Great Grandmaster Ernesto A. Presas
By Jose G. Paman

Ernesto Amador Presas, Sr. was born in May of 1945 in the coastal fishing village of Hinigaran in Negros Occidental. His father José Bonco Presas, a renowned arnis fighter in the area, began teaching Ernesto the fundamentals of arnis at the age of eight. A capable learner, he mastered his lessons well and soon expanded his martial arts education to include the study of Judo, Jujitsu, Karate, and eventually Kendo.

In the time-tested custom of Arnis practitioners of that era, Presas trained intensely and fought many challenge matches against other practitioners. One memorable encounter in 1970 saw him facing an Arnis fighter from the Manila suburb of Paranaque, who wanted to test the skills of the upstart who had just moved to the city from a rural area. The two fought in the middle of a rice paddy, where lateral movement was severely limited, and falling into thigh-deep mud was a distinct possibility. They began with a trial to see who could disarm the other of his stick. Using his complete knowledge of levers and disarming methods, Presas successfully took the other fighter’s stick away in two successive clashes. Not satisfied with this turn of events, the other fighter insisted on an all-out skirmish. Presas went on to disarm his foe once again and delivered a rain of blows that knocked his opponent into the mud.

Other fights would follow, with the frequent condition that the other fighter was always the challenger - Presas did not seek conflict, but never backed down from it either. Because his knowledge was not limited only to combat with weapons, Presas also bested karate practitioners while fighting barehanded, including one opponent who fell into the river the two were struggling near after Presas pounded him with hard punches and kicks. These battles, he would later divulge, formed an important facet in the development of his comprehensive fighting system.

In 1972, Presas secured teaching positions as a physical education instructor at the University of Santo Tomas, the University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, the Lyceum of the Philippines, and Central Colleges of the Philippines. He also began teaching arnis at military and law enforcement institutions including the Philippine National Police Academy, the Far Eastern Military Academy, the General Headquarters Military Police Academy, and the Officer’s Schools for the Philippine Army and Air Force.

During those formative days, the Arjuken Karate Association held classes from Monday through Saturday and also held special events and demonstrations on Sundays. Arnis classes featured basic training in groups, with students executing blocking, striking, and disarming techniques with single or double sticks. Sparring was practiced both with and without the use of protective equipment such as headgear, body armor and gloves. Equipment allowed students to make hard contact, while sparring unprotected called for more controlled action as only rattan sticks were available (the soft, foam sticks later developed in the U.S. for training and tournaments would never gain popularity in the Philippines). Instruction on anyo (forms) and practice with bladed weapons were largely conducted on a one-on-one basis because of spaces limitations and for safety reasons.

In addition to the Arnis classes, students could learn JKA-line shotokan karate, jujitsu throwing and locking skills, Okinawan weaponry (tonfa, bo, nunchaku and sai), as well as kendo. (There exists today, particularly in Australia and Canada, a system known as Arjuken karate, popularized by early Presas students).  Presas was a firm advocate of cross-training, as he believed that this better prepared the student to deal with the greatest variety of possible attacks and weapons. Exponents of other martial arts could often be seen visiting, observing and practicing alongside the school’s regular students.

The Arjuken drew converts from other fighting systems such as Okinawan shorin-ryu karate (originally the prevalent karate form in Manila, due to the efforts of Latino Gonzales and his sons, screen actors Roberto and Rolando, and his daughter Magna), judo, tae kwon do and other arnis styles. Presas’ younger brother Roberto served as a senior instructor in the association. Some of the earliest instructors included figures who would later stand out as pioneers in future generations: Pepe Yap, Willie Madla, Earl Villanueva, Pepito Robas, Romy Quiambao, Danny Diaz, Jess Arroyo, Rey Yatsu, Jess Bonso, and European arnis pioneer Jackson Cui Brocka.

With the implementation of widespread instruction and influences from the West came a need to make adjustments to the art and practice of arnis. Presas introduced several important innovations in his early years of teaching. First, he organized a standard curriculum and progression of techniques that could be effectively used for teaching large groups of students. The program included basic striking, blocking, and countering patterns, and effective footwork and angulation. Prior to this formalization, arnis practice largely consisted of undisciplined and disorganized milling about (known as bara bara), during which students randomly swung their sticks and often struck each other in sensitive areas like the fingers, wrists, forearms, elbows, and face. A teacher taught more by instinct and simply showed the students whatever movements he felt like demonstrating at any given time. He might, alternately, just hand the student a stick and order him to defend himself against the teacher’s strikes; a painful learning process. Little concern was given to safety or the practitioner’s longevity in the art. This resulted in a high dropout and only the most dedicated students remained in training long enough to truly learn the art.

Presas also influenced the Filipino martial arts uniform now in wide use. Although some consider the wearing of uniforms to be a more modern innovation influenced by judo and karate, practitioners of different groups of arnis have naturally dressed in similar fashion within their groups for years. Donning similar clothing brought about a sense of unity. It instilled a certain mindset in the practitioner that once the uniform was donned, it was time to set other concerns aside and concentrate fully on training. A standard uniform was also selected to allow the freedom of movement required by the practice of the art.

Prior to 1970, Arnis practitioners wore a variety of uniforms: some simply practiced and performed in loose-fitting civilian clothes; some wore khaki pants and t-shirts; some wore karate gi; some wore red pants and t-shirts; some wore sweat suits (although weather in the Philippines was often too hot and humid for sweats); some preferred sweat pants with tank tops; and some wore karate pants with vests. The Filipino martial arts uniform with the karate-like top cut short at the waist and loose-fitting pants was an early Presas design. He also devised distinctive patches to better identify his organization’s members.

Finally, Presas instituted a ranking system based on colored belts to plainly identify the level each student had achieved. This originally consisted of the three ranks of likas (green belt), likha (brown belt) and lakan (black belt). The lakan stage has ten degrees, from lakan isa (first degree) to lakan sampu (tenth degree). He also began issuing certificates indicating the given practitioner’s rank.

The Arjuken was very active in promoting the various martial arts, especially arnis, via numerous public demonstrations. One particularly memorable demonstration was held at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in 1975, during an Asian karate championship tournament attended by goju-kai karate master Gogen Yamaguchi. Many others followed, including demonstrations at universities, churches, local festivals, military bases and holiday celebrations.

Presas’ pioneering efforts also gave rise to the First Intercollegiate Karate-Arnis Tournament, held in Manila in 1975. Participants included the University of Santo Tomas, the University of the Philippines, the Far Eastern University and the Lyceum of the Philippines. Arjuken fighters from the UST swept the championships in both the arnis and karate categories.

By 1977, Presas began traveling to the U.S. to teach arnis. In 1981, he wrote his first book, entitled ‘The Art of Arnis’. He went on to establish branches in the U.S., and in numerous countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, England, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Finland,  Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Israel, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, Thailand, and South Africa. He also organized the International Philippine Martial Arts Federation (IPMAF) as a monitoring and promotional organization linking his followers the world over.

The First IPMAF Arnis Tournament and Congress was held on April 20, 1989 at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. This event featured such distinguished guests as José Mena, who founded one of the first established arnis schools in Manila, in the tough slum district of Tondo; Ciriaco and Dionisio Canete of the Doce Pares Club; Benjamin Luna Lema of lightning scientific arnis; Antonio Ilustrisimo of kalis ilustrisimo; and the famed Tortal brothers of Pekiti Tirsia.

Presas has taught tens of thousands of students over a 40-year time span, many at his Federation Headquarters in Manila, and others through his training camp held every other year at Presas Beach in his ancestral town of Hinigaran. Others yet have received training at the numerous open clinics and workshops Presas conducts at branch schools in six continents. He has influenced and gained the admiration of many outstanding instructors, including kosho-ryu kempo headmaster Bruce Juchnik and noted combat expert Hock Hochheim. He has, in addition, contributed a full line of books presenting information valuable information on his form of arnis, which came to be known as Kombatan.

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