It is interesting to meet practitioners from different styles of Filipino Martial Arts and learn their naming and numbering structure.  Seems we all have some things in common, yet, certain things may be stressed a little more or a little less depending on the background of the escrima instructor.No matter what you call your martial art, Arnis, Kali, Escrima or perhaps something more specific like Pekiti Tirsia, we are finding out that we have much that is the same.We are all part of the bigger picture.

Back when I first started the Defensor Method in the mid 80’s at the University of Chicago, martial arts groups were less open to collaboration, and as such, we sometimes got caught up mixing western logic and eastern linguistics.  I can remember discussing such trivial things as, arnis is this, whereas kali escrima is that.Years ago I asked Guro Nathan Defensor about the similarities and differences between escrima and arnis.