After Remy's death and still now, there is a silly little feud going on of “Remy loved me best” among some of the Modern Arnis frontline folks. At the end of his life there was a distinct shuffling for positions of power, some of which was deplorably transparent and frankly…disgusting. After his death a variety of new named Modern Arnis organizations started up, the International-this and Intergalactic-that. There are numerous (over 10?) Tapi-Tapi Grandmasters now, all of whom no one can name. Huh? Can you? Unless you are one of them and maybe not even then.
All of the groups and Tapi GMs are now disintegrating away off the radar and for several reasons. One is…Remy was Remy and the course was really lead by his charisma. All his followers together cannot match the charisma in one of Remy's fingernails. Second, I believe an Arnis/Kali/Escrima system cannot be special and successful unless it is lead by a Filipino-blooded personage or family. Without this mystique, it simply cannot fly. Even when a Filipino/Arnis/Kali system appears to be successful? In the big picture, it is of only miniscule, niche interest and will never reach the heights of say-Tae Kwon Do or Gracie Jujitsu, Shotokan Karate or a common tennis match on TV. More people play golf badly on a weekday afternoon than the combined total of people worldwide who know Filipino martial arts even exist. It is a tough business.
I was not in this Remy loves-me best rat race. I am a second-degree black belt in Remy's Modern Arnis. I knew that was as far up as I wanted to go. The katas alone involved with advancing were just more than I can bear. I do not consider myself a Filipino martial artist or FMA instructor and only do so when seriously, seriously asked. I am simply not interested in Filipino martial arts. My interest lies only in tactics, the essence of combat. The curtain behind the curtain.
But, Remy and I were close. In my travels, I slept a few nights in the very room he slept in as a child in the Presas house in the Negros. In 1992, when he learned of my travels, we started becoming close. He stayed at my house several times for long periods and I have traveled with him doing seminars, as well as hosted him in my city. Remy was a fascinating person, a real killer and an animal fighter. (He broke my nose once in private training)
I will tell you here and now, I have zero idea who these Remy Presas children are that have been thrust upon the American scene. Few of us 80s and 90s old-timers with Remy do. I can only wonder what Remy would think about their sudden appearance? I mean, I wish them well and all. Good luck to you, but…who are you?
So anyway- the actual story…
About some 10 or 11 years ago, Remy was in a Dallas seminar and myself and my usual suspects, my students attended. At a lunch break, Remy and I were stretched out on the floor, our heads on Thai pads, talking. Tom Barnhart was sitting nearby.
A karate student of the school, a very stout, 25-ish year-old guy, walked up and quite respectfully interrupted us and asked Remy a question-some kind of grappling question on how some stand-up technique related to ground fighting. Remy answered and it became apparent that he needed to show the boy the steps involved.
I should say that this was the era when Dallas was completely mesmerized by the new Brazilian craze and-like all good, cookie-cutter karate schools- they simply had to be doing this stuff too. So anyway, this student was also a BJJ guy.
Remy rolled over and showed him the move he asked about. Then the kid, played the “what-if” game. He was smiling and friendly at the time. “What if I did this…?” Remy countered him instantly and easily. Consternation appeared on the boy's face and without asking this time, the student moved again and Remy countered him again. The kid's face actually got red. No more smile. And within 20 seconds these two were ground fighting. Remy at the time-well over 60 years old mind you. And Remy was doing quite well. But, the boy had clearly lost all of his cool. Remy was really just on the defensive and countering the boy.
This carried on and the boy's anger and frustration was escalating. Just about the time Barnhart and I felt the need to get up and pull this kid off, the kid accidentally brushed Remy's eyeglasses off. This extreme act seemed to bring him back to reality and quit instantly.
He said, “Oh, ok. I get it, sir.” He was red and out of breath. Remy rolled back to the wall and winked at me. But both Tom and I were impressed. He had foiled every move this stout kid did. Folks do not know or some forget that Remy was high-ranking Judo black belt as a young man in Manila. At least it seemed this kid didn't know anyway. But, he found out.
Each month, I'd like to write a bit about Remy and this one here is small in scale compared to future ones. Probably the next time I report on how the Marcos Government had planned to assassinate him on the Palace grounds…