Local family pioneers Filipino fighting form
By Gloria I. Wang
Eskrima: (pronounced "escreama"--Visayan dialect of the Filipino language) to fight, to skirmish; ancient Filipino battle technique using a weapon.
Unlike other, more well-known martial arts such as tae kwon do, karate and jujitsu, eskrima has very little kicking. Instead, it employs swords and other sharp blades. For centuries, the art of eskrima was confined to the Philippines and only taught to Filipinos. A local family, however, has helped introduce the self-defense form to a wider audience.
Jason Inay, 27, is a full-time eskrima instructor and seminar speaker. His sister, Jena, 26, is the first female lahong guro (advanced teacher) of her father's form of eskrima. Both were raised in Los Gatos and graduated from Los Gatos High School. Their father, mangisursuro (founder) Mike Inay, who passed away in September, developed his own--the Inayan--system of eskrima decades ago.
Eskrima is a practice that is "very attractive to the experienced martial artist," Jason Inay said. It is a complex, yet simple, form that requires years of commitment. "We don't want it half-done and for you to walk away," Jena Inay said.
The fighters, called eskrimadors, train by using wooden sticks at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. Skilled practitioners are occasionally allowed to practice with dull knives, usually after at least 10 years of experience.
Instead of receiving belts to indicate ranking, eskrimadors earn a medallion called an anting-anting--the more precious the metal, the higher the level. The lowest anting-anting is made of bronze, while the highest is made of fossil ivory. In ancient times, however, there was no system of ranking. "Either you survived battle or you didn't," Jason Inay said.
According to Jason Inay, it wasn't until the 1960s that eskrima was offered to the general public. He credits the late grand masters, Max Sarmiento and Angel Cabales, as the pioneers of teaching eskrima openly. Mike Inay trained with both grand masters for 10 years before forming his own system of eskrima in the 1970s.
In the beginning, Mike Inay taught eskrima in the backyard of his Calle Marguerita home after he moved his family to Los Gatos in 1976. Through the years, Mike Inay opened studios in the Santa Clara, Cupertino and Campbell, in addition to teaching all over California and in other countries.
Both Jena and Jason Inay started their "on and off" training as kindergartners. Jena Inay was taught by an uncle as a child, and began training with her father when she was in high school. Jason Inay became serious about eskrima at age 13.
After graduating from Los Gatos High School, both attended classes at West Valley College. Jena Inay, who now lives in Cupertino, works in marketing while teaching eskrima four or five days a week. Jason Inay originally chose a career in sales, but then became a corporate headhunter. In the meantime, he married a fellow Los Gatos High School graduate and now has a 2-year-old daughter. His family still lives in the Calle Marguerita house with his mother, Mary Estrella. "I really credit martial arts with making me successful in my personal and occupational life," Jason Inay said.
In his lifetime, Mike Inay developed the Inayan system of eskrima, by organizing and blending different styles of the traditional form. Mike Inay also taught other experts--he helped eskrima teachers form a teaching curriculum-- and created a program called "reactive knife defense." Mike Inay taught RKP, as it is called, to police officers all over the country, as a means to defend themselves against knife attacks.
According to Jason Inay, his father's involvement in eskrima was fueled by a desire to spread the Filipino culture. Mike grew up speaking English and thinking there was no Filipino culture before discovering eskrima. He discovered that the Filipinos had their own system of writing in the ancient past.
"It's a neat art where you don't need to be exceptionally limber or fit," Jason Inay said. "Anybody can teach you how to hurt someone ... What's unique about the Inayan system of eskrima is we teach the history behind the art."
Jason Inay took the reins of the business after his father's unexpected death from a heart attack at the age of 55. Brother and sister teach together at the Sherman Oaks Community Center in San Jose two or three times a week and hold private lessons separately.
Although weapons are used in training, Jason Inay says that he has seen a serious injury only once in his experience as a teacher. "If I was a football coach, that would be phenomenal," Jason Inay said. Open cut wounds are only a result of careless, which is why instructors are extremely careful in who is allowed to use a live blade. "I don't want to get hurt and they don't want to get hurt, either," Jason Inay said.
Both Inays rarely use a live blade--Jason Inay at 75 percent of the normal speed--since they usually practice with sticks. "If you accidentally hit too hard, you don't lop off an arm," Jena Inay said. She does say, however, that practicing with a dull blade is necessary for an eskrimador to understand how to react in real-life situations.
Eskrima, says Jena Inay, has made her a stronger person and has taught her confidence, coordination and how to deal with adversity. Because of eskrima, Jena Inay could deal with her father's death, instead of "flipping out."
She said, "It's in every part of my life. I feel like I'm missing something if I go too long without practicing or training."
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
