Versión traducida al español aquí.
James U. Sy Jr. is a Filipino university educator (teaching management, social sciences, & foreign language), columnist/feature writer, Arnis/Eskrima grandmaster, and martial arts archivist and field researcher (most especially of Filipino Martial Arts in the Negros Island and surrounding areas), and was the Western Visayas (Region 6) Correspondent for the Binondo-based now-defunct RAPID Journal, the most scholastic and longest running martial arts resource in the Philippines.
On the simplicity of old eskrima
According to Sy, the early Filipino eskrimadors who immigrated to Stockton, California to work in the fields, were skilled in Eskrima but most had not completed their education. Thus, they are far from being historians or academicians. The history they shared were often limited by what they knew, what they remembered (due to age), or what they heard (such as oral traditions about Lapu-Lapu).
He points out: “I can say this from experience. Many of my teachers are of humble beginnings, so I had to verify and substantiate what was given to me to make it withstand historical scrutiny.”
History evolves with new findings
Sy emphasizes that history is not static and continues to evolve — not in a revisionist sense, but in the way that new documents or information can correct or expand our perspectives.
Doing field research can be a real challenge when no documents are available. And often, the documents that do exist aren’t directly related to martial arts — but they still help establish facts.
He shares that he once believed the claim about Kali being the “mother art,” but that such a claim doesn't hold up under strict historical scrutiny.
Referring to the classical Latin definition of history, he says it's summed up as: “no document/record, no history.” However, he also notes that this has changed in modern times with the approach of progressive history, where artifacts, architecture, songs, and other non-written evidence are used to establish historical facts.
As an example, he points out that the oldest documented date in Philippine history used to be 1521, when Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the archipelago. But the discovery of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) has pushed this date back to 900 A.D.
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Laguna Copperplate Inscription |
“It’s been there for quite some time,” he says, “but many who claim to do research didn’t dig deep enough. There’s a lot of information on the Internet, but much of it is recycled. Then you also have myths and falsehoods that have been purposely packaged to give an alternative view of something.”
Research tips and cautions
When asked where to look, Sy suggests that references are already available online, but it's better to search on academic websites rather than martial arts sites.
He’s visited some museums, but notes they don’t usually have martial arts displays per se. What they tend to have are weapon displays from indigenous tribes. But that doesn’t automatically mean those weapons represent Filipino Martial Arts or a specific system.
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| Kalasag. Figure 8. University of Pennsylvania (neg. #S4-141884) |
As he explains: “The bow and arrow, for example, is used more for hunting wild animals by the Aetas than as a tool of war. When there are swords, it doesn't automatically mean there was a ‘system’ to use them. There were definitely ‘methods’ or ways of using them, but not, in the modern sense of a ‘system.’”
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| Aetas bow |
No clear-cut answers
Sy also points out that we can’t expect absolute answers to many questions, because what we know of history is always partial. From these partial bits, experts usually work toward an interpretation — but even among experts, disagreement is common, which is why different views exist on the same issue.
He adds that it’s risky to generalize when talking about Philippine history. As an archipelago, the Philippines is home to diverse cultures and ethnic groups — not as diverse as India or China, perhaps, but still varied enough that generalizations often fall short.
“It’s better,” he says, “to talk about a certain locality, ethnic group, or specific system so the variables can best describe them. Generalization serves to simplify things, but it is not applicable to all; there will always be exceptions.”
Finally, Sy reminds us that history is a diverse field, and no one person can claim to have all the answers. “That's why we build on and cross-reference the work of others to affirm or challenge our findings and dig deeper.” The academic field of history (and other social sciences) gives us the necessary tools to make our research more factual, reliable, and credible. The priority is primary historical sources; nowadays most martial artists use tertiary historical sources, primarily the Internet. External and internal criticism should be made on these sources.