Editing Arnis (section)

=== Philippine Revolution ===

Contrary to the view of some modern historians{{Who|date=April 2024}} that it was only guns that won the Philippine revolutionaries [[Philippine Revolution|against the Spaniards]], blades also played a large part.

During the 1898 [[Battle of Manila (1898)|Battle of Manila]], a report from ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]'' went:<ref name="cincinnatiKnifeWounds">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2676841/the_cincinnati_enquirer/|title=Parang, Bolo, Kris, Kampilan, are The Malay Names for the Big Knives with which Natives Slash the Spanish Soldiers|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=July 23, 1898|newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|access-date=June 24, 2015|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|page=9|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{Open access}}</ref>

<blockquote><poem>... The Philippine native, like all the kindred Malay races, cannot do any fighting as a rule except at close quarters, slashing with his heavy knife. The weapon is called machete, or bolo, or kampilan, or parang, or kris. The plan of action is the same&nbsp;– to rush in unexpectedly and hack about swiftly, without the slightest attempt at self-preservation.

The Mauser rifle, too, in hard work is found to be a mistake. It has a case of five cartridges, which have to be all used before any others can be inserted. That is, to say, if a soldier has occasion to fire three cartridges he must go on and waste the other two, or else leave himself to meet a possible sudden rush with only two rounds in his rifle. Perhaps it may be the fault of the men, or their misfortune in being undrilled, but they are often knifed while in the act of reloading their rifles. Whatever be the explanation there is something wrong in troops with rifles and bayonets being driven steadily back by natives armed with knives. '''The insurgents have some guns, but most of the wounded Spanish soldiers seen in the streets have knife wounds'''.</poem></blockquote>