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Letters about Professor Members: We want your input! If you have articles (letters, stories, poems, etc.) on Professor Remy A. Presas that you would like to share with our extended Modern Arnis family, please send it to webmaster@modernArnis.net at your earliest convenience. NOW YOU ARE HOME, by Janet E. Aalfs Modern Arnis – Professor Presas’s Gift, by Lee Anne Brophy The Person Professor Fears, by Master Ken Smith, Orland Park, IL NOW YOU ARE HOME, by Janet E. Aalfs In Memory of Professor Remy Presas
December 19, 1936 - August 28 2001
Modern Arnis – Professor Presas’s Gift, by Lee Anne Brophy About a week ago a martial artist that I respect very much inspired me to ponder over a small phrase that one of his instructors had said to him many years ago. I would like everyone to think about this phrase. “ If I am not the candle that shines the light perhaps I can be the mirror that reflects it.” On August 28, 2001 Modern Arnis lost it’s candle. A great man, a pioneer, an adventurer, a forward thinker who left us all wishing for one more day or even one more moment with him, this man was Remy A. Presas. The gift that he gave so freely was a love for life and his ever evolving system known as Modern Arnis. This was an art that grew from his life of training and his adaptation to the needs of current martial artists. Originally taught to Master Presas by his Grandfather, it was a family system to be passed down from generation to generation of warriors. At a young age, Professor left his family to pursue his training and expand his knowledge of Philippine Martial Arts, following many of the nations top teachers of his era, keeping the art alive longer than any one man’s time. The Arnis that was originally taught to Master Presas was used to defend oneself or one’s family during times of war. The penalty for dropping your guard or making a bad strike was not merely a smashed finger or a bruise; it could mean death or permanent disability. How was this warrior with a very strong sense of Filipino national pride able to adapt a serious fighting system to the needs of today’s martial artists, keeping the integrity and effectiveness of Arnis without the severe penalties of traditional practice? This was no small task; one of the first things that Professor changed was to allow the arnisador to hit the opponents cane instead of his hand. This was a major change due to the fact that the warrior considered the cane sacred. This change helped the system to be accepted by American martial artists. Each person came to Modern Arnis for his or her own individual reasons. Some wanted to enhance their current fighting skills, others did not believe arnis would work and found out differently; still others came to arnis as their principal martial art. Regardless of everyone’s different reasons for starting arnis, I think we all stayed with the system to be with The Professor. I am not a person who can say that I knew Professor Presas well. In my five years of serious training, I have had about six conversations with the Professor with a total of about thirty minutes of his time. Those thirty minutes are very precious to me. No matter how casual the relationship, he left you with the feeling that you were important. Every person who was lucky enough to have worked with Professor had his or her own special relationship with him. To each practioner he gave the gift of Modern Arnis. He gave it to all freely with the hope that they would make this gift a part of themselves and share it with others. It was through sharing the gift that each person would make his own connections and truly begin to understand what Professor had given them. The gift is much more than a fighting system, it is a way of life. “Go with the flow” was often heard in training halls all over the world in that revered Filipino accent. For the people who are new to Modern Arnis and for the students of the future have they missed out on the gift? I do not believe so, Professor Presas started a fire in the hearts and minds of more people than he realized. It is these little embers which glow in all that will keep his gift alive. Each person has a chance to pass the gift on to others by training in a manner that would make Professor Presas proud. To train with commitment and a genuine love for the art and it’s practioners, not for personal glory but for the larger picture, for his legacy. When a person leaves this earth it is traditional to distribute his worldly goods among his relatives and friends. Master Presas left us all much more than his favorite watch or a treasured family heirloom. He gave us all a chance to continue his mission, to be the mirror that reflects his light. Each mirror will reflect his light in a slightly different way. I think this would be alright with the professor because, as much as things are different, it is all the same. The Person Professor Fears, by Master Ken Smith, Orland Park, IL Hello everyone. This is Ken Smith and this is one of my funny Professor stories! I bet that no one knows that EVEN Professor was afraid of someone. That's right! She's big and powerful and I'm afraid of her too. It's my wife, Tammy. I, as many of you do, impersonate Professor on a regular basis. Arnis stories, training and certain techniques just aren't the same unless you use the accent. You know what I mean? Well, one time when Professor was coming in to do a seminar, he called my house and it was late at night. I was still at the dojo so my wife who was SOUND asleep jumped out of bed and answered the phone. And the voice said, "Hello, is Ken there?" She replied, "Honey, I was sleeping." "I am so tired and why are you calling me so late?" The voice said, "Oh, Ken is not there?" She said, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" "Stop goofing around!" Then the voice said, "Oh, uh, ua, uh, could you please take down this number and have Ken call me?" She still thought it was me so in an effort to pacify me she wrote down the number. The voice thanked her, said he was sorry and hung up. She said that as soon as she hung up she had this horrible sinking feeling. She immediately called the school and asked if I had just called the house. I of course said no and she proceeds to tell me what happened. She said she just got done yelling at Professor because she thought it was me impersonating him. So I am thinking, "Oh Great, am I ever going to pay for this." So I call the number and he answers the phone. He says, "Oh my God Ken, your wife… she is berry, berry angry to me?" "I call there at your house looking for you and I wake her and she yell at me." "I am berry, berry plustered" "What will I do?" Then I explained that she thought it was me joking with her. And then laughing he said, "My God she scare me, I was afraid." Then I started laughing. The toughest man I had ever met was afraid of my little wife. I told him that it would be o.k. and that I would protect him from her. Of course she felt awful about the whole thing but takes pride in knowing that she has her very own Professor story. That happened about 3 yearsago and they became good friends but she still jokes about how she was the only person that Professor feared! A tribute to the Father of Modern Arnis. The Promise It has been four years since the passing of one of the greatest martial artists that ever lived. Professor Presas will long be remembered as the man who brought back to life the dying art of Arnis, a visionary with endless determination and boundless energy. When Professor Presas was a very small boy of six years old he became very curious about the training his father was giving to the soldiers near his home. This training was not openly shared; Remy’s father was training guerilla fighters to combat the invading Japanese forces during World War II. It was this curiosity that lead young Remy to stand on a rock, peak through the nepa leaves that covered the training hut and begin mimicking the movements of the soldiers. He would swing his small rattan stick at the leaves of nearby trees resulting in a question from his grandfather who was also curious. He was wondering what had caused the trees to loose their leaves. When young Remy showed him what caused the trees to become bare his grandfather saw the enthusiasm for the art of Arnis in this young boys eyes. Against his parents wishes Remy’s grandfather made a promise to teach the small boy the family system of Arnis. Young Remy worked hard at his art, it became a driving force in his life. He was obsessed with the movements and power of Arnis. He learned the art during a time of great upheaval there were many deaths and life changing injuries dealt out at the hands of powerful arnisadors. This caused young Remy to feel great sorrow for those that were hurt; he felt that the art that he loved should not be used to harm others. This feeling would shape the future of Arnis. When Remy was old enough he yearned for more information about Arnis, there are many different family styles taught in the islands. He left home in search of more knowledge, by learning more about the art he was keeping a promise that he had made to his grandfather to learn and practice his art. Through out his travels he always kept true to his word, he worked hard and learned from many different masters he was a natural athlete and his talent and reputation soon grew. Unfortunately, Remy was forced to flee his beloved Philippines during a time of political instability. This was both a beginning and an end for Remy. It was the end of his time spent in his homeland but the beginning for his beloved art known as Modern Arnis. It was at this time that Professor Presas began to keep a promise he had made to himself all those years ago as a young boy, he would make Arnis the art of the world. He dedicated his life to teaching Modern Arnis, his own adaptation of his grandfather’s style of balintawak as well as all the things he had learned from the other masters he had studied with. Perhaps the most valuable adaptation was to allow the practitioner of Modern Arnis to strike the opponents stick. This would encourage people to continue with their practice of the art without removing the martial aspect of Arnis. Professor Presas spent most of his adult life on the road teaching to a new group of people at every venue. During the course of his travels he taught many distinct pieces of his art to a few very dedicated and talented practitioners of his art. Whether he gave someone a new technique or movement or had them search for it in what he had just done he always made them promise to teach it to someone. He believed that by teaching someone else the technique or movement would become your own. All too quickly Professor Presas was taken from this earth but his beloved art and his promise lives on through all the people that have dedicated their lives to the practice of Modern Arnis. Every time that knowledge is passed on in the manner that Professor would have taught it we are all keeping his promise for him. We are sharing and spreading his beloved art through out the world. It is on this fourth anniversary of his passing that we should all take a moment to remember what his promise meant to him and to remember what he meant to all the people he has touched through out the world. Every time that you pick up a rattan stick you are helping to keep his promise, this is a sacred responsibility and an honor.
Warmest regards,
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