Caution on Wikipedia articles on Modern Arnis

There is a lot of information on the internet regarding the history of Modern Arnis. Let's take Wikipedia for example. The article on Modern Arnis is mostly accurate. However, if one were to click on the reference to "Masters of Tapi Tapi" embedded in the Wikipedia article, you will be sent to another article describing what that title means. Check out: Master of Tapi Tapi .

This Wikipedia article makes reference to the two stick locking drill. It implies that the Masters of Tapi Tapi are masters of a drill. This has been asserted in a number of places on various martial arts forums over the years. This is a gross oversimplification of what that title denotes. It is not a reference to mastery of a drill. Instead, it refers to the underlying concepts of "going with the flow" and "counter for counter." These concepts permeate every aspect of the art of Modern Arnis, whether it be stick, empty hand, ground control techniques, joint locks, throws or knife techniques. For example, there are counters to arm bars or other joint locks. Therefore, the title "Master of Tapi Tapi" does not refer solely to two person stick drills as the Wikipedia article seems to say.

To be clear, there are drills to develop the concept of "going with the flow" and "counter for counter." The most prevalent is right vs. right tapi tapi (with sticks) and left vs. right tapi tapi (with sticks). These drills are designed to teach these concepts. However, as stated above, these concepts are prevalent throughout every aspect of the art.

Arnis Fest 2007

Recently, I attended Arnis Fest 2007 in Orland Park, IL. It took place at Ken Smith's beautiful school and as usual, Ken and Tammy, did a great job of hosting the camp. I arrived at the camp with Master Chuck Gauss and his student, Steve Cheston, having arrived in Detroit the night before. The weekend of training and camaderie was just fantastic and I look forward to more training in the future. Here are some pics from the camp.

Modern Arnis-What it is and it isn't

First and foremost, Modern Arnis is a self defense system designed by its founder and Grandmaster, Remy A. Presas. While Modern Arnis and many Filipino martial arts (referred to as FMAs) have origins in bladed weapons usage, Professor Presas preferred not to teach the bladed aspect of the art. Over the years, it evolved into a stick and empty hand oriented art, with much emphasis on the concept of "the flow" and "counter for counter." Modern Arnis is not a competition oriented art, whether it be padded stick sparring, Dog Brothers type of sparring or other similar types of sparring. As Professor said many times "Use Modern Arnis only for good." Much of the evolution of the art by Professor was due to his encounters with violence in the Phillipines and his decision to teach self defense. Modern Arnis is not about knife fighting. If you want to learn in depth fighting skills, there are plenty of knife fighting instructors out there to learn from.

One may ask "if Modern Arnis is a self defense system, why do we train with sticks ?" Very good question. Sticks should be thought of as a conceptual and training tool designed to develop eye-hand coordination and hand speed. Training with sticks also enhances perceptual speed in terms of recognizing where an attack is coming from. Once you reach a comfort level training with sticks, empty hand self defense will be that much easier. In addition, stick movements are easily translated into empty hand movements.

In addition to training with sticks, drills are prevalent in Modern Arnis and is designed to build muscle memory and perceptual speed. As Master Chuck Gauss of Detroit, Michigan has said so many times, these drills are used to build skills. They are not combat....they are designed to build skill and make your movements second nature and instinctual. Many of these drills focus on gross motor movement as those are less affected by stress than fine motor control.

Modern Arnis is NOT about the current MMA fad. I love watching UFC on Spike TV and admire the athletes who participate in that kind of competition. However, the legality of the techniques employed in those competitions for self defense situations is quite questionable.

Lastly, the underlying concept of Modern Arnis has been alluded to above; i.e., counter for counter and going with the flow. Modern Arnis is designed to teach you how to flow with opponent's attacks using the least amount of energy and using his strengths and weaknesses against him.

More later !