# What exactly is Modern Arnis?



## pudding11591 (Apr 3, 2008)

I have read a few things and seen that is covers stick, knife, and open hand techniques, but anything else? Does it cover self defense? 
Any information would be great! 
Thanks.


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## Bob Hubbard (Apr 3, 2008)

Yes it does. We've a number of MA instructors here who can give more detail than I can at the moment though.


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## MJS (Apr 4, 2008)

pudding11591 said:


> I have read a few things and seen that is covers stick, knife, and open hand techniques, but anything else? Does it cover self defense?
> Any information would be great!
> Thanks.


 
You will find some great material in Modern Arnis.  You will see alot in the lines of stick work, knife work and empty hand work.  This will also include things such as:

stick vs. stick
stick vs. empty hand
knife vs. knife
knife vs. empty hand
stick vs. knife
empty hand vs. empty hand

Additionally, you will see numerous locks, take downs, as well as some ground work. 

I asked one of my teachers one time about defense against other attacks such as chokes, bear hugs, etc.  While there are no set defenses in the curriculum that I follow, he gave me some likely responses. 

There is a ton of stuff to learn!  I've been doing it now for about 10yrs and I'm still learning new things.  Its really amazing, because so much translates from one thing to another.  

If it is something that you're interested in, I suggest checking a class out.  I'm sure we could aid you in finding a teacher.  It also blends very well with just about any other art out there.  

Mike


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## Morgan (Apr 5, 2008)

MJS said:


> You will find some great material in Modern Arnis. You will see alot in the lines of stick work, knife work and empty hand work. This will also include things such as:
> 
> stick vs. stick
> stick vs. empty hand
> ...


 
A very good reply, Mike.  I came into this from the opposite direction.
I had the training to defend agaist grabs, chokes, bearhugs, punsches, slaps and the like, but my first art was very weak against the weapons attacks.  We used Modern Arnis to cover that side of our training needs.

Morgan


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## Rich Parsons (Apr 5, 2008)

pudding11591 said:


> I have read a few things and seen that is covers stick, knife, and open hand techniques, but anything else? Does it cover self defense?
> Any information would be great!
> Thanks.



Many times when GM Remy Presas was alive the art was advertised as Filipino Self-Defense. 

The Professor tried to make it fun and easy to learn for everyone. His ideas of giving you something you did not have, so that you would continue to learn and possible learn more of his system. 

Many people come to the FMA's in general and look for Stick or Blade work only. 

I find it funny to watch the expressions of those who come to me for weapons work and think FMA's are weapons only, and they are surprised with the empty hand, joint locks, and other aspects of the art. 

There are many who were only shown the weapons aspect for that is all they wanted to learn or cared to learn as they already had an empty hand system of their own. I hope those who fall into this recognize it and seek out those who trained the whole system or only trained in Modern Arnis or other FMA's, so they understand the Empty hand aspect from a Filipino approach and not a Japanese/Korean/Chinese/Western approach. 

NOTE: All approaches have their benefits and aspects that people enjoy and learn.


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## MJS (Apr 6, 2008)

Morgan said:


> A very good reply, Mike. I came into this from the opposite direction.
> I had the training to defend agaist grabs, chokes, bearhugs, punsches, slaps and the like, but my first art was very weak against the weapons attacks. We used Modern Arnis to cover that side of our training needs.
> 
> Morgan


 
Thanks.   My base art is Kenpo, so likewise, the grabs, etc are covered.  I enjoy Arnis, because for me, it gives me a deeper look at the weapon side of it.  Not to say that the Kenpo weapon techs. are poor, but it gives a different perspective on them.


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## pudding11591 (Apr 6, 2008)

Thank you everyone for your answers. They have been very helpful to me. 
Arnis is something that I would love to train in, but being that I just started Krav Maga, I will have to find a time to fit it in and if not, pick it up later. But I really would love to give it a try. It sounds like a lot of fun.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Apr 6, 2008)

To me Modern Arnis is the legacy that the Professor left.  It is decidedly effective, efficient and most importantly instills in it's practitioner's the willingness to look at variation as a positive.  Remy Amador Presas was a genius and the Blade/Stick/Empty Hand art of Modern Arnis is his legacy!


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