07/24/2026
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๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ,
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ,
๐๐๐ฃ๐ผ๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ.
๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ
The term ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ, together with several similar spelling variants such as ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ-๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ and ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐ช, began to spread within the Western terminology of the Filipino martial arts toward the end of the 1980s, largely through Paul Vunak, who described it as โkaliโs pinching, biting, and choking art.โ
A particularly significant example appears in his article ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ชโ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, published in July 1988:
ยซThe other side of the Filipino grappling coin is kinomutay, kaliโs pinching, biting, and choking art. As simple as these elements sound, they involve complex and subtle factors. Both the grip and the jaw must be strengthened. The natural reaction to being bitten is pulling away, and a powerful grip is needed during biting or pinching so the opponent canโt pull free.ยป
This interpretation, developed and popularized in the United States, does not appear to be supported by the available Philippine documentation or by accounts collected from senior FMA masters. In particular, there is no evidence of a traditional, independent style or method called ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ specifically organized around the use of biting, pinching, and choking.
Naturally, this does not mean that techniques of this kind were entirely absent from Filipino fighting practices. Biting, scratching, pressure techniques, facial holds, and choking may occur in many different grappling and fighting contexts. The issue, rather, concerns the use of ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ as the traditional name of a specific martial style or a distinct branch of the Filipino martial arts.
In their 2007 book ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐๐ด๐ฌ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข: ๐๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐บ๐ต๐ฉ, Ned R. Nepangue and Celestino Macachor address the question directly and offer a linguistic explanation of the different terms involved:
ยซThe Cebuano wordโ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก simply means โto crumple by squeezingโโthis is the root-verb for ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, โcrumpled.โ The word ๐๐๐๐ขฬ๐ก, which literally means โa hand,โ is the root word for ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฬ๐, โby handโ and ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ขฬ๐ก. So the word ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐ฬ๐ฆ roughly means โsqueezing each otherโs anatomy.โ Thus Cebuano word ๐๐๐๐ขฬ๐ก, which means โroot of a plantโ and has nothing to do with the words just mentioned. One more thingโthere is no traditional FMA style called ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐ฬ๐ฆ (which, by the way is also used to loosely describe two women crumpling each otherโs face, squeezing each otherโs breast and pulling each otherโs hair).
If we want to describe the โbiting each otherโ then the generic words ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฬ๐ (from the root verb ๐๐๐๐) or ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฬ๐ (from the root verb ๐๐๐๐ฬ๐ก) are more appropriate. Gouging each otherโs eyes is termed ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฬ๐ (from word ๐๐ข๐๐ฬ๐ก), while choking each other is described as ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฬ๐ (from ๐ก๐ข๐ฬ๐).ยป
The authorsโ observation is important because it makes it possible to distinguish between words that sound similar but derive from different roots.
The Cebuano word ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต or ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต denotes the act of squeezing, compressing, crumpling, or clawing with the hands. From this root comes ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ฎ, which may describe a reciprocal action in which two people grab, squeeze, claw, or pull at one another. In certain colloquial contexts, the term may be used to describe a disorderly scuffle involving hair-pulling, scratching, and grabbing at the face, sometimes associated with the stereotype of the so-called catfight.
The root ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต or ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต, meaning โhand,โ is different. From it comes ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถฬ๐ต, a term that may refer, in a general sense, to an action performed by hand or with the hands. The affix -๐ข๐บ frequently forms reciprocal actions and, in other cases, intensive ones. Morphologically, therefore, ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ may be understood as acting reciprocally with the hands. In a fighting context, this meaning may become more specialized and describe a physical struggle or hand-to-hand combat.
This fighting sense appears in some historical attestations from military contexts that I recently identified.
In Sebastian D. Javelosaโs book ๐๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐จ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ (๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ), published in 1955, thirty-three years before Vunakโs article, the term ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ is used in connection with close-quarters and hand-to-hand combat.
In one passage, Javelosa writes:
ยซGipaarosan ko ang ulo sa akong mga sundalo aron makabintaha sila sa dutdotay ug kinamutay nga sambunot (โ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ-๐ต๐ฐ-๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต) batok sa mga Moros, kay sa ingon nga paagi ang ulo nga walay buhok malisud kahawiran sa Moros nga buut mogulgol sa liog sa sundalo nga higunitan. Sagad man ugod nga batasan sa mga Moros ang paghawid sa buhok sa ilang kaaway sa dili pa nila punggotan sa ulo ang biktima sa ilang kris kun kampilan. Akoy unang nagpakiskis sa akong bagul-bagol, ubos sa mahait nga gunting sa among opisyal nga barbero, Private Peque. Sa pagkahumag tupi sa akong mga sakop, gitugon ko silang tanan pagpahulay aron makaandam alang sa dakung buluhaton sa sunod adlaw.ยป
It is important to clarify that the English expression in parentheses, โhand-to-hand combat,โ appears in the original text and was not added by me.
The passage may be translated as follows:
ยซI had my soldiersโ heads shaved so that they would have an advantage in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat against the Moros, since a hairless head was harder for the Moros to grab when they intended to slit the throat of a soldier they had restrained. It was in fact customary for the Moros to seize an enemy by the hair before beheading the victim with a kris or a kampilan. I was the first to have my head completely shaved under the sharp scissors of our official barber, Private Peque. Once they had finished cutting my menโs hair, I ordered them all to rest so that they would be ready for the great task of the following day.ยป
The construction used by Javelosa is ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ต๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐ถ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต. The English gloss โhand-to-hand combatโ appears to refer to the expression as a whole, rather than necessarily to the word ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ alone.
The expression describes a violent and disorderly struggle fought at extremely close range. Within this construction, ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ helps convey the manual and reciprocal dimension of the encounter, while ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต evokes the idea of a fierce struggle involving grabbing and pulling.
On another page of the book, Javelosa writes:
ยซGisubli pagsaysay ni Pregonero ang pipila ka halandumong hitabo sa iyang kaagi kuyog sa mga kostabling Amerikanhon. Dili gayud mapapas sa iyang handurawan kadtong gihimo sa usa ka maisug opisyal Amerikanhon nga mitugyan sa iyang kinabuhi sa bung-aw sa kamatayon aron lamang pagluwas sa kinabuhi sa usa ka Pilipinong sundalo nga natigbas sa kris sa Moros sulod sa usa ka dugoong sangka nga kinamutay.ยป
The translation is:
ยซPregonero recalled several memorable episodes from his past, which he had spent alongside the American members of the Constabulary.
He would never forget what a brave American officer had done: risking his own life and going to the very brink of death solely to save a Filipino soldier wounded by a Moro kris during a bloody hand-to-hand fight.ยป
This second example is particularly significant. The expression ๐ถ๐ด๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ถ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ may be translated as โa bloody hand-to-hand fight.โ
In this case, ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข denotes a contest or fight, while ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ specifies its manual dimension; the context shows that the passage refers to a hand-to-hand encounter.
The word ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ therefore does not appear to designate a formalized martial style, but rather a concrete mode of fighting: a physical struggle in which the opponents confront one another directly, at close range, and through immediate physical contact. The reference to the ๐ฌ๐ณ๐ช๐ด also shows that this form of hand-to-hand combat did not necessarily exclude the presence and use of bladed weapons.
Javelosaโs attestations do not demonstrate the existence of an ancient Filipino martial system called ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ. They do, however, show that the word ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐บ was already in use in the Cebuano language by at least 1955 and that it could appear in descriptions of close-quarters and hand-to-hand fighting.
The conclusion therefore requires several distinctions.
There is no documented traditional Filipino martial arts method called ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ specifically devoted to biting, pinching, and choking in the sense popularized by Paul Vunak toward the end of the 1980s.
The form ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ฎ, derived from ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต or ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต, may instead describe a physical struggle involving grabbing, scratching, pulling, squeezing, and hair-pulling. In some colloquial usages, it may be associated with a disorderly fight or a catfight, but this does not make it the name of a traditional martial style.
The form ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ฎ, connected with the word ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต or ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ต, โhand,โ has a more general meaning. Javelosaโs attestations show that it could be used to characterize a physical struggle and hand-to-hand combat.
