What's In A Name?
When I began what was going to be Bayani Warrior in 2003, I was just a college freshmen trying to find people to train with while away from home while away at school. Before, my group didn't have a name. It was just a group I formed to spread Filipino martial arts and keep my skills sharp. I never thought of actually naming the group before, and I struggled to come up with a name that described a system that I had no intention of systematizing. However, it's a system that, while led and founded by me, I still believe it doesn't BELONG to me.
People would come in to train and ask "What's the name of this style?" I told them we called it Arnis or Kali. Then they'd say, "What's the name of the style? Like, if I were to tell people about it, what's the name?" I never really thought about it to be honest. Some people suggested I call it Pana Kali-Arnis, and I tried calling it that for a month, but I felt it was too pretentious for me to do that. I was just a kid in college and I never had to use this stuff to kill anyone, so I didn't think it was right to name the system after myself. Also, no one else in my family seems to know this art as far as I know, so to name a system after my whole family would also be a misnomer.
One summer before my junior year, I went to the Philippines with a group of Americans to do volunteer work one summer in Baguio, the other Americans and I were referred to as "Bayani". We didn't know what the word meant. All I knew was that all the natives kept referring us as "Bayani" and it was one of the only Tagalog words I heard that even white Americans could pronounce properly. Eventually, I would come to the understanding that the word Bayani means "hero", someone who serves and puts the needs of the innocent above themselves. I liked the word. I liked it a lot. When I got back to attend college in the Fall, I decided to call the FMA group I led the "Bayani" group, but it seemed to lack something. I then added the word "Warrior" to the group because being a warrior was something I aspired to be my whole life. I feel that most of us have the potential to be a "Bayani". We all have an aspect of our personality which enables us to sacrifice and help others. But, to be a true warrior takes a LOT of work. The Bayani, I felt, was already within me...but the Warrior side was something I wanted to work up to.
Some people actually objected to it. One person said, "You should call it Pana Fighting Systems." Another said, "Why don't you just stick to Pana Kali-Arnis?"
The reason why I chose Bayani Warrior as the group's name is not just because it names our ideals. I call this group Bayani Warrior because, as strange as it may sound, this art...this "system"...it is NOT mine. It's not mine, much in the same way that my heritage is not mine. This art, while it's directed and led by me, really belongs to guys like my great-grandfather (my grandmother's father), who was a village leader during his time and had bolos, kampilans, clubs, and even .45 caliber pistols either on his person or nearby, always at the ready. He used to be the guy to go to for training, or if you wanted to challenge a man to a duel, you had to get his permission first. This art belongs to my great-grandfather Exequiel Castillo, who once challenged the former president of the Philippines, Jose Laurel, to a duel during their teens in Batangas (took a club and hit the former president in the skull, knocked him down, and walked away...and got stabbed when he wasn't looking). This art belongs to guys like my grandfather (my father's father), who served in World War II as a guerrilla and his Jungle Bolo is still around to this day. The art has gotten lost in my family line somewhere in the last two generations, but there is something in me calling me to bring it back in some way.
Above all else, this art belongs to God, and the instructors He has placed in my way to guide me and train me (Tuhon Carl Atienza being the biggest influence to date).
I can never call Bayani Warrior MINE in the pure sense of the term. Yes, I did put the system together. Yes, I am the guiding force behind it. But, I will not say it is mine. To say it is mine is to assume that I never had any instructors who trained me. To say it is mine is to assume that I came up with all of this all by myself without anyone's help. To do so would, in my eyes, be disrespectful. Bayani Warrior is the term that I use to describe not only our group's ideals, but also the Warriors in my bloodline and the instructors in my life who trained me and guided me.
These men and women are my heroes, but they are also warriors.
They are what it means to be a Bayani Warrior.
People would come in to train and ask "What's the name of this style?" I told them we called it Arnis or Kali. Then they'd say, "What's the name of the style? Like, if I were to tell people about it, what's the name?" I never really thought about it to be honest. Some people suggested I call it Pana Kali-Arnis, and I tried calling it that for a month, but I felt it was too pretentious for me to do that. I was just a kid in college and I never had to use this stuff to kill anyone, so I didn't think it was right to name the system after myself. Also, no one else in my family seems to know this art as far as I know, so to name a system after my whole family would also be a misnomer.
One summer before my junior year, I went to the Philippines with a group of Americans to do volunteer work one summer in Baguio, the other Americans and I were referred to as "Bayani". We didn't know what the word meant. All I knew was that all the natives kept referring us as "Bayani" and it was one of the only Tagalog words I heard that even white Americans could pronounce properly. Eventually, I would come to the understanding that the word Bayani means "hero", someone who serves and puts the needs of the innocent above themselves. I liked the word. I liked it a lot. When I got back to attend college in the Fall, I decided to call the FMA group I led the "Bayani" group, but it seemed to lack something. I then added the word "Warrior" to the group because being a warrior was something I aspired to be my whole life. I feel that most of us have the potential to be a "Bayani". We all have an aspect of our personality which enables us to sacrifice and help others. But, to be a true warrior takes a LOT of work. The Bayani, I felt, was already within me...but the Warrior side was something I wanted to work up to.
Some people actually objected to it. One person said, "You should call it Pana Fighting Systems." Another said, "Why don't you just stick to Pana Kali-Arnis?"
The reason why I chose Bayani Warrior as the group's name is not just because it names our ideals. I call this group Bayani Warrior because, as strange as it may sound, this art...this "system"...it is NOT mine. It's not mine, much in the same way that my heritage is not mine. This art, while it's directed and led by me, really belongs to guys like my great-grandfather (my grandmother's father), who was a village leader during his time and had bolos, kampilans, clubs, and even .45 caliber pistols either on his person or nearby, always at the ready. He used to be the guy to go to for training, or if you wanted to challenge a man to a duel, you had to get his permission first. This art belongs to my great-grandfather Exequiel Castillo, who once challenged the former president of the Philippines, Jose Laurel, to a duel during their teens in Batangas (took a club and hit the former president in the skull, knocked him down, and walked away...and got stabbed when he wasn't looking). This art belongs to guys like my grandfather (my father's father), who served in World War II as a guerrilla and his Jungle Bolo is still around to this day. The art has gotten lost in my family line somewhere in the last two generations, but there is something in me calling me to bring it back in some way.
Above all else, this art belongs to God, and the instructors He has placed in my way to guide me and train me (Tuhon Carl Atienza being the biggest influence to date).
I can never call Bayani Warrior MINE in the pure sense of the term. Yes, I did put the system together. Yes, I am the guiding force behind it. But, I will not say it is mine. To say it is mine is to assume that I never had any instructors who trained me. To say it is mine is to assume that I came up with all of this all by myself without anyone's help. To do so would, in my eyes, be disrespectful. Bayani Warrior is the term that I use to describe not only our group's ideals, but also the Warriors in my bloodline and the instructors in my life who trained me and guided me.
These men and women are my heroes, but they are also warriors.
They are what it means to be a Bayani Warrior.
posted by Mike Pana at
5:42 PM
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