Eskrima or Escrima refers to a class of Filipino martial arts that emphasize stick and sword fighting. In the Philippines it is also called Arnis or Arnis de Mano (harness of the hand). Elsewhere, it is often designated as Kali (primarily in the United States and Europe), or the abbreviation FMA (Filipino Martial Arts).
Despite popular belief, kali is not the root art of all Filipino fighting arts, rather a term popularized in the United States and brought over to the Philippines as the "mother art". Kalis, as used in the Philippines, refers to a sword. It is commonly mistaken as synonymous to or a derivative form of kali (note: postfixing of "s" is not used in Filipino languages or dialects to indicate plurality). However, for all intents and purposes, Eskrima, Arnis, Arnis de Mano, Kali and FMA all refer to the same family of Filipino weapons-based martial arts. One of the most famous masters is Dan Innosanto, he is a Filipino martial arts (FMA) instructor from California who is best-known as a student of the late Bruce Lee and the world's foremost authority on Jeet Kune Do.
