Introduction to Modern Arnis
Many years ago, Jeff Whitely and I had the idea to make some videos on Modern Arnis basics that could get people up to speed with the basics. The idea was to help with the basics, then launch an app where Masters from around the world could post their materials and earn some money. We thought it might help in a world of free Youtube content. Like many good ideas, we just never had the time to make it work. But, we had a hell of a lot of fun shooting the videos. We thought we'd share them for anyone interested in learning Modern Arnis.
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Some notes and comments are included below the videos.
Section 0 - Punches, Kicks and Blocks
Basic Strikes with the Stick
0.1 How to hold and swing a rattan stick (not finished)
0.2 Basic Stances (not finished)
0.3 Basic Footwork (not finished)
0.4 Basic Punches
0.5 Empty Hand Hammer Fists and Elbows (not finished)
0.6 Basic Blocks
0.8 Basic Kicks
Section 2 - Basic Empty Hand Drills and Applications
Brush-Grab-Strike
2.1 Empty Hand Brush Grab Strike Part 1
2.2 Empty Hand Brush Grab Strike Part 2 De Cadena
2.3 Empty Hand Brush Grab Strike Part 3 Switching
Other Strikes and Blocks
2.4 Empty Hand Applications to All Weapons (not finished)
2.5 Empty Hand Hammer Fists and Elbows
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Section 1 - Stick and Empty-Hand Strikes and Blocks
Practice versus Combat
1.0 Blocks in Training vs Combat
Basic Strikes with the Stick
1.3 Strikes 1-12 with Stick from Front
Basic Empty Hand Strikes
Basic Knife Strikes
Brace Block with the Stick
Slice Block with the Stick
1.9 Slice Block 1-12 High Line
1.10 Slice Block 1-12 Low Line (not finished)
Section 3 - Obstruction Removal
3.1 Obstruction Removal Part 1 Stick
3.2 Obstruction Removal Part 2 Empty Hand 1
My Martial Lineage
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I earned a black belt in American Karate in 1984 under Len Strickler, George Bell and Barry Grizzard in Huntsville, Alabama. I also hold a Green Belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Len Strickler and Grandmaster Leo Wilson from that same period and place.
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In 1999 I started studying Remy Presas Modern Arnis in College Station, TX, under Michael Hume and Tye Botting (reference to them both here ... ps. I also briefly studied Kung Fu under Tye but was so bad at it that Tye might not recognize that publicly ;-).
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I earned a black belt in Modern Arnis under Grand Master Brian Zawalinksi (reference to him here (site currently under reconstruction)).
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I earned a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Fomiga Barbosa and was a proud member of Jiu Jitsu and Strength Academy with Matt Breyers until 2017 when I took a break from martial arts for a few years for health reasons.
We wanted to cover the basics so that people could dive into any more advanced material. Also, Jeff and I are very practical in what we like about martial arts so we also wanted this to be a useful and applied short course. This way if someone just did our little course, they would walk away with applicable basic self defense techniques.
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I for one, for example, always found Modern Arnis's "Obsturction Removal" drills surprisingly...well... surprising. They work, they are fast and they are unexpected.
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Also, we added knife work not really to train people in using the knife but more to teach (a) how to use any other tool (bottle, pen, etc.) since this is one of the central and coolest aspects of Filipino arts (i.e., being able to apply their principles to anything), and (b) to warn about blades, help you be mindful of them, and also to provide a very basic familiarity to anyone who watched our videos and then went to train in a knife-centric art.
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For the moment, these are the videos I found while making new videos for my own Economics classes during the Coronavirus crisis of 2020. As I find more, I'll post them.
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They start with 0.4 because I always thought I might add something at the beginning like basic stances or even the basics of how to hold the stick.
PEOPLE to Follow
Tye Botting - teaches Modern Arnis and Kung Fu
Martin Wheeler - teaches Systema http://wheelersystema.com/