Kali Larga Mano System by Maruicio Maltese (On Demand)

Larga Mano simply means "long-distance combat," a method that teaches you to stay away from your opponent and strike without ever entering hand-to-hand range.

In a way, the Filipino people were ahead of their time. Perhaps because they endured many invasions and were not rigidly bound by tradition, their customs and practices evolved over the centuries. Rather than resisting outside influences, they learned to absorb and integrate anything that proved useful and effective.

Their martial arts are an excellent example of this philosophy. Filipino martial arts masters did not concern themselves with remaining tied to any one tradition. Instead, they freely incorporated personal experience from Karate, Japanese Judo, Western Boxing, Silat from neighboring Indonesia, and even the ancient traditions associated with Scrima, the art of self-defense perfected in the Italian peninsula.

When Philippine Arnis spread to the West, it was distinguished from Olympic fencing by being called "the living hand fencing." This name reflected the active role of the unarmed hand, which continuously participates in both offense and defense rather than remaining passive.

The key difference between the two systems is that, in Olympic fencing, the unarmed hand is kept safely out of the way and is used primarily for balance during attacks. In Arnis, however, the live hand is constantly engaged, assisting in defense, control, and counterattack.

In this work, Professor Maltese demonstrates the basic positions, defenses, and fundamental attacks of the system. He covers guard exercises, blocking, crossing, counterattacks in Redondo, the fifth, seventh, eighth, and contras defenses, dynamic training drills, and free-combat exercises using protective equipment.

The program also includes bag training, featuring striking, blocking, and counterattack drills, and concludes with a chapter devoted to Sword and Dagger—the Italian influence within Philippine Kali—demonstrated using authentic weapons.