In a studio converted from an abandoned Daily City elementary school, a classroom full of adult students were receiving a lesson in how to dodge a knife attack from one of the Filipino martial arts' legendary practitioners.
Wearing a black uniform Dr. Remy Presas Jr., adorned with patches, demonstrated how to block an attacker's knife hand and alternate attacks with the other hand. The classroom was packed with students, concentrating on Dr. Presas's every instruction with a deep respect for the modern pioneer of this art.
“The Presas family is one of the very important factors in keeping Filipino martial arts alive,” said Joseph Bautista, owner of Legacy Philippine Martial Arts, where Presas Jr. made a special appearance.
Presas Jr. is a second-generation practitioner of a self-defense art that has been used in the Philippines for thousands of years. In the 1970s, his father, Remy Presas Sr., brought his version, known as Modern Arnis, from his native Manila to the United States and settled in the Bay Area.
His version was a weapons-first strategy, where the weapon could be anything from a stick to a knife or even a ballpoint pen.
“When you're armed, you don't have to have a big weapon,” said Presas Jr. “You improvise with what you have at hand. You can use it as a weapon to defend yourself, not to hurt somebody.”
Presas Sr. was not only a modern interpreter of Filipino martial arts, he was also a marketing master, traveling the world spreading his strategies and philosophies. He took his system to police departments across the U.S., running camps while training police departments and writing books. After his death in 2001, he passed the baton to his son.
“Before my father passed away, he asked me to carry on the tradition of spreading Filipino martial arts,” Presas Jr. said.
Following his father's wishes, Presas Jr. has traveled the world and across the U.S. to teach seminars and his martial arts teachings. Though the majority of his students are not Filipino, he takes pride in spreading the culture and traditions among his large student body.
“My father said, 'If you learn Filipino martial arts, you will learn Filipino culture and become a Filipino,'” said Presas Jr.'s daughter, Samantha Presas.
Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area
Presas Jr. noted that Legacy Filipino Martial Arts is one of the few schools actually run by Filipinos. Bautista discovered the martial arts later in life, but through it he found a connection to his Filipino roots. After taking over the school, he realized that students weren't just joining to learn martial arts and self-defense.
“People don't just train here for physical reasons,” Bautista says, “they train here for cultural reasons, for social reasons. They want to connect with their roots.”
At Presas Jr.'s class on a recent Saturday, students, both children and adults, paired up to battle with fighting sticks on rubber exercise mats. In another former elementary school classroom, Presas Jr. imparted wisdom on a fighting style adapted from his father's techniques, with antique fighting sticks and knives on display on the classroom walls.
Bautista hopped between classes, making sure everything was running smoothly and absorbing Presas Jr.'s lessons before rushing off to hand out lunch orders.
“It's my joy to see people become stronger,” Bautista said, “more confident and learn more about their culture.”
Among the group of students taking Presas Jr.'s lessons were his daughters, Samantha and Joan. Joan Presas says she never even knew about her grandfather's accomplishments as a child until one day, while leafing through a book on Philippine martial arts, she came across a photo of her grandfather and a chapter about the profound influence that the man known as the father of modern Arnis had on the art.
“It's really amazing what my grandfather started,” Joan Presas said, “and now we're the next generation.”
As for the next chapter in her family tradition, Samantha Presas learned Filipino martial arts as a child and hopes to be the next generation to teach it in her family.
“It's important to go with the flow, go with the flow and be able to adapt,” Samantha Presas said. “This is something Filipinos have had to do historically, they had to emigrate to America and fight for their rights.”
For Presas Jr., family traditions are deeply rooted in martial arts. Not only was his father an innovator, but his uncles also made important marks on traditional self-defense techniques, and the family story looks set to continue through his daughters.
“I'm very proud,” Presas Sr. said as he sat in one of the classrooms, “because I get to see the legacy my father left behind.”
