A Brief History of the Art, And How I Came To Learn It
Pekiti Tirsia Kali is a martial blade combat system developed by the Tortal family, whose lineage can be traced back to the island of Panay within the Philippines. The system was officially codified in 1897 by Grand Tuhon Norberto Tortal, but is believed to have existed for at least two centuries before this, if not longer. The system was never taught outside of the Tortal family until 1972.
After the death of Grand Tuhon Conrado Tortal in 1936, Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje – Conrado’s grandson – became the sole heir of the system. G.T. Gaje first introduced an abridged version of the family system to the United States in 1972, but the system failed to see commercial success. In 1988, a USMC Infantry Platoon Sergent by the name of Tim Waid began training under G.T. Gaje, and quickly became one of his most highly skilled students.
Tim Waid would later go on to dedicate his life to the art. In 1993, Tim moved to the Philippines where he lived and studied with G.T. Gaje for five years. It was during this time that Tim learned the entirety of the traditional Pekiti Tirsia Kali system. Tim Waid later went on to create the official Close Quarter Combat System of the Philippine Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance Battalion in 1998, which was then adopted as the official martial art system for the entire Philippine Marine Corps two years later.
Little has been written about the history of Pekiti Tirsia Kali in the 21st Century. While once the Pekiti Tirsia community was rather unified under G.T. Gaje, it has now sadly fractured into many disparate organizations. Although most of these groups claim to teach the traditional system of Pekiti Tirsia Kali, the truth is that very few people alive today have been taught the original system in its entirety, and fewer still practice consistently.
One such person is my instructor, Mataas na Guro (Master Instructor) Clinton Grumbles. Clint is a lifelong martial artist who first began training in the traditional system of Pekiti Tirsia Kali under Tim Waid in 1998 upon Tim’s arrival from the Philippines. Before 1998, Clint had previously trained Pekiti Tirsia Kali with his instructor, Ricky Rillera, (Also known as the “Flying Punyo”) though at this time his training was limited to the abridged Pekiti system. Clinton learned the entirety of the traditional system from Tim, and has continued to grow and refine his skill ever since.
I, Bennett Sampson, began learning from Clinton Grumbles in 2011 when I was 13 years old. I have since learned a large majority of the traditional system, with only a few of the most advanced forms being unknown to me. I was surprised to find that the art came quite naturally to me, and that I excelled much faster than my peers. Because of this, I was able to begin teaching the system at quite a young age.
What is Pekiti Tirsia Kali?
The system of Pekiti Tirsia Kali is a martial blade combat system which allows its users to be lethal with nearly any object(s) – a pocket knife, two lead pipes, or maybe even a pencil. The system also heavily de-emphasizes the training of technique, while accentuating the training of various methods which can be applied to an infinite number of situations based upon the variables of distance and timing.
The system is predominantly oriented towards blade/weapon fighting, but also contains a complete and highly effective empty hands component which is quite distinct in appearance from any other martial art (as our empty handed movements are nearly identical to our movements with weapons, with the only major difference being range). In addition to this, the system of Pekiti Tirsia Kali also includes melee training with the modern firearm, including the bayoneted long gun, the non-bayoneted long gun, as well as the handgun. These are just a few of the many unique characteristics of the system which make it optimal for those living in urban environments.
Here’s another way of thinking about it: Pekiti is to Math as other martial arts are to Geography or History. A student of Pekiti Tirsia Kali will not learn how to react to any particular situation or attack, but rather they are given the tools that they need to make their own conclusions about how best to react to any threat.
One of the many things that I love about the art of Pekiti Tirsia Kali is its uniqueness. The art, when executed properly, has a fluidity and beauty that is truly unlike anything else out their today. I’ve attached a link below to a video of my instructor, Mataas Na Guro Clinton Grumbles, and myself technical sparring which I believe demonstrates this point well. In this particular sparring session, we restricted our manipulations to only basic broken, fluid, and circular strikes, and we emphasized our line recognition, timing, and distance regulation.
Here is another example, this one is a knife flow.
Sources:
- “Tuhon Tim Waid Pekiti Tirsia Kali Global Organization.” PTK, ptk-fortworth.com/mentors/.
- “PEKITI-TIRSIA KALI SYSTEM GLOBAL ORGANIZATION.” TEXAS DEFENSE ACADEMY TDA, 23 Nov. 2016, www.texasdefenseacademy.com/uncategorized/understanding-ptk-smf/.
- “History of the Pekiti Tirsia Kali System, Unique Indigenuous Fighting System.” Pekiti Tirsia Kali World Federation, ptkwf.com/history/.