sweeper, you wrote
Hmm.. If Eskrima/Arnis did not develop form a phillipino mother art than where did they come from? I am aware of the spanish influence in terminology and I could see how some of the aproach to teaching could have had a spanish fencing influence (like the use of angles to describe an attack) however the genneral strategies and tactics of phillipino wepon fighting is quite diffrent from european wepon fighting and spanish wepon fighting. So it doesn't realy look like it was derived from spanish fighting systems so where did it come from if not something that was already there?
the philippine martial arts develop just like the fighting styles of any other place, that people take the best fighting techniques they can find, and then adopted it into his own technique. the story of all fighting arts coming to one art, or one man, those are stories, like ones each culture has for where man came from. the history goes back to far to say exactly what the history is, especially what date it goes to.
the philippine people dint write down to much because facts about history like dates, who did what and things like that are not important to us. just like how our silat is different from indonesian because of what is important to the filipino is different from what indonesians like (we dont practice langka and form). when we trace history, we usually go back only one or two generations, and our own history, when we talk to the younger ones. some stories, like the ones with a morale to it, or the history of a certain person or thing that happened (another morale), these things get passed down.
now the chinese and japanese trace there own history back in books and stories, but the filipino is not too interested in that, when it comes to a fighting technique. what is important, is does it work, how did the last few generations developed this style, and what can i learn about them that can make me a better fighter. when my teachers talked to me about the past, they went to how the art developed in the last generation and then his, and why he believed it is a superior fighting technique, then like all teachers, one day they tell you to go out and live your own stories to tell your kids and students.