MARTIAL ARTS UNIFORMS
By Jay de Leon

GM Cristino Vasquez (right) and Jay de Leon of the
International Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines
(IMAFP) at the 3rd FMA World Festival in Cavite,
Philippines in July, 2006.

I have had a few complimentary comments about the martial arts uniforms
that my grandmaster, Cristino Vasquez, and I are wearing in this photo.  With the rank of Lakan Siyam, or Ninth Degree, GM Cris is the highest ranking grandmaster of my system, Modern Arnis . 

Here is my chance to discuss a minor facet of my martial arts, our martial arts uniforms.

First of all, that is about as fancy as it gets.  Normally, during training, especially in the Philippines where it gets hot and humid, the uniform consists simply of loose fitting pants and a T-shirt, most often a school T-shirt with a style logo of some kind.  In fact, during the training when the picture was taken, most of the time we started off wearing the top, then took it off once we started swinging the weapons.  We would be wearing school or event T-shirts underneath.

The uniform we are wearing is that of a Modern Arnis practitioner.  Just like in karate, there are many styles and variations of the karate uniform or gi.  The same is true in my art.  The main art is called Filipino Martial Arts (FMA), or arnis, or kali or eskrima.  They all refer to the same basic art.  Within this art are probably hundreds of styles and organizations, with accompanying uniform, t-shirts and maybe patches or logos. 

As I have previously mentioned, our particular style of Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) is called Modern Arnis as founded by the late Professor Remy Presas of the Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, Philipppines.  This style now has organizations and thousands of practitioners all over the world.  The uniform we are wearing has two versions, black and red.  We are wearing the black version.

In one of the emails I received, a writer named Monica wrote that someday she would like to wear the uniform we are wearing.  By the way, she called it a suit.  Monica, for about twenty dollars, you can probably order and wear the exact same uniform we are wearing.  The only items you might have to avoid would be the membership patches and the black belts.  If you will look closely, we are wearing black belts with red stripes that blend nicely with the uniforms. 

To purchase the membership patches, all you have to do is join the organization.  You may also purchase “generic” martial arts patches online or at a martial arts store, including patches of flags of your respective country.  Now, to earn and actually wear a black belt, you will have to invest a few years of dedicated training.  But you should get the appropriate belt of your level from your organization as long as you are training.

One final note.  Of all the martial arts styles in the world, the FMA practitioners probably stand the least on ceremonies and uniforms.  This is due to its origins as a “backyard” style.  In the olden times, practitioners (normally family or clan members) would simply grab training or real weapons and start training or practicing in their backyards, or open rice field, or by the beach or seashore, wearing everyday clothes.  The idea then was to learn a skill that could save their lives, not to look good.

Now that FMA is part of the international martial arts community, it is joining the twenty-first century with international organizations, camps and tournaments together with the other styles.