Martial Arts · Filipino Martial Arts

What Are Filipino Martial Arts? Kali, Arnis & Eskrima Explained

Filipino martial arts — known as Kali, Arnis, or Eskrima — are weapon-based fighting systems built around stick fighting, knife defense, and empty-hand skills. Here is what they are, how they differ, and how to start training.

Three Names, One Family of Martial Arts

If you have searched for Filipino martial arts, you have probably seen three different names used for what looks like the same training: Kali, Arnis, and Eskrima. All three describe the martial arts of the Philippines — systems developed over centuries of real conflict, where a farmer's stick or a working blade had to double as a weapon.

The differences between the names are mostly regional and historical. In practice, a Kali arnis eskrima curriculum shares the same DNA: striking angles, footwork, weapon control, and the ability to move between armed and unarmed ranges without changing your core mechanics.

What You Actually Learn in Filipino Martial Arts

Unlike most martial arts, which start empty-handed and add weapons years later, Filipino martial arts start with the weapon — usually a rattan stick — because it teaches distance, timing, and angles faster than anything else. From there, the skills transfer down to knives and empty hands.

• Stick fighting — single and double stick (sinawali) strikes, blocks, and flow drills that build coordination and reaction speed.
• Knife defense and disarms — recognizing, managing, and countering blade attacks with trainer knives, at safe, progressive intensity.
• Empty-hand translation — the same angles and footwork applied to strikes, locks, and control when no weapon is present.
• Footwork and evasion — triangle stepping and off-line movement that keep you balanced and out of the line of attack.

Is Kali Good for Beginners?

Yes — and often better than people expect. Because stick drills are cooperative and pattern-based at first, complete beginners can train safely from day one. You do not need prior martial arts experience, exceptional fitness, or your own equipment to start. Coordination, reflexes, and confidence build week by week, and the training scales up in intensity only as your control improves.

Kali also pairs naturally with other martial arts. Grapplers add it for weapons awareness, strikers add it for hand speed and angles, and many students simply train it as their main art because it stays practical for adults at any age.

Kali vs. Other Martial Arts

Compared to karate or taekwondo, Filipino martial arts spend far more time on weapons and close-quarter tactics and less on forms. Compared to boxing or kickboxing, Kali adds the armed dimension — but borrows the same footwork and timing. Compared to jiu-jitsu, it stays mostly on the feet, which is why many students cross-train both for a complete standing-and-ground skill set.

How to Start Training Filipino Martial Arts in New Westminster

At Modern Warrior Academy in New Westminster, our Kali martial arts program covers the full Kali, Arnis, and Eskrima skill set: single and double stick fighting, knife defense and disarms, footwork, and empty-hand self-defense — taught by Sensei Alex Kleschelsky, who brings 8 years of Filipino martial arts training in the Ikatan Kali lineage alongside roughly 30 years of Kyokushin karate.

Classes run Saturday mornings and welcome complete beginners. Students train with us from New Westminster, Burnaby, Vancouver, Coquitlam, and Surrey — the dojo is minutes from the SkyTrain at 314 6th Street.