Philippine Ancient Art of Kickfighting

By Elpidio Seletaria Jr.

What is Sikaran ?

Scores of books and articles have been published concerning most martial arts in the Philippines, notably Arnis, the Philippine art of stick fighting. Rarely had, however, been written about “Sikaran,” although it has been popular in the country several decades ago.

Sikaran is an ancient Philippine art of kick fighting. It is a Tagalog word that connotes “Kicking.” Tagalog is the most commonly used dialect in the Philippines and adopted as the national language of the country officially known as Pilipino. Sikaran is a coined word derived from the root word sikad (kick).

Sikaran has a concept identical to Karate, although it has more variety of kicking styles. Foremost is the biakid to which some Sikaran practitioners translate it in English as “spinning back kick.” or “dragon whiplash.” Sikaran Grandmaster Meliton C. Geronimo, however, maintains there is no exact translation of biakid in English but simply called biakid which literally means “a kick with a breaking effect.” There are other various kicking styles in Sikaran, whose terminologies are rooted in Tagalog.

History of Sikaran

Long before the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines more than four centuries ago, Sikaran was already in existence, being carried out by some natives as a form of physical match between two protagonists. During their more than three centuries of occupation in the Philippines, the Spanish government, for obvious reason, outlawed all kinds of martial arts and all forms of self-defense, such as Sikaran, Arnis, Kali, Eskrima, Suntukan, Dumog, Gumol, Palis-Palis, Tigbasan, Tagaan, and the possession of Balisong (butterfly knife), among others. A number of Filipino martial arts enthusiasts, however, clandestinely continued practicing their arts. During the Philippine revolution against Spain, some members of the Katipuneros (revolutionary forces against Spain) effectively used their martial arts in fighting the Spaniards who were armed with rifles and canons. As times went by, many of those martial arts died with their founders but few still survived, including Sikaran.

No particular person, however, could claim to have originated the Sikaran, although in the farming town of Baras, Province of Rizal, Cipriano Geronimo (1892-1993), known to have a mastery in Sikaran, continued practicing the art which he learned from his father, Bonifacio Geronimo, a renowned Sikaran and Arnis expert of his time.

Traditionally, Sikaran was being played by the farmers during the dry season while they were getting the field ready for plowing. Within the perimeter of a rice paddy called “pitak,” they would form a circle about twenty-five foot circumference. Inside, without a referee, they would compete against each other, hurling various kicking techniques. Anyone driven out of the pitak through kicking lost the match and the last man standing inside would be the winner.

In the Philippines nowadays, when you mention Sikaran, especially to those in the martial arts circle, one would always associate the word with the name Sikaran Grandmaster Meliton C. Geronimo, the Sikaran Master and Founder of the Kapatirang Sikaran ng Pilipinas (Sikaran Brotherhood of the Philippines) and the Pandaigdigang Kapatirang Sikaran-Arnis (World Sikaran Brotherhood ). He is responsible for the propagation of the art throughout the nation and around the world.

Who is Meliton C. Geronimo?





When Meliton returned to the Philippines after one year and eight months in Japan, he transformed Sikaran from a family tradition of self-defense and street fighting into modern martial arts as a sport and as a self-defense, with a combined concept of Sikaran and that of Karate.















The author is a 8th Degree Sikaran Blackbelt. He earned his Blackbelt in 1972. He was a defensive tactics instructor in the Military Police Brigade, Armed Forces of the Philippines, while a member thereof, from 1976 to 1980. He is also a Blackbelt (Lakan Isa) in Modern Arnis. Currently, he is a Senior Deputy Sheriff, San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, City and County of San Francisco, California, USA.

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2007 © copyright by seletaria sikaran arnis