History of Modern Arnis
Remy Presas studied his family's
system from an early age. He went on to study the Japanese systems
of Shotokan Karate and Judo, achieving high rank in each; but he
also studied a variety of other Filipino systems, most notably
Anciong Bacon's Balintawak. Beginning with a small gymnasium in
Bacolod in the 1950s, he attempted to spread the art to the local
youth as both a cultural legacy and a form of physical development
or sport. He also taught the art at a nearby college. His desire to
reinvigorate interest in his country's art grew over time, and he
began making modifications and improvements to what he had learned.
In 1969 he moved to Manila at the request of a government official,
and formed the Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines. He was
assisted by individuals such as those who now are on the Modern
Arnis Senior Masters Council: Rodel Dagooc, Jerry dela Cruz, Roland
Dantes, Vincente Sanchez, Rene Tongson and Cristino Vasquez. He
continued to develop and spread his art, including via books, until
political considerations forced him to relocate to the North
America.
There he met Wally Jay, George Dillman, and other martial artists
who influenced his development of the art of Modern Arnis. In
particular, many locks from Small Circle Jujitsu were added to
Modern Arnis. The art continued to grow and change, in technique and
in emphasis, though it always retained a focus on the single stick
and on general self-defense. Those who trained with Remy Presas in
the United States in the 1970s and early 1980s experienced the art
differently from those who began training in the late 1990s.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he traveled extensively for
seminars--the principal form of instruction in the system was
through weekend training camps held around the world but especially
in the U.S.--and also produced books and videos. During this time he
also experiemented with different forms of titles and leadership in
the art. The International Modern Arnis Federation Philippines would
come to be the lead Modern Arnis organization in the Philippines,
and the Deutschen Arnis Verband of Germany would be the lead
organization in Europe. In the United States, the International
Modern Arnis Federation (IMAF) was the principal organization as far
as certification was concerned, but the founder created a variety of
titles that indicated some level of organizational or leadership
authority in the art (as opposed to titles such as guro or Punong
Guro that recognized teaching and/or technical ability). Most
prominent among these titles were Datu, meaning a chieftain or
leader, awarded in this order to Shishir Inocalla, Kelly Worden and
Ric "Bong" Jornales (of Arnis Sikaran) (all in the 1980s), Dieter
Knuettel (1996), Tim Hartman and David Hoffman (both in 2000); and
Master of Tapi-Tapi, awarded to Jeff Delaney, Chuck Gauss, Jim Ladis,
Gaby Roloff, Randi Schea, Ken Smith, and Brian Zawilinski. The
Masters of Tapi-Tapi titles were created to provide leadership and
steerage for the IMAF following Remy Presas' passing; the Datus were
expected to take leadership roles that might see them move in
different, and perhaps less conventional, directions. Through 2001,
however, the art remained largely united under the founder.
In the wake of the 2001 death of Remy Preas, there has been a
splintering of the remaining leadership of Modern Arnis. The IMAF,
previously the organization of record for North American Modern
Arnis practitioners, split into two subgroups, one headed by Randi
Shea and one headed by Jeff Delaney; the remaining five Masters of
Tapi-Tapi continue to be associated with the former group. Remy
Presas' son Remy P. Presas and his siblings also formed a group
following his father's death, and Tim Hartman and Dieter Knuettel
increased the independence of their organizations (the WMAA and DAV,
respectively). Other groups, such as that headed by Kelly Worden,
had become independent well before the founder's death (and with his
support). Dan Anderson formed another branch of the art which he
calls "Modern Arnis 80" and runs this out of Gresham, Oregon. While
both IMAFs have claimed that rank must be certified through them to
be valid, other individuals feel that the dynamic structure of the
art, Remy Presas' frequent instructions to "make the art your own",
their rank or title, and/or specific authority granted to them by
the founder, mean that they are entitled to head their own
organizations or groups that teach their own interpretation of the
art.
In many ways, the situation is analogous to what occurred in the
Jeet Kune Do and American Kenpo communities following the deaths of
their popular and charismatic founders. In particular, the question
of how high-ranking arnisadors should test for higher rank has been
settled by different organizations in different ways. In some cases
this has caused controversy. However, the fact remains that several
groups are promoting what they see as 'traditional' Modern Arnis,
while others are promoting variations of Modern Arnis, in keeping
with its 'modern' approach. The art is healthy and continues to
attract students.
Current practitioners of Modern Arnis or arts strongly influenced by
Modern Arnis who head their own organization or group or are
otherwise prominent include: Dan Anderson, Jerome Barber, Tom
Bolden, Jeff Delaney, Rodel Dagooc, Roland Dantes, Samuel "Bambit"
Dulay, Bram Frank, Tim Hartman, Walter "Hock" Hochheim, David
Hoffman, Myrlino Hufana, Shishir Inocalla, Dieter Kn�ttel, Jay de
Leon, Lee Lowry, David Ng, Max Pallen Sr., Doug Pierre, Remy P.
Presas, Roberto Presas, Randi Schea, Kelly Worden, Ken DeJesus,
Brian Collins and Richard Temmerman.
- From
wikipedia.org
