REMY PRESAS[RIP]

Modern Arnis is an eclectic (made up from elements from various sources) style. Professor Presas traveled around the Philippines for many years studying various types of Filipino martial arts. He assimilated these arts into his existing body of Martial Arts knowledge. Modern Arnis is in some ways a generic term for Professor Remy Presas' personal interpretation of Filipino martial art.Modern Arnis contains many parts. There are empty hand forms, stick forms, Filipino Jujutsu, grappling, kicking, Sinawali Boxing, stick and dagger, knife, double stick, single stick, anti-stick grabbing, as well as combinations of all the parts mentioned. Professor Presas likes to say it's all covered in three forms of "play": Espada y Daga (sword or stick and dagger), Sinawali (a double stick weaving pattern), and solo baston (single stick).Professor Presas was trained in the family style of Arnis, Presas Style by his grandfather. This style included the Blade Art of the Presas' family, the Palis-Palis. After leaving home at age 14, Professor Presas first studied under Rodolfo Moncal and Timoteo Maranga, and then graduated to Grandmaster Venancio "Anciong" Bacon in Cebu. From Bacon he learned and mastered Bacon's Balintawak eskrima (eskrima = fencing), a counter for counter style known for aggressive counter attacks. Balintawak and Presas Family Arnis are the foundations of Modern Arnis. Other Filipino martial arts masters taught him as he grew up.Prof. Presas was also an avid practitioner of Shotokan Karate and Judo. He studied Kendo (Japanese sword fighting). He studied Kuntao Silat (an empty hand art) and Filipino Dumog (wrestling style). In his quest to learn he became obsessed with learning the guiding principals of Filipino martial arts. As he taught he mastered the concepts that make up the core of Filipino martial art. He called it "The art within your art." All this blended together and started to be distilled down into what would eventually be called Modern Arnis. In 1957 Professor Presas established Modern Arnis and he was officially declared the father and founder of Modern Arnis by the Filipino Government.