Roots of Kali/Escrima can go back even further - variations of Espada y Daga go back to the 17th century.
A *lot* of people argue over which name is more correct, and which covers exactly what. There are a LOT of styles of Kali/Escrima, covering hand-to-hand, sword and dagger, two daggers, two shortswords, stick and dagger, myraid stick types, grappling, etc.
Dan Inosanto (the most famous of Bruce Lee's students) has publicized Kali/Escrima since the 70s. It sort of took off after '78, but was eclipsed by the Ninja craze of the early '80s. Thankfully, it has enjoyed a lot of fame in the 90's, along with a zillion styles of Silat.
Ken
<< Kali/Escrima (both names are used), and it's a lot older than that -
about a century and a half, from memory. It also has a sword form, with
two shortswords, that usually uses the Kali name; the Escrima name is
usually used for the stick form.
It was *publicised* about 20 years ago in a movie; I think it was one of
the Rambo ones. But it came out of the disenfranchised and de-weaponed
Philippinos during Dutch (IIRC) rule in the 19th century or earlier - the
same way several arts came out of occupied Okinawa, especially the
stereotypical ninja weapons. >>
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