Mga Mutya, Anting-Anting, Habak, Orasyon, and Other Things I Don't Know About

I have never come across an eskrimador who practices the mystical aspects of traditional eskrima.  Or if I have they never admitted it to me.  My teacher says that he never learned it and that neither did his teacher.  And, personally, I have no interest in those, because from what I've heard, these are not without a corresponding obligation, burden, vow, or condition that one must fulfill for the protection to be effective.

In this, the traditional eskrima that I practice is limited, but it is enough for me that I am learning and practicing only the fighting skills.  I have no desire to be among those who publicly exhibit claims of mystical protection by performing such stunts as firewalking, bending or breaking spears, or having someone hack away at their bodies with swords.

Also it is said that it is forbidden for someone who has a true anting-anting or other analogous thing to talk about its nature to other people.  If he does, he will lose its protection.

My take on the anting-anting, mutya, habak, and orasyon and why legends and belief in them persist to this day is that in "less enlightened times" it was easier for an eskrimador to put on the impression that he was under the protection of a supernatural spirit or power than it was to rely solely on his own skill and training, especially if he had to guard perpetually against jealous rivals or mere novices eager to establish a reputation by taking him out.

One would be less likely to tempt one's fate by setting to ambush or attack an eskrimador, no matter how distracted or unconscious he might seem, who may just have the unnatural invincibility of a crocodile, the strength of an agta (I would translate this as a "night ogre"), or the speed of a lightning bolt.  Only an equally confident or a truly bold eskrimador would attempt to challenge another eskrimador with such a reputation.

As to their effect, a mutya, anting-anting, habak, or orasyon may, in the first instance, have a placebo effect of psychologically boosting one's confidence in his own skill and power or of demoralizing the opponent, while others, especially concoctions which are applied to the body or drunk, may have the effect of performance-enhancing drugs.

So far, that's all I can say about them.