KALI PHILOSOPHY

Maniwalla Kami Sa TAGUMPAY, Hindi Sa BIGO           (We Believe in Success, not in Failure )

Maniwalla Kami Sa KALUSUGAN, Hindi Sa SAKIT      (We Believe in Health, not in Sickness)

Maniwalla Kami Sa BUHAY, Hindi Sa KAMATAYAN    (We Believe in Life, not in Death)

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Brief History of Kali & Comjuka-Kali Systems

     KALI is an ancient Filipino art of self defense which was originated and developed by the Filipinos several hundred years before the coming of the Spanish to the Philippines. KALI is also known as ARNIS or ESKRIMA. KALI consists of different fighting forms with the use of different weapons; the single stick, double sticks, sword and dagger, dagger and dagger, and empty hands. Aside from these weapons, KALI also uses the Kama (sickle) and the Gonzo (hay hooks) which are the favorite weapons of COMJUKA.

     KALI was the martial art that made the Americans invent the Colt .45 Automatic, just to stop a jurementado, a Filipino Muslim skilled in the art of KALI, from killing American soldiers during the Filipino-American conflict of 1900 in Mindanao island before the two countries had been allied.

     KALI has hundreds of styles in the Philippines and is practiced throughout the country in Luzon Island, the Visayan Islands, and Mindanao Island. Each province has its own style of self defense in KALI. Some of the styles are named after the founder, others after the place where the style came from such as Toledo style, Batangas style, Pangasinan style, Bohol style, Cebu style, and the Pampangan styles in Pampanga, a province in the northern island of Luzon where COMJUKA was developed and practiced.

     COMJUKA, meaning Combat-Judo-Kali, was changed to Combat-Judo-Karate during the time of the Japanese occupation in W.W.II. The Filipinos did this so that the Japanese would allow them to continue to teach the art. COMJUKA had been practiced secretly and handed down father to son for hundreds of years by the Pampangoans until the Japanese occupation. COMJUKA is now returned to its original meaning Combat-Judo-Kali by Tuhon (Grandmaster/Founder) Ruby as the forefathers of COMJUKA had intended it to be.

     The supreme Master and Director of COMJUKA in the Philippines had a trusted student to whom he passed on his knowledge. This student was a Grandmaster. He imparted his knowledge of COMJUKA only to selected students that he put his trust and confidence in. Among his selected students was Gaudiosa Swanby, who is now Tuhon (Grandmaster/Founder) Gaudiosa Ruby of the COMJUKA-KALI systems. Tuhon Ruby has trained in the art of COMJUKA rigidly under the Grandmaster in Pampanga for many years until she mastered the art and was commissioned to promote and propagate the art of COMJUKA to people with good moral character for the purpose of self defense, self discipline, self confidence, and to promote good health. Tuhon Ruby then founded the art in America and developed forms and a system of minimum requirements for each belt ranking and thus, earned the title of Grandmaster/Founder.

     Tuhon Ruby has taught the Security Police and Hand to Hand Combat Course at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, at two military bases in West Germany, in Cheyenne, Wyo., Aberdeen, Tacoma, and Ft. Lewis, Wash., Titusville, Fla., Andrews AirForce Base, Maryland, and Wichita Falls, Texas. Tuhon Ruby was proclaimed the Queen of Filipino martial arts by Grandmaster Leo T. Gaje in El Paso, Texas, 1989.

     Tuhon Ruby is a member of the National Kali Assoc. Of the Philippines and LAMECO Eskrima Intl., headed by Tuhon Edgar G. Sulite, author of three books on the Filipino Martial Arts, they are, "The Secrets of Arnis", "The Advanced Balisong-The Filipino Butterfly Knife", and "Grandmasters of Kali, Arnis, and Eskrima". Tuhon Ruby’s school is the headquarters for the United States Kali Association Incorporated.

     Tuhon Ruby is currently teaching the Pampangan art of COMJUKA, the art of LAMECO Eskrima, and Laban Tulisan in Texas. She has received permission from her masters of LAMECO Eskrima, Edgar Sulite, and Laban Tulisan. Ner Reodica, Jr., to add their arts to her COMJUKA school. She calls her school the "Filipino-American School of Combat Arts, COMJUKA/KALI Systems". She teaches together with her husband, Punong Guro Gary Ruby (Head Instructor, 9th Degree Blackbelt).

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Kali ~ Arnis ~ Arnis De Mano ~ Escrima

    Kali is the oldest known form of self defense of the Philippines and its use of weapons.

     During the time of Christ, Hindu beliefs came to the Philippines from Malaysia. By the fifteenth century the islands were inhabited by people from China, India, Arabia, and other Nations who mixed with the original Negretos who settled in the Philippines.

     In the Southern Philippines there lived mostly Muslims called the Moro, who used a wide variety of knives in their dance and other martial skills.

     On March 6th, 1521, a Spanish explorer, Magellan, arrived to the Philippines and by the 27th of April he was killed on the island of Mactan. His discovery of the islands brought other Spaniards. After the Spanish occupation and the establishment of the capital in Manila, many other Western nations came to the Philippines.

     In 1896, about 400,000 Tagalog people from Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, revolted against the Spanish occupation which led to the provisional republic in 1898. It was from this race of people that the term Kali was derived to describe their martial arts also known as Arnis. This system utilizes two bladed weapons.

     Training was originally conducted in total secrecy and sticks called muton replaced the blades for both safety and secrecy. Modern practitioners use rattan sticks up to one meter in length. Techniques involve either one or two sticks in a continuous striking action against vulnerable parts of the body.

     During the 1980's, point Eskrima was devised with a prescribed fighting area, a scoring system, and body armor in many cases and National competitions.

     The prime target of an attacker in Eskrima is the hand or lower part of the arm because if a vital point is attacked, the reflexes of the injured person may still enable them to counter attack and cause equal or greater damage, therefore the limb or hand holding the weapon is the target. Getting rid of the weapon equals far less of a threat.

     When the Americans occupied the Philippines in the late nineteenth century, there were many Filipino fighters who wore red headbands and were armed with a blade and ran amok killing American Soldiers who were armed with a .38 revolver. The red headband worn by the Jurementado, a Muslim skilled in the art of Kali, signified that he would not stop fighting until he himself was killed. Thus, the Colt 1911 .45 caliber automatic was developed to deal with the Jurementado. These events confirm the Eskrima policy to disarm the attacker first.

     Unlike Japanese martial arts, Kali students are taught to employ the techniques they are learning in a manner that seems natural to them as opposed to a rigid memorization of very specific maneuvers. This also prevents a predictable counter attack against the Kali Warrior.

     The psychology of Kali, Arnis, or Eskrima are radically different from most of the other martial arts. This could be partly due to the fact that for almost four hundred years, the Philippines were a conquered country and the arts were outlawed, unlike Japan or China where the arts were excepted as part of their culture and could be practiced openly. But in the Philippines, the art that existed dictated that the practitioner seize the opportunity of the moment, to strike back suddenly with disguised movements.

     Arnis, originally known as Kali, centers around three distinct phases. The stick, blade, and empty hand combat. The term sinawali, a form of play or techniques applied because the intricate movements of the two sticks resemble the crisscross weave of a sewali, a pattern used in walling and matting.

     Three principle Kali training methods include the muestrasion or pandalog, which teaches the artistic execution of swinging movements and striking for offense and defense in repetitive drills.

     The sangga at patama, or sombra tabak where striking, thrusting, and parrying in a pre-arranged manner are taught.

     Also the larga muton, or labanang totohanan, where two trainees engage in freestyle practice, which is the ultimate phase of Arnis.

     Two key principles to be learned in Kali are under the categories of physical and psychological. Under the physical, the practitioner must develop speed of hands and feet and agility for rapid delivery and zoning, or evasion. Under the psychological principles, the student must learn to remain calm and composed, and above all, develop the will to fight AND WIN! "We believe in success, not in failure".

     The skills learned in this lethal art are, close quarter, medium range, and long range combat tactics as well as direct and indirect combat primarily utilizing the kahoy (stick), the kutsilio (knife), and or the empty hands. These weapons, and of course the empty hand techniques, are very practical in today's society for self preservation and the protection of others.

     Kali has been around for centuries. It has been tested and proven effective and practical and also develops both the mind and the spirit for a healthy whole well being.

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KALI

    Kali is the oldest form of weaponry in the Philippines. It comes from the word kalis, which implies the blade. The naturally graceful and harmonious movements used in this art are characteristic of the methods found in other Asian countries.

     Kali is a very systematic art of combat fighting based in the science of strategy and tactics. The fighting methods of Kali are ultra advanced so that its fighting values always remain new. Kali does not only imply the use of the stick, blade, or empty hand combat, but is also a reflection of the Filipino people’s history, philosophy, and culture.

     The Filipino people represent the strong segments of the Majaphit Empire that ruled Asia from the 7th to the 15th centuries. They had a significant part in and made many contributions to the civilization of the Pacific region.

     The practice of combat fighting with the use of the blade is part of their customs and traditions. The blade was inseparable in their ceremonial systems. The application of the theories into the martial arts skills and the will to live in freedom gained great victories over the Spanish and American colonization's and the Japanese invasion of the Pacific.

     There are over a hundred related styles in Kali, and their principles in combat are all based in a pattern of angles, which all attacks fall into, regardless of style of weapon.

     A combat system of Kali, the Comjuka-Kali Systems, a close quarter in-fighting method, is a combination of higher techniques of Kali. Comjuka-Kali Systems put a tremendous emphasis on the importance of footwork. The theories of strategic defense, offense and counter offense, have been tested and proven effective and accurate in many different combat situations.

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