, ie,
'repetition' or repeating attacks, 'riterada,' the retreating style, 'largo mano,' the
long range fighting style, or 'corto mano,' short range fighting. Additionally, many other
styles were named either after their inventors, such as 'Toledo or Bergonia' or after the
area of the country where they were prominently used. Two famous styles named after the
province were those of 'Bohol' and 'Pangasinan.'
When you have a country with a long
history of struggle, and a martial art designed from the best each has to offer there's
bound to be some confusion. There are more than 100 named styles in the Filipino martial
arts, and frankly, there are probably as many actual styles as there are thousands of
islands and hundreds of dialects. Fortunately, over generations of development and
practice, these arts have come to be divided into three main groupings similar to the
division of the Philippines themselves. They are the Northern, Central, and Southern
styles. Even though individual styles still vary from province to province and town to
town.
The 'Sayoc System,' as developed by Grand
Master Baltazar Sayoc, follows closely the teachings of the Filipino martial arts as
taught on the large Southern island of Mindaneo Master Sayoc, with more than 37 years as a
martial artist, is one of the few 'Grand Masters' in the world. GURU DAVID GALLAHER IS
A CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR UNDER GRAND MASTER SAYOC......