Filipino martial art stages comeback in its native land

Local revival of indigenous sport follows growing popularity overseas

The traditional Filipino martial art of arnis was an official event at the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines in 2019. Here, Vietnam's Thai Viet Phu, in red, takes on Mike Banares of the Philippines in the men's 65 kg and over final in Clark City on Dec. 1, 2019. Banares won gold. © AP

JOHANNA SON, Contributing writer

October 24, 2020 08:00 JST

MANILA -- Batman will never know it, but the caped crusader played a big role in the career of Daniel Bernas, a world champion in the Filipino martial art of arnis. As an 18-year-old university student, Bernas chose arnis for his physical education class after reading a Batman comic book that featured a character using this fighting form.

Bernas' entry into arnis through Western comics is unusual for an indigenous martial art whose roots lie in the era before the Philippines became a Spanish colony in the 16th century, when the islands were ruled by local chieftains.