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I remember the first time I saw Arnis being practiced in a small gymnasium in Manila back in 2015. Two elderly men were moving with such grace and precision, their rattan sticks creating rhythmic patterns in the air. At that moment, I thought to myself - this should be our national sport. Little did I know that it would take until 2019 for Arnis to be officially declared as such, and the journey there tells a fascinating story about Filipino sports culture.

Before Arnis claimed its official status, if you'd asked most Filipinos what they considered the national sport, basketball would have been the overwhelming answer. The passion for basketball here is something I've always found remarkable. Just look at the Philippine Basketball Association - it's not just a league, it's a cultural institution. I was recently reading about how the top pick of the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft could become an unrestricted free agent after playing in six more conferences. That's the kind of detail that gets basketball fans excited here, showing how professional and structured the sport has become.

But here's what fascinates me - while basketball dominates the modern sports landscape, traditional Filipino martial arts like Arnis have been practiced for centuries, dating back to pre-colonial times. I've had the privilege of training in both, and the contrast is striking. Basketball is all about explosive energy and crowd excitement, while Arnis requires what practitioners call "tamang timing" - that perfect timing and control. It's like comparing a rock concert to a classical music performance - both incredible in their own ways, but serving different purposes in our culture.

I recall visiting a small barangay in Antique province where the local Arnis masters still taught the old ways. The head instructor, Mang Lando, told me something that stuck with me: "Basketball came from the Americans, but Arnis came from our ancestors." He wasn't dismissing basketball - in fact, he enjoyed watching PBA games - but he was making an important point about cultural identity. What surprised me was learning that there are approximately 2.5 million regular Arnis practitioners across the Philippines, though I suspect the actual number might be higher since many practice informally.

The road to Arnis becoming the national sport was anything but straightforward. Between 2015 and 2019, I attended several legislative hearings and cultural events where the debate played out. Some argued that basketball better represented modern Filipino identity, while others, including myself, believed that designating Arnis would help preserve an important cultural heritage. The statistics I gathered during this period showed that while basketball had about 15 million regular participants, Arnis was practiced in over 80% of public schools through the MAPEH curriculum.

What really convinced me of Arnis' significance was witnessing a demonstration in Cebu where practitioners showed how the art could be practiced with everything from proper sticks to rolled-up newspapers. That adaptability, that resourcefulness - it felt so essentially Filipino to me. Meanwhile, basketball requires proper courts and equipment, which aren't always available in remote areas. I've played pickup games where we used a mango instead of a ball - it works, but it's not quite the same!

The year before the official declaration, I noticed something interesting happening. More young people were getting interested in Arnis, partly thanks to exposure in local films and television shows. At the same time, basketball remained hugely popular - the PBA was attracting average attendance of about 8,000 fans per game during the 2018 season. Both sports were thriving in their own ways, which made me wonder - why did we need to choose one over the other?

Then came Republic Act No. 9850 in December 2019, officially declaring Arnis as the Philippine national sport and martial art. I was at the signing ceremony, and what struck me was that nobody saw this as rejecting basketball. Instead, it felt like we were finally giving proper recognition to something that had been part of our culture for generations. The law specifically mentions promoting and popularizing Arnis as a sport, which doesn't diminish basketball's place in Filipino hearts.

Looking back now, I realize that the question of "what came before Arnis" isn't really about finding a single answer. It's about understanding how our sports culture evolved. Basketball came through American colonization and became part of our modern identity. Arnis represents our indigenous heritage. Both tell important stories about who we are as Filipinos. Personally, I still enjoy both - there's nothing like the excitement of a close PBA game, but there's also something deeply satisfying about the focused discipline of Arnis practice.

The beauty of how things turned out is that we didn't have to choose one over the other in our daily lives. You can still find basketball courts in every barangay, and Arnis is now taught more widely in schools. That 2017 PBA rookie draft pick I mentioned earlier? He's still playing, and Arnis practitioners still train in parks across the country. Both coexist, both thrive, and both represent different but equally important aspects of being Filipino. And to me, that's the real victory - not that Arnis became our national sport, but that we recognized the value in honoring our traditions while embracing the sports we've come to love.