Life of Remy Presas and His contribution to the Arnis Program in the Philippines

Presas was born in the town of Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, Philippines, the son of

Jose B. Presas, a businessman, and the former Lucia Amador. Presas was married twice, first to
Rosemary Pascual Presas, and he had five children, and to Yvette Wong, and he had two
children. He began studying arnis with his father then with his grandfather, Leon Presas, and
uncle at the age of six. By the age of fourteen he had his first stick fighting match with a
Sinawali master that Presas knocked out with one stick hit. He continued to travel across the
Philippine Islands to learn from other masters and to compete in stick-fighting competitions and
many street fights. Presas eventually focused on Balintawak Eskrima, but earned a 6th
degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and a black belt in judo. Presas earned a bachelor's
degree in physical education and taught the subject at the University of Negros Occidental-
Recoletos because of this, he was addressed as Professor Presas, and became known in martial
arts circles as "the Professor". In 1966 Presas began developing his own system which he called
“Modern Arnis” by identifying the basic concepts of the numerous systems he had learned and
merging them. By 1969 Modern Arnis had been approved by the Philippine Amateur Athletic
Federation as a regular subject to be taught at the National College of Physical education.

His contribution to the arnis in the Philippines is that, He worked for the Philippine
government in the area of physical education, spreading arnis instruction through the high
schools. He published several books and videos on Modern Arnis and is recognized as the
"Father of Modern Arnis". Presas was the Arnis consultant in the 1974 Philippines produced
film The Pacific Connection and While working on this film he instructed and became friends
with US actor Dean Stockwell. Presas also developed the "Arnis Uniform" consisting of loose-
fitting cotton trousers and a karategi style top low cut at the waist .