An instructor or teacher is not a dictator or absolute ruler, but merely a guide, like a tourist guide, who shows you the points of interest in a foreign country. – Dan Inosanto

The word Kali combines the Filipino words Kamot (“body”) and Lihok (“movement”). Literally, Kali means the art of the body in movement.

Kali is a highly sophisticated and complete martial art which developed over many centuries in the Philippines, as her people fought for their independence from foreign invaders. The name Escrima, often used synonymously for Kali, is thought to originate from the Spanish word escrime (“to fence with a sword”), and is thought to have originated during the Spanish occupation of the Philippine Islands.

Both a beautiful and deadly art, Kali is unique from other martial forms in that it teaches stick and edged-weapon fighting before hand-to-hand or “empty hand” combat. By always assuming the use of a blade, students who train in this art feel and visualise how surrounding objects, even the most ordinary of ones (e.g. keys, an umbrella, a cane, a handbag, a book), can become efficient and life-saving tools in street defense.

The Filipino Martial Arts taught at the Martial Institute Geneva originate directly from the curriculum developed by Magulang Na Guro Dan Inosanto, who studied under the tutelage of 26 Filipino masters including John Lacoste (Lacoste system), Max Sarmineto (Kadeno de Mano), Angels Cabales (Cabales Serrada System), Léon Giron (Bahala Na Eskrima), Edgar G. Sulite (Lameco Eskrima), Léo T. Gaje (Pekiti Tirsia) and Regino Illustrisimo (Eskrima Illustrisimo).

Under these influences, Magulang Na Guro Dan Inosanto developed a training programme comprised of 12 areas of Kali. They are:

1. Single stick or blade
2. Double stick or blade
3. Stick or blade + dagger
4. Double dagger
5. Single dagger
6. Double-edged dagger
7. Empty hands
8. Long weapons
9. Flexible weapons
10. Throwing weapons
11. Projectile weapons
12. Mental, spiritual and rhythmic training

Training in these various areas of Kali, one develops attributes such as reaction time, speed of entry and disengagement between long and short distances, precision, balance, agility, neuromuscular coordination and ambidextrousness.

In Switzerland, the Martial Institute Geneva is the only school that offers certified instruction in Filipino Martial Arts / Kali-Eskrima-Silat in French and English, following the curriculum of Magulang Na Guro Dan Inosanto.