Kali is a term used to describe the multitude of weapon based combat systems that originate in the Philippines and Indonesia. Kali is sometimes said to be be combination of two Filipino words – Kamot Lihot – that can be translated as “body in motion”. Other common names given to the Filipino arts are: Arnis (Spanish for “Harness”), and Escrima (Spanish for “skirmish”). There is quite a bit of debate over the “correct” term, but at Trinity we have decided to stick with “Kali” for simplicity.

Our Kali focus at Trinity stems from the Inosanto / Lacosta “blend” (John Lacosta was one of Guro Inosanto’s main instructors in the Filipino arts). We practice with the stick (single and double), and the knife – but also include a great deal of the empty hand material from the subsystems of Panatukan (Filipino Boxing), Pananjakman (Filipino Kicking), and Dumog (Filipino Grappling) as supplements to our Jun Fan Gung Fu base.

Interested in learning more come to one of our classes.