# On the Issue of SUCCESSOR OF REMY PRESAS



## DPRESAS (May 13, 2002)

On the issue of SUCCESSOR OF REMY PRESAS, I would like to comment on the matters brought up by Kaith Rustaz (Im glad I was able to check back your article), to wit:

Heirs:

Jeff Delaney claims he is the successor. There was a release a while ago indicating that GM Presas had named him (and Dr. Shea) as such.

IMAF Inc. under Dr. Shea claims they are the successors, based in part of the same press release, and part of the will.

The Presas Family claims they are the successors based on bloodline and a request from GM Presas.

I would like to set the things straight. Forgive me for saying this but Im tired of hearing the words Successors of Remy Presas.    My father, GM Remy A. Presas, died intestate (without a will) according to a lawyer from Victoria, Canada, whom I quote in his letter to us, On the joint instructions of Randy Schea, and Yvette Wong, we prepared a new will for your father to sign. Unfortunately, when we attended at his bedside he was in no condition to understand or appreciate the nature of his actions, and we were not able to witness his execution. The result is that your father has died intestate (without a will). 

It is clear that my father did not have a will they are claiming, even if some people prepared a will for him that was not according to what he wanted. In other words, a ready-made will for his signature. This is a joke. He did not really designate or appoint anybody as his successor in the Modern Arnis hierarchy. The funny part, somebody is now claiming to be the Grand Master of Modern Arnis and some as Professors. This is another joke. Do they have any idea what a Grand Master and a Professor mean in Modern Arnis?.. My father dedicated all his life to Modern Arnis and Modern Arnis was his life. We had had a broken family because of his love for the art and we have learned to accept that fact.  His title as the Founder and Grand Master of Modern Arnis was his most treasured possession that he would carry unto his grave. Do you think he would just relinquish his title to anybody? Besides, in most discipline, particularly in Filipino Martial Arts, you cannot be a Grand Master unless you are the Founder of such discipline. You must have the full mastery of the art acquired through extensive research and long years of study to attain perfection. That is the true meaning of Grand Master and that phrase is the exact description of GM Presas as far as Modern Arnis is concernedBy analogy, the title  Attorney-at-law is earned through long years of formal studies and passing the required bar examinations and such title is personal to the lawyer concerned. Upon his death, the said lawyer cannot pass his title as an attorney-at-law to anybody. If anybody wants to be a lawyer, he should undergo the same length of studies and pass the required exams..The same is true with a Professor. In Modern Arnis, a professor is like a professor in a university who possesses a mastery of his field.. He must be well-versed in all aspects, from the very fundamental up to the most advanced techniques of Modern Arnis. I hope those so called Professors have those qualities that as far as I know, only the late GM Presas had.

During the last few days of his life, all his children and some grandchildren from his original marriage were on his bedside. We had a heart-to-heart talk. It was a family reunion, a very touching moment. It was a very solemn and closed-knit family gathering where he even said that for the first time in so many years everybody listened and understood him when he spoke his own Ilongo dialect. We discussed a lot of things that concerned the family, but the bottom line, he made his wish and had us promised that we should pick up our canes once again and carry on his legacy, his skills in Modern Arnis that he imparted us. He wanted his bloodline to continue what he had started. He even gave one of his valued uniforms to Carlo Seletaria , 17, his only grandson,  who started training in Modern Arnis at the age of eight, now a good Arnis player. 

No one from MARPPIO, however, claims to replace or succeed GM Remy A. Presas for he was irreplaceable. No one from us claims as a Grand Master for theres only one Grand Master in Modern Arnis and that was Remy A. Presas. 

This being the case, all of us in MARPPIO will do our best to live up to the expectation of the late Grand Master Remy A. Presas, to continue the propagation of Modern Arnis which he had started. To all other Arnis organizations and practitioners, we are deeply honored for your existence that you embrace the Filipino Martial Art. Likewise, we are very grateful for all those who had supported and still are supporting MARPPIO. Once again,  thank you!


Demetrio Presas
MARPPIO Punong Guro


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## thekuntawman (May 13, 2002)

kuya demetrio, if its okay i would like to add to this.

the philippine culture of the fighting art is not like the art of the chinese and japanese. you cannot "inherit" knowledge and respect. even if your teacher was the best in the world it is up to you to make your own reputation. none of the philippine teachers today, promotes that he is the "new owner" of a system. maybe he is the senior one of a family, and maybe he is the best, or top student, or most well known. but when you learn a art, it becomes your own, and your skill will speak for the respect the art has, not the skill of the one you learn it from.

one reason teachers today name the art after himself, is because he has many teachers, but he made the art into what it is today. so the man who holds the name of the art gives it the respect it has because of his skill, not because of who taught it to you.

again, titles and resepct and ranks is something you earn, not to inherit or give to yourself. if you love your teacher and you want to honor him, show your skill to everyone that would have made him proud, not fight over who is the "top dog now".


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## Brian Johns (May 13, 2002)

In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I am associated with Dr. Schea's group and, indeed, am on the board of directors of that group. Also, what follows comes from me and does not necessarily represent the opinion of Dr. Schea's group.

Having said that, I was quite privileged to have worked with Professor Presas, albeit for a short period of time before his untimely passing. He was a great martial artist and I will always carry the lessons that I had with him for the rest of my life. He and I shared stories of Professor Florendo Visitacion, otherwise known as Prof Vee. Vee JJ is my core background along with Chung Do Kwan TKD. I have close to 20 years experience in the martial arts and I believe that I'm able to discern who's got the "stuff" instantly. Let me watch a person for 5 minutes and I'll know if he or she has "it." Another thing that I look for is if they are content to let their skills speak for themselves rather than relying on titles such as Grandmaster or Professor. I have come across a number of people (Professor Presas included) who I saw right away had the "stuff." There were others who I saw didn't have it. I recall a man, who attended a Modern Arnis seminar in Columbus  in the past, who sent in a resume boasting of 40 years of experience in the martial arts. Turns out his skills were not very impressive at all.

The point I'm driving at is that I look at the person's skills, their honor and integrity, and whether they are content to let their skills speak for themselves. I'm generally more impressed with people who display great skill, are humble and could care less about rank. I'm also impressed with a person's willingness to pass along whatever they have learned over the years. Professor Presas fit that bill very well. I don't recall him ever referring himself in person as Grandmaster or Professor. He always had a smile and display a great amount of joy whenever he taught.  There was always a twinkle in his eye whenever he taught or interacted with people who sought out knowledge in Modern Arnis. I truly believe that he was most interested in students who were interested more in the art of Modern Arnis than the acquisition of rank.

Like D. Presas, I'm not too crazy about the fact that a certain person would call himself a Grandmaster of Modern Arnis. In my own personal humble opinion, this represents the height of arrogance. As Demetrio Presas has said, there is only one Grandmaster of Modern Arnis and that is Professor Remy Presas. I believe that the title of Grandmaster or Professor is earned only after 40 plus years in the martial arts and showing that you have the skills to be conferred with that kind of title.  However, instead of focusing on this person's claim to be a Grandmaster, it might do well to focus on the number of high ranking Modern Arnis practitioners who do NOT call themselves Grandmaster. Indeed, there are quite a few incredibly talented Modern Arnis players that I have seen out there who dare not call themselves Grandmaster. Why ? Simply because they have the honor not to do that and they know that they cannot replace a true Professor like Remy Amador Presas. One of those is Dr. Randi Schea. I have to say that Dr. Schea is among the most humble people that I have ever met. Of all the people I have encountered over the years, very few would approach the kind of integrity and honor that Dr. Schea possesses.  I believe that Dr. Schea would be the last person to personally promote himself above the rest of the MOTTs in our group.

I realize that there are a number of different Modern Arnis groups out there. But we all have one thing in common and that is Professor Remy Amador Presas, who I believe is one of the all time great martial artists. I'd like for us to come together and promote the beautiful art of Modern Arnis.  Some say that politics is a sad fact of life. But hey, what about trying ?

Demetrio, I have heard many positive things about MARPPIO and hope to be able to meet you and attend a seminar of yours in the future.

Take care,
Brian Johns


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## Rich Parsons (May 13, 2002)

> _Originally posted by DPRESAS _
> 
> *
> 
> ...



Demetrio,

I am glad that your father was able to have his
family around him and to speak his first
language and have it understood. I am sure it
was something he enjoyed and appriciated.

I would also like to say thank you to you sir
for after the funeral, you were willing to share
pictures and to forward a site link that had more.

It was very much appriciated.

Thank you again, and I wish MARPIO and the Presas
Family the best.

Rich


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## Mao (May 14, 2002)

As has been stated in recent posts, those who would call themselves grandmaster or professor on modern arnis are dishonoring Remy. Would they call themselves this if Remy were in front of them? This smacks of arrogance. I would agree that this should be a time of coming together. Of sharing our knowlege and love of the art of modern arnis. I don't expect to sway anyone to "see it our way". We should get passed that and move on to training. Together would be nice. We will allign ourselves with with who we will. I believe Dr. Shea to be of very high integrity. This is why I chose IMAF, inc.. Those of us on the board are in agreement on most things. We would like to train and continue to do what the real Prof. had asked us to do. We would like to do this with anyone who is willing to train, without ego. I respect the fact that there is more than one group, or tribe if you will. We do in fact, as Whoop stated have at least one thing in common that we should be willing to share. Lets do so, and play!


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## Cruentus (May 14, 2002)

Much respect to you and your family. I would be honored to meet you in person, and train at a MARPPIO seminar. I was a young student of your fathers, and now of Datu Hartman. If you are ever in the midwest, I will do my best to make it there!

 Respectfully yours,

Paul Janulis
WMAA of Michigan

P.S. 2 years ago almost to date I had your father over my house and I hosted a seminar for him that boasted over 55 people. I was only 22 years old at the time; and it was only my second time hosting a seminar. It was an honor, and it would be an honor to some day host you and other MARPPIO leaders in Michigan. The invitation is open. We shall see what the future holds!


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## dng1032 (May 14, 2002)

D.

good to hear from you...It was nice meeting you in 
Durham, NC...Maybe we'll get together in the future when we go visit my cousin in San Jose... or at another training session...
I invite you to come and join us in Michigan to train as well...

take care,
David

I just posted some of my thoughts hope it makes sense as we talked before you know where I am coming from...


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## Dan Anderson (May 14, 2002)

Dear Demetrio,
Just a couple of replies to your post, hopefully in the order of how you listed them.

1.  The will.  Don't know anything of fact regarding it.  What a mess.

2.  The Grand Master title.  Many of us have the same respect for our teacher's title as the family does, that there is only one Grand Master and that is Remy A. Presas.  As to Jeff Delaney having the title appended to his name, I have no facts or reality based suppositions.  I met him for the first time at the funeral service for your father in Victoria.  I don't know him at all so I don't have any of his prior actions to make a guess about him this time.  It could be as simple as he was a co-successor and now tht the Grand Master has passed on, he feels the title is his.  It could be that someone else has appended the title to his name and he hasn't corrected that person yet.  Don't know, can't say.

3.  On being a successor.  Your father named Dr. Schea, et al to be his successor in the IMAF.  The IMAF is one of several organizations who teach and propagate Modern Arnis.  he embraced others as well and encouraged us to continue his art.  Tim Hartman, Kelly Worden and myself are among those who he urged to do so.  We all suceed him so we are all "successors."  you ask most of us if we consider outselves the new Grand Master of Modern Arnis and you will hear a resounding "no!"

4.  Your next to last paragraph - neither do any of the rest of us.  I understand to the degree I am capable someting of what you and your siblings felt by the non-involvement of your father.  I am one who came from a broken home as well.  I also rejoice at you all coming to his side at his last hours and making the family complete once more.  Your father, however, had a family which was bigger and broader than just the blood lines.  This is something you must realize.  Our wish to continue his art is not some sleazy takeover attempt.  We all loved him as well.

Yours,
Dan Anderson
6th Degree Black Belt
Senior Master Modern Arnis


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## Cebu West (May 14, 2002)

DPRESAS
   I have just recently met you and your family at your April seminar in NJ. Considering the fact that we just met I feel like I've known you and your brother and sisters for a long time. Maybe it's because you trained hard but had fun doing it, just like your father. You're father made everyone feal special and you have acquired that trait as well. I enjoyed training with you and your family as well as sharing some special moments about your father. I look foreword to seeing you again.

As for those who would use your father's title, I wonder how they sleep at night. You can't stop people from making fools out of themselves. There isn't anybody in Modern Arnis with half a brain who would put any of these so called professors on a parallel with your father, REMY A PRESAS the only GM and PROFESSOR of Modern Arnis.
Their arrogance will be their downfall. Hold you head high and continue to honor you fathers request by spreading his spirit and happy attitude through out the Modern Arnis community.

Sal Todaro  (Cebu West- WMAA)


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## DoctorB (May 15, 2002)

> _Originally posted by thekuntawman _
> 
> *kuya demetrio, if its okay i would like to add to this.
> 
> ...


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## Dan Anderson (May 16, 2002)

Count me in!  Let's party!
Dan


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## DPRESAS (May 16, 2002)

we're in:asian:


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## arnisador (May 16, 2002)

This is really shaping up nicely!


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## Dieter (May 17, 2002)

Hi,

it´s really hard to decide in what thread one should send the answer to. I will do in several.
Just a quick note that I, if I can get  the date organized family wise, am interested to participate and instruct in such an event.


Datu Dieter Knüttel
Germany


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## Cruentus (May 17, 2002)

My brother (the Jockey) and I (the Rude Crude Irish Dude) will definatly be there.

We will be demonstrating weight lifting and WWF wrestling techniques. For the grande finalle' I will light my brother on fire, and throw him through 4 tables by his face!  :mst: 

Those who know me are laughing right now; the rest of you are saying, "Who is this freak!?"  :rofl: 

In all seriousness, however, DoctorB's idea is panning out very nicely so far.


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## Bob Hubbard (May 17, 2002)

Definately sounds like its coming together nicely. 

I ask that everyone pick up the camp idea here:
http://www.martialtalk.com/showthread.php?&threadid=2018

This way, rather than track multiple threads, we can concentrate it.

Thank you everyone.


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## thekuntawman (May 20, 2002)

hi i think doctor barbers idea is good for all of modern arnis, because it will be like brothers sharing information with each other, instead of arguing about who has the best style. this is the benefit of having a bunch of classmates instead of just studying one to one. an art will have more growth when there is a lot of people working to evolve it some more. this is why the sport of boxing has developed into more of a scientific fighting than brawling, that there are so many styles, experimenting, and testing, then people share the information (like how Ali's "rope a dope" because part of standard "bob and weave" from the rope skills). i have a suggestion to;

each teacher should bring students who traiined in his own style of arnis, so that they could demonstrate or prove how the technique works, instead of arguing when somebody disagrees, and also you can attach a small tournament to the convention. this is to make the convention more fun and bring spectator money to pay your spending cost.

also, i wrote a post on www.bladeforums.com and the title was "message for our modern arnis brothers" or something like that, where i thought a "grab" might happen, if you are interested to read what i wrote about it.

thank you


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## DoctorB (May 21, 2002)

> _Originally posted by thekuntawman _
> 
> [KTM] hi i think doctor barbers idea is good for all of modern arnis, because it will be like brothers sharing information with each other, instead of arguing about who has the best style. this is the benefit of having a bunch of classmates instead of just studying one to one. an art will have more growth when there is a lot of people working to evolve it some more. this is why the sport of boxing has developed into more of a scientific fighting than brawling, that there are so many styles, experimenting, and testing, then people share the information (like how Ali's "rope a dope" because part of standard "bob and weave" from the rope skills).
> 
> ...



Jerome Barber, Ed.D.


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