Remy Amador Presas history , career , biography

 Remy Amador Presas founded Modern Arnis, a well-known Filipino martial art, and he died on August 28, 2001. He was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the US in 1974, where he taught art at camps and seminars. He was named Instructor of the Year in 1982 and inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame. He is known as the "Father of Modern Arnis" and has written numerous books and films on the subject.

childhood and education

Presas, the son of businessman Jose B. Presas and the former Lucia Amador, was born in the Philippine town of Hinigaran, Negros Occidental. At the age of six, he started learning arnis with his father, followed by his grandfather, Leon Presas, and uncle. By the age of fourteen, Presas had defeated a Sinawali master in his first stick-fighting contest with a single strike. He continued to traverse the Philippine Islands to study under various masters and to engage in several street bouts and stick-fighting contests. Presas later specialized in Balintawak Eskrima while also obtaining a black belt in judo and a sixth-degree black belt in Shotokan karate. In 1966, Presas started combining the fundamental ideas from the many systems he had learnt to create his own, which he termed "Modern Arnis." The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation had recognized modern aris in 1969 as a normal subject to be taught at the National College of Physical Education.

Presas served as the Arnis consultant for the 1974 movie The Pacific Connection, which was made in the Philippines. He mentored and grew close to American actor Dean Stockwell when they were both shooting on this movie.