Cordilleran Fighting Arts is Filipino? (English)

 


Cordilleran Fighting Arts is Filipino?

  

In 2019 before the spread of the fear of the COVID-19 Pandemic, some practitioners of Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) started to use Kalinga head axes, as well as some practitioners started to make a replica of Kala-sag (wooden shield) for market.

I said, wait, they're going to be fashionable again. And it will be mentioned that the head-axe particularly the one in Kalinga is used in FMA.

 

Source: Andrea Bugnosen and the Kanana Kanu Community Film

Let me give the reader a little glimpse of what exactly is called Cordilleran Fighting Arts, based on the research and training that we did to codify the methods of the famous Mengors in the Cordillera in their way of warfare,


Mengor

Mengor is one of the many expressions of the Cordillerans and the Ybanags pertaining to a warrior of a tribe or typical community of these natives. Every single man of proper build and age is expected to be a mengor of their ili (native community name).

They are the ones destined to become hunters or ‘mangungubat’ so that there will be something to eat, they are also the ones who typically perform men's work, (opps sorry for the lack of gender sensitivity) such as farming, building huts, and so on. They also serve as protectors of the ‘ili’ if necessary, they also play a role in head-taking as part of men’s passage.

 

Batek

A batek or tattoo is an unusual mark on the body, There is a batek for women and men, usually in men there is a batek that symbolizes their warfare or victory in head-taking, more batek, more skilled and feared in warfare or head-taking. I will not tell the reason and method of head-taking, this must be kept.

With the living Mengor, after verifying and getting his approval for our codification


Training

Those who will be mengors are trained in hunting, they must be trained in searching, chasing, trapping, killing, and butchering. There is no standard training, no dos and don'ts, no ABCs of training.

Everyone is sharing the experience of their father or a friend in the way of hunting and also in head-taking. There is no maestro-style of teaching like FMA which some say is the "outcast child" of European martial arts. All training is part of daily work and tasking as a man. Training starts from childhood to adulthood.

 

Weapons

Mengors have various weapons, including knowledge of the topography of the area, travel beliefs (such as signs of victory or defeat), preparing traps, reserving hidden weapons along the way, initiation rituals, and rituals at the end of the hunting. 

The common weapons are, wait, I'll just call them in English, maybe our native words will be used by opportunists in martial arts; spear, head-axe, shield, arm-pikes, bolo, and so on. The main weapons are the spear and shield, the head-axe and bolo are for close-quarters, and for taking the enemy's head. The shield can also be used as a weapon alone, it can also be used as a floater when crossing a river.

 

Footage from our Pangayaw practice


Is the Cordilleran Filipino?

YES, Filipino in the sense of political identity, but not like those we call 'conquered' or Filipino lowlanders who were culturally Hispanized then later Americanized. In other words, historically the Cordilleran, and all its different tribes are not Filipino in the sense. Because the social evolution of the conquered and Christianized natives was different from those that were not conquered by foreigners such as the Ygolod (Ygorot), Lumad, and Moros.

The obvious disdain for the natives is a sign of this different historical evolution of the conquered and unconquered communities in the country. The conquered people usually looked down on and laughed at the non-conquered natives.

That is why the red Maoists were thrown out by the Cordillera because it destroyed the indigenous beliefs, traditions, and activities of the time of Ka Ambo (Fr. Conrado Balweg), because they did not understand the dynamism of the socio-cultural characteristics of the Cordilleran, and they will try to destroy it because it is contrary to their DHM or Dialectical-Historical Materialism which is the foundation philosophy of Marxism.

YES the Ygolod or people from the mountains are Filipino, but our way of warfare has never been FMA. Yes, there is arnis/escrima in some public schools in the Cordillera, but the FMAers brought it from Manila, and because of the department of education. So some comrades were also annoyed when a Cordilleran won the arnis competition in Manila, and boasted that "arnis was used by the native Cordillerans against foreigners (sic)." The truth is that this was used by the allies of the foreigners, the Filipinos, or the lowlanders to try to conquer us.  

There is a big difference between Cordilleran Fighting Arts and Filipino Martial Arts. Here are the points why: 

1. Unmixed movements of Spanish swordsmanship, usually in any style or system of arnis/escrima will be seen characteristics derived from the esgrima comun of the conqueror. Any of its kind has a word derived from Spanish. The Cordillera has none, no abanico, rompida, and other terms. The native also has no numbered movements. Every movement is in accordance with the movement of the 'hunting packs.' 

Unlike the plains that were 'conquered' in Tagalog, Ilokano, Visayans, the Spanish influence is visible. And the usual way is for individual duel or competition. 

2. There is no master-student relationship in the way of teaching, the teaching of the future mengor is through his socializing with children's games, rituals, and if at the right age, hunting; here his relative or friend can share expertise and knowledge. 

3. The movement is not 'stick-based', you will not find any art of fighting with a stick, the stick will only be used if there is no other weapon in hand and it will be used in a simple way. No carenza, no flow drills, and other fancy moves. 

The Cordilleran has its own form of weapon, although they have a commonality. The shape of the head-axe of the Kalinga is different from that of the Bontoc and Ifugao, as well as the shape of the kala-sag (shield). 

4. The practice of warfare is for the welfare of the clan/community which is different from FMA whose practice is for 'civilian self-defense.'

 

Preservation and Continuity

 

The above is based on the narration of our Mengors and Pangats, the time is different, most of the young people are Westernized as well, especially in Benguet which was earlier Americanized compared to the lowlanders. There are more young Ygolod people who are obsessed with foreign martial arts, but even so, you can still see their movements as warriors. 

The Cordillerans were named after what tribe they came from or were named after a place like Baguio from the word Bag-iw or fog. The tribe of Butbot, Lubuagan, and others were called Kalinga from the word Ybanag of Cagayan which means 'enemy (sic)."

 

Gamaba and Pangat Alonzo ‘Tatay’ Saclag demonstrating fight maneuvers

                                                                                  Source: Casa Duende Production

Our Association of mostly pure Cordillerans and some Cordilleran mestizos has long researched the methods of fighting with indigenous weapons and strategies, there are some who really don't want to expose it to non-Cordillerans, why, this is one of the last aces we have. We called it YNORDIS, from the meaning "from the North."

This essay was written to give a glimpse of some characteristics of the Cordilleran Fighting Arts, and I'm sorry I didn't use any references, especially those written by foreigners because these mentioned are truly from the lifestyle of our people. Our insistence is to be respectful and not to use the Cordillera's method of warfare and weaponry just to increase the interest of some FMAers in other countries. GAWIS

 

 

Joel Anajao and Daddon

Awichon, Kalinga

July 2020

 

 

 

Thanks to:

 

Gamaba Alonzo Saclag

Rebecca Saclag

Vice-Mayor Jun Saclag

Andrea Bugnosen

Johnray Wandag

Jim Libiran

Eloisa Francia

Mark Laccay

Florentino Aquino

Chona Enriquez

Ivan Rey Gabertina

 


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