Kali

So I've been doing Kali recently.



That's an example of unarmed combat.

Then we also have what we call Solo Baston o Baston y Daga (y is pronounced as the letter e, like in bee).



Just a few info on kali:

• It's the national Filipino sport.
• A contact sport.
• We really don't have that much gear on when practicing lmao.
• We use bamboo sticks for practicing and combat though padded sticks are widely used for safety in combat.
• I got hit on the face yesterday and it hurts so much hahaha.
• Closely related to silat which is something like dirty fighting because it generally has no rules when sparring.
• Used in movies such as Hanna, Spy, Furious 7, Kickass, Book of Eli and a lot more TV shows apparently.

But honestly though, in real combat, would an attacker care about rules? I mean, if someone cornered you with a knife, would he be concerned about the unspoken rules for a "dignified" fight? I don't think so.

That gif with sticks is a simple sinawali combination that is basic. It only looks cool because it's done super fast but it's merely moving your sticks in a slashing X motion.

Kali is flowy, kinda. Our attacks are our blocks or parries and we use the whole body to attack. Our stick motion is similar to the motion of daggers or swords. We aim for the head, neck, wrists, fingers, knees and thighs.

It's like wing chun but different?

Anyway, I practice this sport with 4 other people and there's this cute guy whom I got to partner with one time. Note that we were doing blocking and he was having slight trouble because our sticks were slippery. Then when I tried to go for his neck, he blocked it but he put too much power and his stick bounced off of my cheek lmao. It didn't hurt that much but that's just me. Bamboo sticks are very very hard and painful though.



So now, I don't think I can do other sports haha! I've only learned contact sports ever since I was a child. With the exception of archery, of course.

I'm glad I got to use my fencing skills in kali though. It really helps me to dodge and lunge for an attack. Other than that, my Thai boxing and taekwondo helps me with the unarmed combat especially when I'm grappling and clinching. Anyway, that's all. I think I'm prepared for a zombie apocalypse and the Hunger Games now.

Back to studying.