Mabuhay!
Welcome to the Mayari Moon
My name is Imee (she/her), and I am the owner and creator of The Mayari Moon. My offerings are inspired by Mayari - Philippine goddess of the moon, combat + revolution - who battled her brother with Kali sticks, for equal rule of the sky. I take a decolonized, spiritual approach to Kali, with a focus on balancing out the solar energy of combat with the lunar energy of intuition and ritual.
Sacred Kali™:
AN EVOLUTION, A REVOLUTION
SACRED KALI IS AN EVOLUTION OF FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS.
It is a sacred ritual balanced with a combative practice.
Sacred Kali is when Kali goes beyond physical techniques and weapon skills and becomes a profound spiritual practice.
Sacred Kali is an energy.
A philosophy. A thought process.
A somatic release. A bodily remembrance.
An activation.
It means taking this originally violent art and using its energy for life and growth and healing.
Sacred Kali:
AN EMBODIED REMEMBRANCE
The first time I picked up Kali sticks seven years ago, it felt like a physical activation. My technical training started at my gym learning combative techniques, but my whole life I've felt pulled to search for the deeper meaning of all things. So on my own, I would take my Kali sticks into the woods here on Hopewell/Adena land.
There I would train among the trees, and soon I would grow to connect with the technical movements I learned at the gym in a more expansive way. I began to understand that my movements were an ancestral remembrance and an embodied prayer. Training with the trees helped me feel more connected to the land under my feet and the land that is my own body. Over the years, I cultivated a spiritual practice with my Kali sticks that consisted of quiet times by myself in front of my ancestral altar and flowing with my Kali sticks in the woods with only the trees to witness.
It was then that my Filipino martial arts journey had expanded into becoming my Sacred Kali journey. What started out as a solo journey became an experience I felt called to facilitate for others, especially for those in the Philippine diaspora. Sacred Kali and the remembrance of my pre-colonial Philippine ancestors has given me so much, and it is a privilege to offer others the chance to experience the medicine gifted to me.
The way (Imee) teaches Kali as a spiritual practice is not only powerful but necessary for our collective decolonization and healing. I have never experienced any type of martial art practice in which I feel so grounded, powerful and purposeful.
Sacred Kali:
A BALANCE OF TECHNIQUE + RITUAL
While Filipino Martial arts is most often trained as a combative practice in a martial arts gym, Sacred Kali incorporates a more decolonized, spiritual approach. We understand that, as with any spiritual practice, our expression doesn't need to be confined to a building. We acknowledge and honor the ancestors of Kali and the deep, spiritual heritage of pre-colonial Philippines. We also recognize and celebrate our interconnectedness to others (also known as "kapwa: to see yourself in the other"), as well as the sacredness of the earth beneath us, and the movement of the cosmos above us. The goal of a Sacred Kali practice is to combine and balance the energies of intuition + combat, flow + structure, learning to move these energies within our physical bodies with our Kali sticks.
Sacred Kali:
ANCESTRAL HEALING
Many of us in the Philippine diaspora, because of colonization and assimilation, have no firm cultural ties to our roots. But I believe we're being called to remember and honor our ancestral traditions (through what research is available coupled with ancestral intuition) and innovate them for modern times.
The Philippine warrior ancestors say it is time for us to remember who we are, to remember our ancestral warrior art, and to remember our warrior selves. Not to see who is better than the other, but to see ourselves in each other. Not to fight each other, but to confront the colonizer within. Not to compete, but to begin a collective remembrance. For those of us who are the ancestors of Kali, it is embodied medicine to heal within and without, to heal past and present.
(Imee's) containers are beautifully held with love, grace, and reverence… As someone with prior Kali training this course was both healing and engaging, and connected me with life-long kapwa that I'm proud and grateful to have.
Is this a closed practice?
Do I need to be Filipino/a/x to practice Sacred Kali?
Sacred Kali is meant to be a spiritual, decolonized practice. Therefore, the material and language will be specific to and centered around the Philippine ancestry. But no matter your ancestral background, the basic energetics of the teachings are universal. If you don't have any Philippine ancestors, but still feel called to this medicine for your own warrior remembrance, perhaps a personal container would be more appropriate. No matter what, as long as you are respectful of the heritage, culture, and ancestors of Kali who may be coming for ancestral healing and remembrance, any Sacred Kali experience is meant to be a bridge and not a gate.
Elements of Sacred Kali
You will experience Kali in a safe and sacred “container”, which could be a single in-person event or a virtual course lasting several weeks. Every Sacred Kali container is intuitively created. So, while the length and intention of every container will be different, you can expect the core elements of embodiment practice, meditation, and sacred sharing to be present.
EMBODIMENT PRACTICE
MOVEMENT + TECHNIQUE
We will learn the physical nuances of combative Kali movements. We will also practice different technical Kali flows to help with muscle memory. Then we'll integrate these moves into meditative embodiment practices to understand these moves energetically.
MEDITATION
EXPLORE INNER LANDSCAPE
We will practice quieting our minds and tuning into our bodies, so that we can hear our higher selves. In meditation, we'll also be connecting with ancestors, exploring our inner landscape, and getting in touch with our intuition.
SACRED SHARING
REFLECT + CONNECT
For those who feel comfortable sharing there is power in being witnessed in a “safe container”. The pre-colonial Philippine concept of ‘Kapwa’ (or ‘to see myself in the other’), is upheld as we gather in a space where there are boundaries, guidelines for conduct, and a balance of community and individual sovereignty.
The virtual space
While I have hosted in-person empowerment and Sacred Kali events, I am passionate about the virtual space. Growing up in the Midwest and experiencing ancestral disconnection and blind assimilation to majority culture first hand, I am dedicated to getting this medicine to those who may not have access to or feel fully accepted in a traditional martial arts gym, no matter where on the planet they may reside.
Through Kali inspired meditations and embodiment practices, among other things. Sacred Kali seeks to integrate body/mind/spirit, to inspire the cultivation of inner strength, and to help you come home to your truest self. It is a tangible experience, opening you to a deeper connection to your intuition, to yourself, and to your ancestors.
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