Tag Archive

Philippine Sports Commission To Lead Implementation Of Arnis Law | AHN

Philippine Sports Commission To Lead Implementation Of Arnis Law | AHN.
Manila, Philippines (AHN) – The Philippine Sports Commission will get P5 million to lead the implementation of a law declaring the martial art of arnis, a form of stick fighting, the national sport.
President Gloria Macapagal signed into law earlier this month  Republic Act 9850 sponsored [...]

Balance

I have been thinking lately a lot about fundamental skills. And from what I can tell, the most fundamental skill in any martial art is balance. This should be pretty obvious, of course. Balance, harmony, wa whatever you want to call it, it’s all the same. While I am specifically talking about physical balance, the [...]

Balance training

I’ve done a little bit of silat, a couple of years of Modern Arnis, and Kempo Jutsu Kai (Professor Kimo Ferreira). One of the things I noticed in all of these experiences is that the difference between a good practitioner and a beginner is balance. (And flow and knowledge, of course.)
So my question today [...]

Branding & Training

I was having a talk with a friend today about self-talk. About how belittling yourself damages your ego and self-esteem. And how belief in yourself is self-reinforcing. The discussion was really about women’s body issues; women thinking they’re fat or ugly or stupid, and how the media contributes to them.
Every message we hear has an [...]

FMA, Crime, and Geo-Politics

In the Philippines the police are learning arnis to combat crime. I’d say about 40% of the people I see in classes and FMA seminars are LEOs here in Washington State. I’d imagine that’s pretty representative of the general population.
It’s interesting to me that the Philippines can afford to not only pay officers to do [...]

Gaining the blade

My primary interest in FMA has always been the sword (particularly espada y daga). I come from a fencing background, by which I mean I fenced for a couple of years before I started doing Modern Arnis. And it’s really my only previous mano y mano combative experience. Fortunately for this, lately my instructor has [...]

Modern Arnis

I was couch-training on YouTube earlier and decided I would look up Professor Remy A. Presas. The anniversary of his passing was just a couple of days ago and so I’ve been thinking about him a little bit. More importantly, as you may know, a crucial part of the couch-training regime is to watch cool [...]

There is no such thing as an Eskrima stick!

I hang out on the Internet a lot and one of my worst ‘time sucker’ habits is to look for ANYTHING that is associated with Filipino martial arts.   One of the things that I come across often is this notion of a bona-fide Filipino martial arts weapon called an Escrima stick!
Now…what exactly is this [...]

Empty handed thoughts

This blog is really supposed to be about our training progression, the things we experience. I have, of course, extended that to the ideas that I want to explore. Lately I’ve been thinking about circles and centerline theory and the idea of hitting into the center of someone’s mass, and all my previous experience in [...]

Yin-yang

There’s an interesting concept in martial arts in general, the idea that to be good you have to be both soft and hard, or more plainly, strong and weak. This is a concept that’s always fascinated me, but frankly at first I hadn’t seen much of it. It seemed like it was always better to [...]

Theory and law

I have this problem, in class, I like things to make sense. I am always looking for ‘the golden rule’. I ask our instructor, “So do I do it like this, in every situation?” And the answer is always (a qualified) no. But I obsessively look for the ‘constants’. When doing an elbow strike, should [...]

Hand-made Modern Arnis uniform (UPDATED!)

Hand-sewn Modern Arnis uniform available for order at this website!

Grandmaster Remy Presas Sr. explains Block-Check-Counter and Visidario techniques

This is a series of clips from the MARPPIO DVD of the late Grandmaster Remy A. Presas Sr. demonstrating the Block-Check-Counter (BCC) technique and the basic concept of the Visidario.   This DVD is simply entitled ‘Visidario‘ and is available at our online store on www.modernarnis.com.  Please watch the videos IN SEQUENCE, as it will give [...]

Excellent example of Arnis in ground-fighting scenario!

This vid is linked to Martial Matrix website and is a very good example of ground defense using FMA concepts.  The two participants are from Pambuan Arnis and the vid was apparently shot at a recent seminar on this style.  Very good work and shows how FMA can adapt to any fighting scenario.  Props to [...]

Just in: movement to make Arnis the Philippine National Sport

(This is reprint of an article taken from the Manila Bulletin)
Arnis pushed as nat’l sport
May 5, 2009, 7:44pm

Members of Filipino Martial Arts, led by Harbour Centre owner Mikee Romero, have thrown their full support behind the bill filed by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri to make arnis the country’s national sport.
Romero and Zubiri, both avid arnis [...]