There is one aspect of Filipino culture that to most of the world is ignored, that aspect is Filipino Martial Arts! The Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) had until recent decades been considered almost extinct in the world of Karate and Kung Fu, this was until (ironically) Bruce Lee became a world wide superstar and his own Martial art of Jeet Kune Do began to pick up attention from eager Martial arts fans who thought Bruce Lee was the pinnacle of Martial Arts mastery, and so anything that came from him then had an added bonus. Bruce Lee had a few instructors under his wing and the most famous (at least in Martial Arts circles) was a gentleman named Dan Inosanto. Dan Inosanto was a Filipino American who had come to Bruce after practicing Kenpo Karate and was interested in how Bruce had fused together his native Kung Fu style of Wing Chun with western boxing, Karate and anything else that took his eye. Bruce also taught a young Inosanto that Martial Arts can be a good way to learn about the culture that they came from, especially as they were living in America and struggling to find an identity that could be both Asian and American. Through Bruce Lee's encouragement, Dan Inosanto sought out practitioners and masters in the Filipino arts of Kali (also known as Eskrima or Arnis), Panantukan, Pananjakman and Dumog. Through his links with the Filipino community in California, he was able to learn a Martial Art that was almost extinct. After Bruce Lee had passed away, many people flocked to Dan Inosanto who was regarded as the main authority of Jeet Kune Do, who was also now teaching FMA to willing students as part of his Jeet Kune Do Concepts curriculum. This lead to a revival of FMA amongst Martial Artists from the US as well as from other parts of the world. Many of these people then travelled to The Philippines to seek out other sources of information, they sought the teachings of Cacoy Cañete and others in Manila, the Visayas as well as Mindanao. This was encouraged by Dan Inosanto as his mentor before him, Bruce Lee had always encouraged him to seek out new information from whatever sources he could find. And so, during a period of time when movies like The Karate Kid became blockbusters, Americans (and others) were flocking to The Philippines in search of a very different Martial art experience. So for Filipino parents in the UK wishing for their children to have access to something to remind them where they came from, all of the major cities around the UK have Jeet Kune Do instructors who are also well versed in the Filipino Martial Arts.
