Power moves through many hands ✊🏽🗡️✊🏽
In our last in-person training, we worked with the concept known in many FMA systems as Dos Manos—“two hands” in Spanish. In martial practice, Dos Manos refers to using two hands to wield a single weapon—like a sword or long stick—for greater force, control, and precision.
Like many terms in Filipino Martial Arts, Dos Manos carries the imprint of colonization. Spanish influence didn’t just shape the history of the Philippines—it also shaped the language many instructors used to describe their arts. Terms like Eskrima and Arniscome from Spanish: esgrima means fencing, and arnés refers to armor. These terms became part of how the art was passed down. But they’re just a few among many. Across the islands, there are countless regional names for fighting systems—many of which were never formally documented.
We could call it Dalawang Kamay in Tagalog. But many of our families come from regions that speak other native Philippine languages. My dad, for example, speaks both Tagalog and Ilocano. So while renaming something in Tagalog can be powerful, it's not the only way to reclaim what’s ours.
Dos Manos, or “two hands,” isn’t tied to any one system or region. Ancient warriors across the archipelago used both hands depending on what the weapon—or the moment—called for. Two hands generate more force. Sometimes, one hand just needs a power assist.
Renaming can be a meaningful act of reclamation. But trying to rename everything that was co-opted can become an impossible, never-ending task—and if we get stuck there, we risk missing the deeper lesson. (And let’s not forget—there are over 170 distinct languages in the Philippines!)
Because decolonizing and reconnecting with ancestral wisdom isn’t just about switching out words. It’s about remembering the meaning beneath them.
And in our collective container, what we’re weaving through practicing Dos Manos is the remembrance and activation of an ancient truth:
Power is rarely generated alone. It moves through many hands.
Yes—within an individual warrior, using two hands creates more power. But that concept expands beyond the body. More hands—working together, in rhythm, in trust—generate even greater power.
This is the power of community. We generate more change together.
One hand gripping a blade is strong—but not as strong as two hands working in sync.
And certainly not as strong as a circle of warriors—each capable on their own, committed to each other, and aligned in a shared purpose.
Whether we call it Arnis, Eskrima, Kali, or something else entirely—let’s remember that the ancestral memory embedded in our martial movements could never be colonized, because movement carries memory that lives in the body, passed down even when the names were changed.
That’s the energy we trained with last in-person training session: sharpening our own skills while sharpening one another. When we train together, we grow together. The better you get, the better I get. It’s not competition—it’s collaboration.
And that is the kind of power that endures.
If you're local to NYC, I hope to see you at our next in-person training session on Saturday, April 13! You can find the calendar for upcoming in-person sessions here.
✊🏽🗡️✊🏽,
Guro Kristen
P.S. For CKC Online members—today’s live session will include more Dos Manos drills! Curious about our online monthly membership? Doors are currently closed, but we’ll be reopening in a few weeks—along with something really exciting I can’t wait to share with you. In the meantime, check out Warrior Rising—our on-demand foundational Kali course you can begin anytime and move through at your own pace.