Anytime I go into a bookstore, I head for the Sports Section, where martial arts books are located. In particular, I look for FMA books.

The first thing I look for is books on Filipino Martial Arts. Unfortunately, they are challenging to find and are few and far between. Still, if you look hard enough, you can begin to compile a decent collection of books on FMAs. To be sure, FMA books are far outnumbered by books dealing with Chinese martial arts, Japanese martial arts, Korean martial arts, and Brazilian jujitsu. It’s incredible how many books there are on BJJ and MMA, as that is the current trend/fad/craze. I should note that books on Indonesian martial arts are even more difficult to find than FMA books.

In any case, here is a catalogue of FMA books that I have (without commentary due to space):

(1) Pananadata Yantok at Daga by Amante Marinas Sr. It should be noted that Marinas has written several books on FMAs and I plan on getting more of them.

(2) The Secrets of Kalis Ilustrisimo by Antonio Diego and Christopher Ricketts.

(3) Modern Arnis: Philippine Martial Art by Remy Amador Presas. Note: this is referred to as the “Pink Book” by Modern Arnis practitioners.

(4) Filipino Fighting Arts by Mark Wiley.

(5) Arnis: Reflections on the History and Development of the Filipino Martial Arts by Mark Wiley.

(6) Filipino Martial Culture by Mark Wiley.

(7) Filipino Martial Arts: Cabales Serrada Escrima by Mark Wiley.

(8) The Secrets of Cabales Serrada Escrima by Mark Wiley.

(9) The Secrets of Giron Arnis Escrima by Antonio Somera.

(10) The Complete Sinawali by Reynaldo Galang.

(11) Trankada: The Ties that Bind by Dan Anderson.

(12) Mano y Mano: The Weaponless Fighting Applications of Modern Arnis by Dan Anderson.

(13) Modern Arnis: The Book of Basics by Dan Anderson.

(14) Advanced Modern Arnis by Dan Anderson.

(15) Defanging the Snake by Dan Anderson.

(16) Modern Arnis: The Filipino Art of Stick Fighting by Remy Presas. Note that this was originally the “Yellow Book.”

Modern Arnis: The Filipino Art of Stick Fighting by Remy Presas

(17) The Balisong Manual by Jeff Imada.

(18) Warrior Arts of the Philippines by Reynaldo Galang

(19) The Filipino Martial Arts by Dan Inosanto.

The Filipino Martial Arts as taught by Dan Inosanto

(20) Sonny Umpad’s Eskrima.

I know there are other books on FMAs and I plan on getting them. Still, as I mentioned above, they can be challenging to find.

Tips for finding them are going to the author’s website or checking Amazon online, as they have a great selection of martial arts books. One can get several books on FMAs from the Bakbakan International website (www.bakbakan.com).

One last thing: I also have a fair number of books on Jeet Kune Do. There is quite an overlap in concepts and philosophy between FMAs and JKD, owing to the influence of Dan Inosanto. The topic of books on JKD and Bruce Lee will be the subject of a future post.

Good luck with finding them !!

Additional Reading