First and foremost, Grandmaster Remy A. Presas designed Modern Arnis as a self-defence system.

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, emphasizing the concept of “the flow” and “counter for counter.”

Modern Arnis is not a competition-oriented art, whether padded stick sparring, Dog Brothers sparring or other similar types. As Professor Presas often said, “Use Modern Arnis only for good.” Much of the Professor’s evolution was due to his encounters with violence in the Philippines and his decision to teach self-defence. Modern Arnis is not about knife fighting. If you want to learn in-depth fighting skills, there are plenty of knife-fighting instructors to learn from.

One may ask, “If Modern Arnis is a self-defence system, why do we train with sticks ?”

That is an excellent question. You should view sticks as a conceptual and training tool designed to develop eye-hand coordination and hand speed. Training with sticks also enhances the perceptual speed of recognizing where an attack is coming from.

Once you reach a comfort level training with sticks, empty-hand self-defence will be much easier. In addition, stick movements are easily translated into empty hand movements.

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Drills are prevalent in Modern Arnis and are designed to build muscle memory and perceptual speed. Master Chuck Gauss of Detroit, Michigan, has said these drills are used to build skills. They are not combative….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 does not compete with MMA. I love watching UFC and admire the athletes participating in that arena. However, the legality of the techniques employed in those competitions for self-defence is questionable.

Lastly, the underlying concepts of this art consist of the counter for counter and going with the flow. In addition, Modern Arnis is constantly evolving due to the influence of the late Professor Remy Presas.

This fantastic martial art is designed to teach you how to flow with the opponent’s attacks using the least energy and his strengths and weaknesses against him.