The Pekiti-Tirsia Kali System originates from the province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines and was formulated by the Tortal family of Negros and Panay islands. The family patriarch, Conrado B. Tortal, passed this system and its attributes onto his only grandson, the sole heir and its present guardian, Gran Tuhon Leo Tortal Gaje, Jr.

Blade fighting at close range. That is the hallmark of Pekiti-Tirsia Kali. It teaches you how to engage opponents at close range. Various methods and strategies are learned and practiced to enable you to overcome any opponent at close quarter. Pekiti also teaches long range fighting. Both close range and long range fighting methods are taught to make you a formidable opponent. Ultimately, you become proficient at all ranges.

Instruction begins with proper body, footwork, and striking mechanics. In the beginning, basic strikes with single stick (blade), double stick (blade), single knife, double knife, and empty hands are learned. Emphasis is placed on the importance of footwork and proper body mechanics, as well as striking mechanics. The single stick/blade is learned first followed by the other weapon categories. Mano y mano (pangamut) or empty-hands is traditionally taught after a certain level of weapon skill has been achieved or alongside weapon training. The rational for this is that weapon fighting skills transfer to empty hand fighting skills, but not the other way. You're actually learning empty hand fighting skills while learning weapon-fighting skills. Empty-hand skill is based, primarily, on the knife.