Articles

An Interview with Guro Cass Magda
By Victor del Rosario

Halfway through a Kulintang performance one late afternoon, a lone man, 6-foot tall wearing a kopia and malong, approached the microphone at centerstage, in front of fifteen hundred people at a high school auditorium in Los Angeles. "We will now demonstrate various Martial Arts of the Philippines, which is relatively unknown in this country. There are over 200 different styles. And, it is a rather esoteric art." "We've trained under several (what we call) first generation Filipinos; many of whom are now deceased or in their late 70's and 80's."

"Filipino martial arts was one of the martial arts in America. As early as the late 1600s, the Spanish Galleon gold route came from the Philippines. At that time, a lot of Filipinos jumped ship in Mexico and Louisiana. You'll find things like the "shrimp dance" in Louisiana today; which is a cultural reminder of the Filipinos landing there in the early 1700s. But, it is the last martial art to surface in the U.S., because the Filipino people felt at that time that,because of the natoure of this art - which involves sophisticated weaponry, and used only for self-defense - that it should be kept within the Filipino community. Since then, we've been very lucky that it has recently surfaced in the early 70's. Today you'll see arts from the Northern, Central, and the Southern Philippines. These arts can look as different as night and day." The audience was riveted. As the demonstration unfolded, the mesmerizing resonance of Kulintang music and the graceful, yet deadly Martial Arts of the Philippines interlocked just as the "players", either holding instruments or weapons, interchangeably moved in and out of each others' rhythmic presence by way of sound or action. Together, these rare and ancient traditions passed down through generations now being performed, electrified an astounding presence that offered a kind of "living snapshot" of the cultural depth deeply rooted, yet largely unknown in the western world.

The man who spoke earlier was Cass Magda, the guro (teacher) of the Magda Institute of Martial Arts in Reseda, California. His school's objectives are:

• to preserve, incorporate and promulgate the true historical, cultural, and philosophical Filipino-Indonesian-Malaysian martial art combative forms and techniques;
• to research and preserve significant teachings of these indigenous art forms;
• to develop committed, devoted individuals capable of transmitting these various Martial Art systems;
• to raise the consciousness of the Martial Arts community and the general public about these various martial arts, since they are relatively unknown.

Let's now meet Guro Cass Magda in this interview:

Q: Why do you perform with WKI?

GC: The reason I enjoy performing with WKI is that we have the opportunity to show the martial arts in its cultural context. In ancient times, it was always practiced to music. The effect on the audience can be quite dramatic. Although it is hypnotic like Balinese dancing, you begin to realize that this is not dancing, but real combative, functional techniques, elegant but extremely dangerous (laughs) ... it just looks beautiful. You see, the moves are deceptively subtle. This is a highly evolved
system of self-defense that has a graceful dance-like quality to it.

Q: I noticed you used the Malong(long length of cloth) to demonstrate with ... is this common?

GC: Yes, everything can be used as a weapon, even articles of clothing. The headdress, the Malong, the belt, the shoe, everyday objects such as pens, umbrella, books, drinking containers, keys ... everything. Many people think that it's only the exotic weapons that are used. No ... it's everyday objects. You see, demonstrations should educate while they entertain. If it's just entertainment, then it reaches someone only on one level. If you educate your audience, even just a little bit, they can appreciate what you're doing and begin to really see what's happening. Light bulbs are being turned on. It's important that people realize that the art is not a dead, static museum artifact from the past, but a potent, alive art form that is useful and relevant today.

Q: To people not familiar with Filipino Martial Arts and there are a lot of different styles, how would you begin to explain what it is?

GC: It is a weapon-based system that evolved uniquely because of the resistance to the Spanish occupation of the Philippines for nearly 400 years. The weaponry share similarities found throughout all of Southeast Asia, especially with Indonesia and Malaysia, but evolved differently.

Originally the art embodied a balance of both weapons and empty hand fighting systems. Later it became known as a strictly weapons system. In some styles, the empty hands were lost over time. Elements of Spanish swordsmanship were absorbed and modified to fit their needs for effective countering attacks and us and used reciprocally against the Spanish and European invaders. Today, you can see some styles retained certain idiosyncrasies of movement that have made them classic.

Accordingly, the Filipino martial arts shaped itself into its own original uniqueness which grew in notoriety amongst its feared opponents. It depends on positioning, speed, and fluidity rather than strength.

It distinguished itself from certain characteristics found in the Indonesian and Malaysian styles, although sprung from the same Malay combative roots. For example, I have looked at the weapon systems in Indonesia. They are not the not the same. They don't have numbering systems. They don't have a curriculum to learn the weapon. They derive their weapons use from the empty hand movements. But in Kali, they have a curriculum to learn the weapon - you learn the numbering system, then you learn the defenses against each number, then you learn to counter against the defenses. These are common basics that most Filipino systems possess.

Further, some systems have more evolved components such as counter-for-counter, practice methods so the practitioners don't get hurt. Some systems have close quarter with the weapon and some others have grappling with the weapon.

Ancient Kali, defined as before the coming of Magellan, existed in 12 categories of instruction. The list comprise of:

1. Single Olisi (Single stick, sword, axe)
2. Double Olisi
3. Olisi-baraw (long and short sticks, sword, and dagger)
4. Baraw-baraw (dbl short sticks, daggers)
5. Baraw-kamot (Dagger and empty hands)
6. Kamot-kamot or pangamut (Empty Hands)
7. Panuntukan (Filipino Boxing, including the use of elbows)
8. Panadiakan/Sikaran (kicking, kneeing, use of the shin)
Dumog/Layug (grappling/wrestling)
9. Olisi dalawang kamot (2 handed stick style)
10. Sibat/bangkaw (spear/staff)
11. Tapon-tapon (Projectiles, darts)
12. Lipad-lipad (Blowguns, bow and arrow)

Today, most people see Filipino martial arts as stickfighting only, even in the Philippines where the common name for it is "Arnis". The empty hand portion and other categories are missing. This is what is practiced in the public school systems. However, a few of my teachers stressed that the Filipino MA is a complete system with a conceptual base that interrelates all the principles from one category to the rest.

Q: Why do you thin that's the case; didn't they stay long enough tolearn the rest?

GC: If I need to train someone to fight in 6 months then I won't waste time with empty hands. It's going to be a weapon. If you have to walk from one village to the other and you walk with a bolo on your side, then that's what you should be training first, not empty hands.

So. by expediency, you had to learn the weapon first. That meant your life. And once you've gained skill with the weapon, then to learn the empty hand was unimportant. So that aspect of it eventually watered away. Only the stuff that was really useful would remain.

And it takes a lot longer, too, to learn the empty hand curriculum- 5 years. You can't make a good fighter in empty hands in just one year. It takes time, because there is a lot to it. But in Kali, you can make a good fighter with weapons in 6 months. In fact, in just 3 months, if he's training everyday, he can already be pretty formidable in self defense, because he has the weapon. That's what happens.

There's a lot of styles in the Filipino MA. As an "outsider" it all looks the same. Then, as an "insider" it all looks different. Further, when you reach a certain level as an "insider" they all start to look the same again. (laughs)

Q: One thing that amazes me is that even though you've been on tour with Dan Inosanto and been training with him for years, then trained with other styles and teachers, you still seek out other people to train and learn under. Why?

GC: You know what? ... you should never leave a rock unturned. You should lift every rock to look what's under it.

There's always something you can learn. If you learn 10 different systems, there will be a lot of repetition. Many of them will have similarities, but then there might be one thing, or two that the guy has that might be pretty good. Or, he might talk about something you already know in a different way. So it just all adds.

I'm a researcher, which is why I'm interested in all these aspects. I have, long ago, developed the ability to fight. If I were just interested in fighting I would have been satisfied, and not attempted to research further.

You can never know it all. Everyone has something to offer, some more than others. But you'll never get anywhere when you consider yourself a master and think that you have it.

Q: In 1986, you were quoted in an article by Black Belt that "knife fighting in Kali-Eskrima is more highly developed than in almost any other martial arts". Do you still feel the same way now?

GC: Yes. I feel the same, even more so today. Even studying Pentjak Silat, which I think is a very sophisticated empty hand system, blade fighting in the Philippines or just weaponry period, is the most highly evolved as far as being practical. In this, I'm referring to "really" being able to fight not dance around and wave your weapon around. Other martial arts have forms that look pretty but the Filipino MA have the understanding of how the weapon structure of combat really works. Once the principles of this structure are understood then anything can fit into the structure. Blade fighting is very sophisticated in the Philippines. Kali people who have this knowledge are very respected.

You see the Philippines was a blade culture. In ancient times every-one carried a blade, by the time you were 14 years old you could be wearing a sword. It meant that you were now respected as an adult in the society. You were capable or preserving or taking a life. You had a great responsibility as a preserver and protector of the society. You became the servant of the people of your tribe. The carrying of the blade does not have the negative association attached to it as it does here in the West.