Filipino Fighting Arts: Theory and Practice

by Mark V. Wiley (Foreword), Antonio E. Somera (Foreword)

The fighting arts of the Philippines are so vast and dynamic that few are able to grasp the true scope and essence of their training methods, techniques and fighting strategies. With this in mind, Mark Wiley, a renowned expert on Filipino martial arts, set out to write a book on the Filipino systems that would offer a structured comparison of 25 Filipino systems in terms of their training methods and progressions, fighting concepts, theories and strategies. In researching this book, Mark traveled to the Philippines a dozen times to meet and train with the masters and to uncover the secrets of these deadly arts. Profusely illustrated with over 500 photographs, this book reveals the incredible diversity of the martial arts which thrive today in the Philippines. Many of the photographs and much of the information in this book have never before been presented to the world at large.

Genres: Martial Arts

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Mark V. Wiley, B.A., received his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Drexel University. He began martial arts training in 1979 and has focused on Cabales Serrada Escrima under Grandmaster Angel Cabales. As an author, Wiley's works included Filipino Martial Arts: Cabales Serrada Escrima (Tuttle 1994) and Filipino Fighting Arts: Theory and Practice (Unique 2000). He has worked in the publishing field, including Tuttle Publishing and CFW Enterprises, and now is self-employed with Tambuli Media.

Reviews

[Rai Keyri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Background of Eskrima Grandmasters and their founding styles

[Raymond Goss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Mark Wiley's other books, this is well written and consistently balanced. The material covers many diverse styles of Arnis including bladed weapons, short and long staff arts and espada y daga arts. I've trained for more than 30 years in Modern Arnis and have good exposure to weapons and other arts too. I was still surprised to see some of the variety of arts and training methods including drills, sparing and fighting development. This book is not about techniques or specific drills. It does cover the philosophy of training and gives the knowledgeable reader some background and distinctions in the various styles. I recommend it to those with some prior skills in Filipino martial arts.