I'm starting this thread looking for a little clarification on general FMA terminology as commonly used, and maybe getting input from those who are native Filipino speakers of Tagalog, or other dialects such Ilocano, Cebuano, Hilgaynon, and so on.
Warning!!! Wordy intro. to follow! Feel free to skip down to the "Questions" (bolded text) below!
A little background to the question. I'm a non-Filipino American who practices "Escrima" ...that's an old variant spelling brought over to Stockton before WWII by Filipino immigrants to the States. Of course, nowadays in Tagalog the accepted spelling is Eskrima. Both are spellings derived from the Spanish word for fencing, Esgrima, and all three are pronounced the same way.
My first instructor was a second generation Filipino-American who's native language was English, and he did not use a lot of Filipino terms. He learned his art from his father and other older first generation Filipino immigrants in the Stockton area. He was by temperament more of a fighter, who used whatever term was handy ...often English.
In the decades since working with that instructor, I've met a lot of different FMA practitioners who use both Filipino and Spanish terms, and they often use them very differently, as one would expect considering the diverse background of the various FMAs. One of my instructors was Mexican American, and learned a lot from a tío who worked as a migrant laborer alongside Filipino migrants in Cali who shared stuff with him ...bringing even more Spanish to the mix.
One thing that seems common for those arts with roots in more Spanish and Catholic dominated areas of the PI is the greater use of Spanish vs native terms. I've also noticed that this may be more characteristic of some of the older FMA branches in the USA, taught by earlier immigrants who arrived in America before WWII.
Perhaps, for them, the legacy of Spanish Colonialism was still stronger? Certainly, for the older generations, Spanish had once been a "language of prestige". By today's thinking, this may seem odd, but it is well documented that in the 19th Century when much of the developing world was under European colonial rule, the languages of the colonial powers were often held to be the languages of status, acknowledged even by the indigenous freedom fighters and resistance forces who battled against them. José Rizal, for example, was brilliant and highly educated, having studied in Madrid, Paris, and Heidelberg. So even the rebels held European culture in high regard.
Today, quite the opposite is true. And in modern FMA names derived from Spanish, such as Eskrima and Arnis, are often exchanged for non-European terms like Kali. This seems to be true both in the PI and abroad, where the legacy of colonialism is in justifiable disrepute!
Nevertheless, as I mentioned at the outset, the FMA I train still uses a lot of terms derived from Spanish, from its name, Escrima (Esgrima), to terms like, bastón, abecedario, numerado, cinco tiros, larga mano, media mano, corta mano, directo, de fondo, cerrada, cadena de mano, cruzado, espada y daga, and so on.
OK, so here's the questions:
1.Do any of you practice FMAs that still favor Spanish-derived terminology? And if so, do you spell them the Spanish way, or phonetically, the Tagalog way, or using another variant?
2. If you use such common terms as larga mano and corta mano - Are they written as in Spanish where long distance = distancia larga or larga mano, and close range = distancia corta or corta mano (ending with"a" in larga and corta since in Spanish, it's la mano).
I ask that one, in particular, since so often I often hear terms like "largo mano" ...which sound really odd to me. Kinda like laying "No problemo".
3. Or, do you use contemporary Filipino terms, and if so using Tagalog, or another dialect?
4. Finally, especially for any native Filipino practitioners from the PI: Do you see your art as a pure expression of Filipino identity, or as a uniquely Filipino blending of indigenous and European influences ...kinda like a good adobo?
Warning!!! Wordy intro. to follow! Feel free to skip down to the "Questions" (bolded text) below!
A little background to the question. I'm a non-Filipino American who practices "Escrima" ...that's an old variant spelling brought over to Stockton before WWII by Filipino immigrants to the States. Of course, nowadays in Tagalog the accepted spelling is Eskrima. Both are spellings derived from the Spanish word for fencing, Esgrima, and all three are pronounced the same way.
My first instructor was a second generation Filipino-American who's native language was English, and he did not use a lot of Filipino terms. He learned his art from his father and other older first generation Filipino immigrants in the Stockton area. He was by temperament more of a fighter, who used whatever term was handy ...often English.
In the decades since working with that instructor, I've met a lot of different FMA practitioners who use both Filipino and Spanish terms, and they often use them very differently, as one would expect considering the diverse background of the various FMAs. One of my instructors was Mexican American, and learned a lot from a tío who worked as a migrant laborer alongside Filipino migrants in Cali who shared stuff with him ...bringing even more Spanish to the mix.
One thing that seems common for those arts with roots in more Spanish and Catholic dominated areas of the PI is the greater use of Spanish vs native terms. I've also noticed that this may be more characteristic of some of the older FMA branches in the USA, taught by earlier immigrants who arrived in America before WWII.
Perhaps, for them, the legacy of Spanish Colonialism was still stronger? Certainly, for the older generations, Spanish had once been a "language of prestige". By today's thinking, this may seem odd, but it is well documented that in the 19th Century when much of the developing world was under European colonial rule, the languages of the colonial powers were often held to be the languages of status, acknowledged even by the indigenous freedom fighters and resistance forces who battled against them. José Rizal, for example, was brilliant and highly educated, having studied in Madrid, Paris, and Heidelberg. So even the rebels held European culture in high regard.
Today, quite the opposite is true. And in modern FMA names derived from Spanish, such as Eskrima and Arnis, are often exchanged for non-European terms like Kali. This seems to be true both in the PI and abroad, where the legacy of colonialism is in justifiable disrepute!
Nevertheless, as I mentioned at the outset, the FMA I train still uses a lot of terms derived from Spanish, from its name, Escrima (Esgrima), to terms like, bastón, abecedario, numerado, cinco tiros, larga mano, media mano, corta mano, directo, de fondo, cerrada, cadena de mano, cruzado, espada y daga, and so on.
OK, so here's the questions:
1.Do any of you practice FMAs that still favor Spanish-derived terminology? And if so, do you spell them the Spanish way, or phonetically, the Tagalog way, or using another variant?
2. If you use such common terms as larga mano and corta mano - Are they written as in Spanish where long distance = distancia larga or larga mano, and close range = distancia corta or corta mano (ending with"a" in larga and corta since in Spanish, it's la mano).
I ask that one, in particular, since so often I often hear terms like "largo mano" ...which sound really odd to me. Kinda like laying "No problemo".
3. Or, do you use contemporary Filipino terms, and if so using Tagalog, or another dialect?
4. Finally, especially for any native Filipino practitioners from the PI: Do you see your art as a pure expression of Filipino identity, or as a uniquely Filipino blending of indigenous and European influences ...kinda like a good adobo?
