The first known Philippino hero, Lapulapu, was believed to be one of the foremost masters of arnis, which was known during that time in the native dialect as pangamut. In fact, Lapulapu had vigorously trained and prepaired his men for "Showdown" fights against his enemies long before his historic battle with Ferdinand Magellan on April 27, 1521, in Mactan Island. It was no surprise then, that when the first circumnavigator of the world tried to subdue the recalcitrant Lapulapu, who refused to come and meet him in Cebu, Magellan and his men were met not with a hail of bullets but with wooden instruments, spears, and bolos. It was ironic that when the smoke of that epic battle cleared, the Spanish conquistadors more "modern" weapons were no match for the crude wooden arms of Lapulapu and his warriors. Magellan lost his life in that battle.
When Miguel Lopez de Legaspi landed in the Philippines and established the first settlement in 1565, he and his men noted that the Filipinos were a class by themselves in the art of stickfighting and blade or swordfighting. He had his first glimpse of the natives exceptional skill and ability during his landing in Leyte in 1564 when he was entertained with an Arnis demonstration by the warriors of Chieftain Malitik. Similar demonstrations were made upon visits in Limasawa, Camiguin, Cebu and other places.
In 1637, however, Spanish friars, who came to the Philippines, introduced the moro-moro, a socio-religious play dramatizing the victory of Christian Spaniards over the Muslim Moors apparently as a visual aid meant to coerce the natives to convert to Christianity. The play called for the use of a sword or any bladed weapon by characters who played the role of Spanish soldiers. These soldiers wore colorful trappings called arnes which the early Filipinos cleverly used as the new name of their indigenous fighting art, whose techniques were again practiced in rehearsals for the moro-moro plays. From then on our indigenous bladed arts became known as Arnes, immortalized as Arnis in the Balagtas Tagalog epic Florante at Laura in these lines "larong buno't arnis na kinakitaan ng kani-kaniyang liksi't karunungan".
During the Philippine Revolution, the first known fighting weapon of Filipino revolutionary leaders like Andres Bonifacio was the itak which he used probably with Arnis fighting techniques. Other Filipino revolutionary leaders were said to be experts in Arnis, which they learned in their youth. The greatest Filipino hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, for instance, studied Arnis before he left for Europe. Revolutionary generals like Gregorio del Pilar and Antonio Luna were known practitioners of Arnis.
Arnis, also known as kali, escrima, baston, etc. is a complete martial art system, encompassing weapons training and empty-hand self-defense. It includes training in single stick techniques (solo baston), double stick techniques (doble baston), stick and knife or dagger techniques (espada y daga) and knife techniques (daga). Some styles may include staff and spear (sibat) training in their curriculum. Others will include the practice of medium to long bladed weapons (bolo) in their repertoire. Many styles have some form of empty hand combat, encompassing striking, kicking, locking, throwing and even choking methods. These are usually taught when the practitioner has demonstrated a reasonable degree of proficiency with the weapons of his style of arnis. Different arnis styles, from different parts of the country, may emphasize different areas of the training methods noted above. The term arnis is believed to be a Tagalog corruption of the Spanish term arnes, or harness, a reference to the decorations worn by the early Filipinos. Kali is another term used to refer to the same kind of martial arts. Different provinces may have different names for arnis, such as baston and kaliradman (Ilonggo, Bisaya), pagkalikali (Ibanag) and kalirongan (Pangasinan). These are only a few examples of the terms already recorded in different sources. In 1975, the National Arnis Association of the Philippines (NARAPHIL) was formed by Gen. Fabian C. Ver. This organization acted as the first national organization for Arnis in the Philippines. Its existence however, faded after the radical change and total revamp in the Philippine government caused by the Philippine Revolution of 1986.
In the meantime, in many parts of the world, popular names and groups in Arnis have been busy propagating the Filipino Martial Art (FMA) and sport, pushing its teachings and techniques. Some people even successfully made their way into martial arts schools, police academies, military schools, educational institutions, government agencies, and even in the entertainment world.
In 1970 Remy Presas created Modern Arnis Federation of the Philippines boasted more than 40,000 members. In 1975 he left the Philippines on a goodwill tour sponsored by the government to spread Modern Arnis around the globe. Since arriving in the United States the art has grown rapidly. Modern Arnis is often referred to as "the art within the art." The techniques are based on patterns and theories of movement, instead of static moves and drills. Rather than learning complex forms and one-step sparring drills for each weapon, students learn the fundamentals of natural movement and use the same patterns of attack and defense in response to each direction, type and intensity of attack. This is true regardless of whether they are holding a sword, dagger, stick or no weapon at all. In addition, all the techniques lead into a countless variety of disarms, throws and locks using the maximum leverage available from whatever weapon is being utilized. Modern Arnis teaches students to become proficient and comfortable in all ranges of combat. Each one of the 12 striking angles that define the system has a basic block, disarm and counter to the disarm. Once these building blocks are in place, they can be applied to movements known as sinawali, redonda, crossada, abanico and others. Numerous joint locks, spinning throws and takedown techniques lead to grappling positions with still more control and submission techniques.
Presas Modern arnis revolutionized the way the arts were taught by using the cane as a target. His new style of teaching and his new system, ��Modern Arnis�� helped to preserve the traditions of the Filipino martial arts.
Grand Master Remy A. Presas passed away due to heart failure and severe internal infection after battling brain cancer on August 28, 2001 at Parkwood Home Care in Victoria, Canada. After extended delays due to certain circumstances, his remains arrived in Manila, Philippines on September 19, 2001. He received posthumous award (for propagation of Filipino Martial Arts worldwide) from PIGSSAI / Philippine Tourism Authority. On September 23, 2001, his body was flown to Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He was laid to rest on September 25, 2001 in the neighboring town of Hinigaran, his birthplace.
Remy Presas saw his dream of the revival of the Filipino Martial Arts come true and has been practicing throughout the world.
Note: This article was copied from a different source.