HTS International BANIG SA BOOD, Inc.

Civics and Culture Center: An Oasis of Integrative Arts

Banig (def.)":  local mat made from grass or tree bark fibers commonly crafted and used as material in this locality.  It is an indigenous symbol of gathering, refining, interweaving , and integrating people’s innovative ideas, designs, and interchanges.

Herminigilda Timbal Sambajon (HTS) is the founder, benefactor, CEO –Curator of The HTS International Banig Sa Bood Foundation, Inc., which is established to benefit the BANIG SA BOOD Center’s programs and services.  BANIG SA BOOD is envisioned to be an Oasis of Integrative and Indigenous Art , that nurtures innovative Boholanos, most specially and inclusively of those adults living with conditions impairing them from gainful employment in their lifetime specifically settled in the locality of Bood, Municipality of Ubay, in the Province of Bohol, Philippines.  Theses are the children,  senior members and their families and communities, for which Banig sa Bood would provide generative spaces and creative avenues to fulfill their human potentials.  It is aimed at encouraging purposive, cohesive collaborations and other  community undertakings,  to preserve local ethnic traditions and/or to reframe and transform these traditions into active Civic, Arts and Cultural programs and services.

Banig sa Bood in Collaboration with Purple Pillars Production proudly presents

KALI-SILAT
by Erving Del Pilar

The term Kali-Silat is an amalgam of two Southeast Asian martial arts
that are still practiced extensively in the Philippines and Indonesia.
The term Kali is derived from the word “kalis,” which means blade
in an older Filipino tongue, and has nothing to do with the Indian goddess
Kali. Being that Filipinos and Indonesians are racially (and linguistically) 
first cousins, a lot of the techniques of the two martial arts share many
similarities. In a much older time, Filipino martial arts practiced prior to 
the arrival of the Spaniards, utilized the same bladed weapons popular 
throughout both archipelagos. (i.e., Barong, Hagibis, Kerambit, Kris, etc.)

The Indonesian relative of Kali is called Pencak Silat (pronounced Penchak Silat). 
Depending on the region, it is referred to as Bajau, Bali, Javanese or Sumatran Silat, 
or simply Silat. There are many regional variants with both styles, but one thing
they share is their emphasis on the bladed weapon, and how to neutralized it
defensively, and conversely, how to dominate your opponent offensively.

What you’ll be seeing tonight is a demonstration of Kali, and aspects of 
Silat performed as a dance or “sayaw.” Traditionally, to show one’s
expertise and command of the art, teachers and masters require their
students to perform the techniques and drills as a dance. Tonight’s use
of the doble baston (or double sticks) is a vestige of the Spanish ban on
the practice of the art using bladed weapons. The Spaniards, however, 
didn’t realize that the Filipinos were resourceful enough to effectively 
adapt the deadly techniques of the knife and sword, into the seemingly 
harmless stick.