22 March 2005, Moscow – Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Ernesto V. Llamas reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that Arnis de mano, a traditional Philippine martial arts form developed in pre-colonial times, has taken root in the Russian Federation.

With the Embassy’s support, the newly established Moscow Federation of Martial Arts, Arnis, Escrima, Kali and Jeet Kune Do (FAEK in Russian) held on 13 March 2005 an hour-long demonstration attended by some 100 people in the lecture hall of the State Museum of Oriental Arts, Ambassador Llamas said.

The audience, mostly young Russian men and women, but also including the elderly and children, watched with rapt attention as 23 trainees from Moscow, Moscow Region and the city of Nizhniy Novgorod exhibited various stick-fighting techniques under the guidance of FAEK President Mikhail Ivanov and training counselor Alexander Britenkov.

Founded in 2001 and officially registered in 2004 following the first all-Russia camp in the Nizhniy Novgorod Region, FAEK currently boasts of 152 students in the Russian capital and another 200 from the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Nizhnivy Novgorod and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the Russian Far East.

Ambassador Llamas said general interest in arnis looks set to expand throughout Russia in the wake of FAEK’s activities, which include holding regular courses for the Moscow police force and various private security personnel, organizing free self-defense classes for socially vulnerable groups such as the handicapped, the blind and delinquent teenagers.

Mr. Ivanov, who is collaborating with the renowned Dinamo sports club in publishing a book on arnis in Russian, informed Ambassador Llamas that FAEK’s goal is to have itself organized by the Manila-based international Philippine Martial Arts Federation (IPMAF) and to form chapters in half of Russia’s 90 administrative units – the minimum number required to establish a national federation.

FAEK, which is a non-profit organization with corporate membership in the Physical Culture and Sport Center of the Moscow Police (GUVD of Moscow) and in a number of Russian sports associations, is also considering participating in the 9th IPMAF World Arnis Congress and Training Camp to be held in Hinigiran, Negros Oriental from 24 April to 6 May 2005.  At present, IPMAF has 20,000 members worldwide, in such countries as Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States.

Although Filipinos commonly refer to stick-fighting as arnis, Filipino martial arts are grouped together overseas as escrima or kali.   At its peak, more than 200 styles of Filipino martial arts are supposed to have existed prior to the arrival of Spaniards in the Philippines.

In Russia, the earliest attempts to practice arnis trace back to 1998.  It only became established after FAEK’s training counselor Britenkov returned in 2000 from studying in the US under Grandmaster Ernesto Presas.  Eventually, Britenkov put up the Baylun Martial Arts School in Moscow in 2001.   END.