Eskrima in popular culture

Eskrima in popular culture reflects the impact that this class of Filipino martial arts has made outside of the martial arts community. Eskrima, Arnis, and Kali emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, blades and improvised weapons.^[1] Because of this training with live weapons, elements of Eskrima have made an impact in film, video games, television, and comic books. Eskrima is often used to train actors and stuntmen how to handle similar weapons for use in movies.^[2]

Film

in the 2011 movie te scorpion king 3, argomael one of the worriors of the book, played by (dave Batista) shows some eskrima blade-fighting techniques. in the 210 film Wrong side of town, big ronnie, played by (Dave Batista) uses eskrima knife-fighting techniques in his fight with markus, played by(Marrese Crump).

• The Bladed Hand: The Global Impact of Filipino Martial Arts is an upcoming 2011 documentary film by Jay Ignacio and Sonny Sison which features interviews from many of the prominent Filipino grandmasters around the world and in the Philippines who are alive today.^[3] It is unprecedented as they were able to obtain permission to document Eskrima systems which have held long bitter rivalries with each other, something which would not have been possible a decade ago.
• In the 2011 movie Hanna, the characters played by Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan are shown practicing 6-step sinawali double-stick drills at the beginning fo the film. Towards the end, Hanna gets into a fight and uses Filipino trapping and knife-fighting techniques. Ronan trained at the Inosanto Academy for the role and Jeff Imada was fight choreographer for the film as well.^[4][5]
• In the 2010 movie Kick-Ass, the title character, played by Aaron Johnson, used eskrima sticks to fight criminals and Hit-Girl played by Chloë Grace Moretz used the signature Filipino balisong knives.
• In the 2010 movie Repo Men, Forest Whitaker (a long time Kali student under Dan Inosanto) and Jude Law used Kali for the vicious fight scenes with Jeff Imada as fight choreographer.^[6]
• In the 2010 movie The Book of Eli, the title character, played by Denzel Washington, uses a stylized Bolo blade in self defense. Washington trained for months in Kali fighting styles in preparation for the role under Dan Inosanto and his senior student Jeff Imada.^[7]
• Eskrimadors is a landmark 2009 Filipino Martial Arts documentary film by Kerwin Go which features the real-life legendary grandmasters and interviews from Doce Pares, Balintawak Eskrima and other major schools from the Cebu area. It is of particular significance because it is the first documentary film on FMA that was made by a Filipino.
• In the 2009 movie Ninja Assassin, Kali was used in the dual weapon choreography. Chad Stahelski and Jonathan Eusebio of 87eleven Action Design were fight choreographers.^[8] Stahelski and Eusebio are students of Dan Inosanto.
• Olivier Schneider was the fight choreographer for the 2008 film Taken. Schneider used a combination of Wing Chun, Silat and Eskrima.^[9]
• In the 2008 James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, actor Daniel Craig used Filipino martial arts to subdue a knife-wielding assassin. 2nd-unit director Dan Bradley worked with the same team from the Bourne series of movies for the fight choreography.^[10]
• In the 2002 movie The Bourne Identity and its 2004 and 2007 sequels, The Bourne Ultimatum, Matt Damon used Kali for the fight scenes,and was trained by Damon Caro and Jonathan Eusebio^[3][11][12]|The Bourne Supremacy]] and [[The Bourne Ultimatum (film) The primary fight choreographer was Jeff Imada assisted by Damon Caro and Jonathan Eusebio, all students of Dan Inosanto. The first film's director Doug Liman stated that Kali's principles of minimal effort influenced their development of Bourne's character.
• In the 2008 movie Big Stan, the title character, played by Rob Schneider, fights prison inmates with rattan sticks and his last opponent was Dan Inosanto.
• In the 2008 movie Punisher: War Zone, Ray Stevenson (Punisher) practiced eskrima as part of his stick-fighting and knife-fighting training.
• In the popularly-referenced 2007 movie 300, Kali/Eskrima/Arnis was used as the base for the blade and shield choreography.^[13] FMA's signature heavy use of the off-hand can be seen in the offensive use of the shield. The fight choreographer, Damon Caro is a senior student of Dan Inosanto.
• In the Chronicles of Riddick series, Riddick (Vin Diesel) employs a more aggressive variation of eskrima. Paul Rapovski of Kali de Leon was the fight choreographer.
• In the 2006 movie Mission: Impossible III, Tom Cruise and Keri Russel's characters were shown training with rattan sticks.
• In the 2006 movie The Sensei, Diana Lee Inosanto's character teaches a young boy eskrima.
• Wesley Snipes used Eskrima in 2004's Blade: Trinity. Fight coordinator Chuck Jeffries is a Kali expert (under Dan Inosanto) and Snipes learned from Jeff Ward who was fight choreographer in the first 2 movies.
• In the 2004 movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Milla Jovovich's character was trained by Ron Balicki to use eskrima to finish off several opponents with expandable batons. Ron Balicki (a senior JKD/Kali instructor under Dan Inosanto) and his wife Diana Lee Inosanto were the fight choreographers.
• In the 2004 movie, The Prodigy, fight/stunt coordinator Ron Balicki stylized all the fights in the movie using eskrima techniques.
• Mano Mano 3: Arnis the Lost Art is a 2004 film starring Ronnie Rickets, the brother of Christopher Rickets who is a founder of the Bakbakan International style
• The 2003 movie The Hunted starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro showcased Filipino knife fighting which was choreographed by Tom Kier and Rafael Kayanan from Sayoc Kali.^[14]
• The 2002 sequel movie Blade II features Eskrima once again. Aside from Donnie Yen's amazing choreography, Kali instructor Jeff Ward returned as fight coordinator and Wesley Snipes studied under him.
• In the 2002 movie Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Lucy Liu's character uses eskrima to fend off her opponents with a pair of sticks.
• In the 2002 movie Equilibrium the commentary reveals that eskrima is used in the fight between John Preston and Brandt.
• Eskrima is the weapon style used in the choreography of the popular 1998 comic-book film Blade. Fight choreographer Jeff Ward is a Pekiti Tirsia instructor and stunt coordinators Jeff Imada plus Chuck Jeffries are Inosanto Kali experts as well.
• In 1997's Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Sultan Uddin (Cabales Eskrima) not only portrayed Reptile, but choreographed Princess Kitana's fight sequence showcasing movements of Eskrima Serrada.
• In the 1996 movie Barb Wire, Temuera Morrison's character uses empty-handed eskrima to fight Customs agents, Diana Lee Inosanto and Ron Balicki.
• In 1991 The Perfect Weapon shows the title character played by Jeff Speakman using Arnis in several scenes (Arnis had been adopted by the American Kempo schools as of '91).
• Kamagong, a 1986 film starring Lito Lapid as an Arnisador featuring the titular sticks made from highly-sought after kamagong hardwood.
• Arnis: The Sticks of Death, a 1984 film starring Rolando Dantes of Modern Arnis, one of the earliest films about Arnis.
• in his unfinished film, Game of Death (1978) Bruce Lee faced his close collaborator and Eskrima master Dan Inosanto in one of the featured battles with masters of different martial arts as he climbs the tower. This is one of the films that first brought Eskrima to popular international attention.

Television

• In the Discovery Channel series Fight Quest, hosts Doug Anderson and Jimmy Smith trained under Pekiti Tirsia (Tuhon Leo Gaje) and Modern Arnis (GM Cristino Vasquez) instructors.
• In the BBC Three series Last Man Standing, contestants travel to Banahaw to learn Eskrima, and have a showdown in which one contestant is crowned winner.
• On the History Channel's program Human Weapon, the hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff practiced various styles of eskrima and kali, eventually sparring with a Doce Pares champion.
• The weapons choreography in the Encantadia fantasy TV series shown on GMA Network in the Philippines features some Eskrima moves and the actors were given light training by Arnisadors.
• In the Highlander: The Series, Adrian Paul's character Duncan MacLeod switched to Eskrima sticks when he renounced the blade after he accidentally slew his friend Richie Ryan (Highlander).
• The fighting style of the character Teyla Emmagan from Stargate: Atlantis is based on eskrima.
• In the television series Mortal Kombat Conquest, Sultan Uddin showcased Eskrima Serrada as the character Noob Saibot.
• In the television series Leverage, retrieval specialist Eliot Spencer's fighting style is based primarily on eskrima and panantukan.

Video games

• The pseudo-Rastafarian character Gabriel Tosh in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty utilizes a large stylized balisong as part of his arsenal.
• The Spy character class in the game Team Fortress 2 uses a balisong knife as his primary weapon to kill opponents via backstabbing.
• In the Soul video game series, the Filipina native character Talim (Filipino for blade or edge) fights in the Banaue Rice Terraces and uses eskrima with a pair of tonfa
• The 2008 Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy game was choreographed by Jeff Imada who worked on the Jason Bourne films.^[15]
• Mortal Kombat games such as Armageddon where Sonya uses kali sticks
• In the Mortal Kombat series, the characters Quan Chi and Dairou use eskrima, while Sonya and Kobra wield kali sticks.
• The video game Hitman: Blood Money features a target who is described as an accomplished eskrima-style swordfighter.
• In the Street Fighter games,the character Rolento uses Filipino Kali techniques by using a single rod/stick for striking at close range and throwing knives as projectile weapons. Another character named Eagle wielding a pair of eskrima sticks (doble baston) in which employs a style described as a combination of Eskrima and European cudgel-fighting.
• Granado Espada has stances named Eskrima and Arnis, both of which are dagger stances.
• The Oro from Condemned: Criminal Origins utilize Eskrima as their main way of fighting.
• Art of Fighting character Mr. Big uses eskrima rattan sticks.
• Arkham City downloadable character Nightwing primarily uses an electrified pair of Eskrima sticks.

Western Comics

• The character Grail in Whilce Portacio's Wetworks is a Filipino who uses Arnis as energy-projection melee weapons.
• Several popular DC Comics characters use Eskrima as part of their typical martial arts regimen. Specifically, Dick Grayson as Nightwing^[16] and Barbara Gordon both fight with the sticks as a main part of their arsenal, and are defining weapons of their two characters. Other members of the Gotham vigilante population have trained in Kali/Eskrima/Arnis, and it is referenced in the books with some frequency.

Eastern Comics (Manga/Manwha/Manhua)

• The Character Urushiba Rinka from the manga Tokyo ESP uses this fighting style and gives a brief introduction about eskrima in chapter 7 (on page 32).

References