This past weekend I attended the 2010 ArnisFest in Chicago hosted by Master Ken Smith.

This time it was held in Master Ken’s new school, The Modern Arnis Academy, in Homer Glen, IL.

ArnisFest group photo
2010 ArnisFest Group Photo

Master Chuck Gauss, Master Ken, and GM Will Higginbotham taught at ArnisFest. 

A wide variety of materials was taught at the camp ranging from judo reaps, sweeps, and takedowns to knife vs. stick techniques, joint locks, left vs. right tapi tapi, right vs. right tapi tapi, 2 vs. 1 stick techniques, and empty hand single sinawali applications.

If you are not able to view this video, click here.

In addition, Master Ken and GM Higginbotham covered pressure point material. All in told, they ranged from pressure points on the arm and the face. In addition, they taught various throws and takedowns using pressure points. 

As usual, Master Chuck, Master Ken, and GM Will told many stories about Professor Presas. Master Ken related how Professor could take somebody’s technique and make it his own. Master Ken emphasized that Professor always learned from many people to improve his art. 

One particular story involved my Modern Arnis instructor in Columbus, Dan McConnell. 

One year at the annual Michigan camp, Dan was showing some folks a cool technique. Professor saw this technique and said to Dan “holy cow, dat’s berri good. Do it again.” Dan did it again to which Professor said “My god, dat is beautiful.” 

According to Ken’s story, Professor sat down and thought about this technique. Then called the attendees together to teach the next technique. To Dan’s surprise, it was the technique that he had demonstrated to Professor. The professor demonstrated the technique and showed Modern Arnis follow-ups, thus making the technique his own.  I remembered this episode and how this had generated some laughs when Professor did this.

The camaraderie at this camp was outstanding, as usual, and we all had fun. We got together for a pizza party (a planned bonfire was cancelled due to weather) and watched videos of Professor, with hilarious narratives provided by Master Chuck and Master Ken.

This wraps up a busy camp year for me. Besides the Michigan Camp, I hosted the 1st Toronto Camp. I also attended the Las Vegas Black Belt camp. In addition, I attended a Balintawak seminar taught by GM Bobby Taboada. Whew!

In any case, I’m already looking forward to next year’s ArnisFest!

Additional Reading