Balagtas and Arnis

A poet like Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar (April 2, 1788 – February 20, 1862) was meticulous about words. Long before Yambao and Mirafuente came out with their book on arnis in 1957, Balagtas had already mentioned the words arnés (arnis) and cáliz (kalis) in his work,"Florante at Laura".

My point is this; Why chose the word arnis, instead of kali? And why wrote the word kalis and failed to use kali?

Below are the excerpt of the work in its original Tagalog orthography (circa 1700s)and the contemporary Tagalog version of the same. (Notice how different the Tagalog was written in the earlier years as compared to the current usage.)

223

Minulán ang galí sa pagsasayauan
ayon sa música,t, auit na saliuan,
laróng bunó,t, arnés na quinaquitaan
nang cani-caniyang licsi,t, carunungan.

Contemporary Tagalog . . .

223
"Minulan ang gali sa pagsasayawan,
ayon sa musika't awit na saliwan;
larong buno't arnis na kinakitaan
ng kani-kaniyang liksi't karunungan."

Then Tarrosa Subido's translation . . .

223

The merry round was ushered swifts
With dance and song, with lilt and lift;
Wrestling and fencing in many a shift,
Proclaiming every skill and gift.

Another verse in its original orthography . . .

Bucód dito,i, madláng digmâ nang ca-auay
ang sunód-sunód cong pinag-tagumpayán
ano pa,t, sa aquing cáliz na matapang
labing-pitóng hari ang nan͠gag-sigalang.

Modern orthography . . .

"Bukod dito'y madlang digma ng kaaway
ang sunud-sunod kong pinagtagumpayan;
anupa't sa aking kalis na matapang,
labimpitong hari ang nangagsigalang."

From above excerpts, we can say that is is very probable that in the time of Balagtas, the word kali was non-existent, thus, the great Balagtas opted to write arnis. Whilst the word kalis was already an accepted word.

Also note that arnes or arnis here is translated as fencing, meaning , an activity involving swords. So it is clear that arnis was also into bladed weapons. If this is so, assuming that the translation is correct, the question follows, "Why use the term arnis instead of kali?"

The counter-argument would be that Balagtas was writing fictitious events that happened in a foreign land of Persia, and he was not describing, in any way, an indigenous Filipino martial art.

Yes this is very logical argument, but then Balagtas, was writing this for his contemporaries, and wanted people to appreciate his "Florante at Laura". It was simply unwise for this poet to use unfamiliar words, right?.

Kalistas, you're losing argument . . . What can you say about this, eh?