Page 34 - Martial Science August #22-2017

lines and proportions are so exact they appear “Everything’s offense,” says Tuhon Apolo. “We
to have been laid out by machine. draw at the same time, your blade comes to-
ward my stomach, mine to yours. But my an-
“That’s the kind of motion, footwork and squat- gle is above, my pathway more is more precise.
ting that we do in Kali training,” says Ladra. Your blade’s deflected. Mine cuts.”
“Bending to deploy a weapon from the hip and
rising to change the level of the attack, disguis- Kali masters know how to use these angles and
ing the attack. It’s the ability to attack undetect- entry ways to their keen advantage. Tuhon
ed.” Apolo calls this “bisecting the line.”
The footwork of Kali, especially, derives from “Every time we engage, whether I execute
a traditional folk dance called the Tinikling, or you execute, our lines meet, and I bisect.
in which dancers nimbly step, hop and canter Could be with my stick, with my arm. This
over and between four bamboo poles, which teaches you where to go in, counter-offensive-
are constantly in motion. ly. Your approach can’t just be blocking or cir-
cling, avoiding or deflecting attacks. You have
The Tinikling, developed in the early years to move in ways that force your opponent to
of Spanish rule, shares its origin with that of, defend. If you don’t, you’ll lose.”
three centuries later, the Pekiti-Tirsia system
of Kali. Both come from the Visayan region in The fulcrum is another crucial component of
the central Philippines, and upon the motions Kali. “Fulcrums are always there, potential-
of the dance you can see, like a ghostly dou- ly,” Ladra explains. “It’s in the form of trian-
ble-exposure, some of the combative mechan- gles, and to imbalance the triangle, you hit
ics of Kali distancing, timing and precision. the apex. This creates the leverage for offense,
In likeness and in practice, the dance becomes counter-offense, and recounter-offense.”
Kali. The motions of Filipino dancers and
farmers underscore one of Kali’s central te- Leverage also aids in disarms, though Ladra
nets: repetition. warns that this is should not be a focus for
the fighter. “The focus is to survive the fight-
“You have to develop your muscle memory -not to disarm, necessarily. What is he doing
and fine motor skills,” says Ladra. “This is es- with his other arm while you’re busy taking
sential to Kali. In the old ways of sowing and the weapon from one hand? If the disarm hap-
tilling the fields, farmers built up thousands pens, it must happen incidentally. When the
and thousands of repetitions that go directly focus is on the disarm, focus is not on offense-
with the footwork and motions of the blade or -and you lose the fight.”
stick.”
The takeaway: Never fail on the offensive.
The advancing student of Kali builds on this “You can’t compromise this mindset,” he says.
foundation, one intricate variation at a time, “At its core [in Kali], you’re battling not only
each new sequence running through repeti- defeat, but death. So finish the fight quickly.
tions in the tens of thousands. The evolution My teacher [the legendary Grand Tuhon Leo
breeds a set of five essential skills that Tuhon Gaje, Jr.] always said ‘you don’t want to fight
Apolo calls STAPP: speed, timing, accuracy, a person in January and finish him in Decem-
precision and power. ber.’”

The principle behind counter-offense as op- Forms of evasion and deflection do come into
posed to defense is that attack answers attack. play in Kali, but always with an offensive edge.
This is called sabayan, or “draw to draw.”
“You can circle, but circle offensively. I shoot
“If you thrust,” Ladra explains, “I thrust. You out my arm for a high block with my hand
strike, I strike. You move, I move. All in an open, and my fingers circle toward the eyes.”
instant.” The edge lies in STAPP. Is my count- This is practical offense as defense, defense as
er-offense faster than yours? Is my timing to offense. “There’s always an opening, always
perfection? What about the angles, the accu- an angle of attack.”
racy of how my strike travels to you, the preci-
sion and power with which it lands?

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