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By Excel V. Dyquiangco

There are many ways in which a woman can defend herself in foreboding situations. Judo, aikido, arnis and all kinds of martial arts, including a self-defense class, may give hopes that a woman is not as vulnerable as everyone thinks. Yet, there is one form of system in which a woman may truly know the real essence of self defense – one which is slightly taking shape all over Europe and the Americas: Pekiti tersia kali.

This is considered a system and not a form of martial arts because this system involves respect, which the other forms of martial arts don’t possess. Pekiti tersia kali, from the Ilonggo dialect, which literally means a closed quarter in fighting system.

Pekiti has been around since 1897, and is even used during the time of Lapulapu. “Pekiti is the philosophy of the early fathers,” claims Grand Master Leo T. Gaje, simply known as Tujon. “In this philosophy, we believe in life and not death. We believe in success and not failure. We believe in good health and not sickness. Pekiti also has no rules, and you just fight.”

Tujon added that this is the only system that is really Filipino-based and not influenced by the Japanese or Americans during the time when they colonized the country. And this is what makes Tujon very proud about this sport – that it is invented and used by Filipinos. It is a pure Filipino fighting system.

“That is why there is the ka in kali,” he says. “We have words like katipunan, kayumanggi or kasanayan. No other language in the world has ka in their vocabulary or dictionary.”

Aside from respect, pekiti also advocates the doctrine of discipline and has to be perfect in all actions, and should be very effective in its movements. Engaging in this system, students don’t believe that love is the basis of a relationship – it should be respect.

“If you have respect for one another,” says Tujon. “Then everything will follow through. With respect, there is no unfaithfulness, separation or divorce. It also preserves genetics and breeds intelligence because of its style and different moves.”

This system also promotes humility, consideration, equality, care, purity, loyalty, friendship and hospitality. Students under training shouldn’t smoke, drink or do any other vices. The discipline comes in this form.

Trainings with pekiti also use weapons – such as sticks, daggers, swords and knives for defense. They slash, hit or punch their opponents with it, which should all be analytical in movement and geometrically correct. Like parallelograms in geometry, pekiti uses a style that exactly imitates the lines in geometry.

There is no room for mistakes when indulged in this system. All has to be perfect. But of course, with the usage of these weapons mentioned, one can’t sometimes bring all of these wherever he or she goes. This is where the fun comes in.

Unlike arnis, Pekiti tersia kali uses everyday materials that could hurt someone very badly, like umbrellas, hairpins, notebooks or even magazines – as long as you know where to slash your opponent.