Filipino Martial Culture (Martial Culture Series) [Paperback]

Mark V. Wiley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Martial Culture Series | Publication Date: May 15, 1997

A classic reference for martial artists and aficionados of Filipino culture, Filipino Martial Culture is an unprecedented excursion into the history, ideology, and techniques of Filipino martial arts. Beginning with a comprehensive study of the history of civil turbulence in the Philippines and the participation of its warriors in fights for independence from colonial rulers, Filipino Martial Culture proceeds to explore the worldview, spirituality, folklore and weaponry of this ancient tradition.

Mark Wiley has collected extensive interviews with Filipino martial arts masters, as well as photographs of their practice and weaponry, in his preparations for this book. He explains basic and rare techniques, elucidating the ethos of much of Filipino culture in the process. The authority and depth of his materials are unsurpassed; Filipino Martial Culture is as much a definitive anthropological textbook as it is a practical guide to the martial arts

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark V. Wiley has written for multiple martial arts and health publications, including Karate-Kung Fu Illustrated and The Journal of Asian Martial Arts. One of the world's foremost martial arts researchers, he is the co-author of Qigong for Health and Well-Being and author of Martial Arts Talk (2000) , and Filipino Martial Arts: Cabales Serrada Escrima (1994).

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (May 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804820880
• ISBN-13: 978-0804820882
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good addition to your FMA library, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Filipino Martial Culture (Martial Culture Series) (Paperback)

While I wish this book had the same relentless scholarly execution as Don Draeger's work (and I can think of very few even comparable for any art) on Indonesian arts, this becomes an even more difficult book to review because this is in reality more than one book: it is a book on Wiley's theories of the development of Filipino Martial Culture and a book which documents the oral history of FMA masters he has met in the Philippines and America (which I presume helped shape his conclusions).

"Filipino Martial Culture" works for me because it represents an effort to document the efforts of some well-known, some less-known, but no less significant figures in the Filipino Martial Arts community. Most students of eskrima, kali, arnis, etc. (like myself) are starved for information on the masters of the FMA. I suppose that is why I appreciate this book, because it makes the effort.

While this book may be controversial for its conclusions, biases, etc. and its emphasis on some masters over others, it does attempt to tell the story of the FMA through the voices of the people themselves. It is definitely not the final word and anybody interested in exploring should seek out books by Cabiero, Canete, Draeger, Imada, Inosanto, Presas, Sulite, and others to supplement their research in Southeast Asian fighting arts.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Must!, August 19, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Filipino Martial Culture (Martial Culture Series) (Paperback)

There are so few trustworthy English-language books on the Filipino martial arts that the publication of a new one is a landmark. And when such a competent and respected practitioner as Mark V. Wiley produces it, then the occasion is one to be savoured.There have been many technical manuals on eskrima, arnis, and kali, and the library shelves are well stocked with them. Even so, there has always been a need for well-researched scholarly material relating to the history and culture of the Filipino arts. Unfortunately, such works are rare--as incidentally, are the people capable of writing them. Mark V. Wiley is an exception and this book has surpassed all my expectations. I've no doubt it will become the standard reference on the martial arts of the Philippines.The book is comprehensive and covers the history of turbulence and war in the Philippines from pre-historic times to the present day. It also examines the culture from which arises Filipino martial arts, the spirituality, folklore, and weaponry, plus biographical sketches of 18 Filipino masters, and descriptions of their respective fighting styles, and a comparative study of the ethos, ideology, and development of the Filipino martial arts in relation to the traditions of India, China, and Japan.Wiley also addresses the many misconceptions which surround the Filipino martial arts, informing us firstly that the terms kali, eskrima, and arnis are not synonimous and do not represent the same art. Kali did not exist during the pre-Spanish times. Then he tells us that not all Filipino arts are based on weapons training--in fact, there are quite a few strictly empty-hand arts.These statements are based on solid historical research. I recommend this book to serious martial artists, whilst for all practitioners of the Filipino martial arts, it is an absolute must!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, August 6, 1999

By 

Christoph Amberger (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Filipino Martial Culture (Martial Culture Series) (Paperback)

You know 'em when you see 'em...shelves upon shelves of how-to martial arts titles at your local book superstore -- all presented by humorless thugs posing in grainy black-and white photos. Like a well-rounded Alsatian farmer's wife, they grab you by the neck and begin stuffing junk down your throat until you put the book down, none the wiser, but with the feeling that your liver justgot a step closer to becoming kung fu foie gras...

There are exceptions, of course. But few martial arts authors have the cultural awareness and sensitivity to put their art into a larger picture, one that transcends the stances, blocks, and hits -- positions it as part of a living, three-dimensional cultural phenomenon.

One writer who was able to live up to the task was the late Donn Draeger. Of course, any Westerner who attempts to create a competent comprehensive appreciation of an Oriental martial culture not only requires the appropriate amount of expertise in the subject matter he chooses. He also has to have guts to face the "my-kung-fu-is-better-than-your-kung-fu" and "my-facts-are better-than-your facts" pundits (mostly Westerners, too) who know everything better in the first place, and then believe their particular sub-system was not represented to their liking. (Or that their edition of Baedeker's Manila represents a better reference than the research of original data in sources and translations of the respective author...)

Mark Wiley has guts -- and the discipline, humility, perseverance and expertise to create a trail-blazing work on the ins and outs of Filipino Martial Culture. Rivaling, and often even surpassing Donn Draeger in scope, his book is probably the most important martial arts title to hit the stores this decade.

Wiley's approach combines solid historical research skill (uniting archeological and folkloristic sources) with deeply personal knowledge of the culture (and cultures) he is writing about. By adding an anthropological element into his analysis, he manages to put his work into a globally human perspective -- as important to a practitioner of a Filipino martial art as to any other culture.

Himself an accomplished practitioner of arnis and eskrima, the Filipino stick fighting art, he could have chosen a less holistic approach and still written an excellent book. But there's little of Mark Wiley in this book, reflecting his respect of all other styles and schools (most of which are represented in generous chapters) as well as the self-effacing humility you would expect from a master.

Even if you're not particularly interested in Filipino stick fighting, this is one of the most worth-while additions to your fighting library you're going to make for the rest of this millennium.