The 12 Principles of Presas Arnis - Fundamentals Always Matter

As new martial artists, we spend a lot of time working on whatever the “fundamentals” are of our art.

For some, it’s learning stances, and the mechanics of a punch. For others, it’s learning grips and how to escape mounts.

In Presas Arnis, it’s things like strike mechanics, range, targeting, footwork.

Guro Jackie teaching targeting as a student at Hidden Sword Martial Arts circa 2013

As you gain experience and become more skilled, you learn more complex movements and actions, and you start to feel like you’re “beyond” those fundamentals you learned. That the fundamentals aren’t as important as the “high level” things you can do.

That kind of thinking is a trap, because all of the “high level” things you can do, no matter which martial art it is, happens because you have good fundamentals.

Lose the fundamentals, you lose the skills.

The third of the 12 Principles of Presas Arnis is FUNDAMENTALS ALWAYS MATTER.

There will never be a time where any of us are above training in the fundamentals. Yes, as someone training since 2008, I still need to make sure all of the basics of my art are being executed correctly (and yes, not only do I make a point of teaching new students these fundamentals but I do practice them myself).

It actually is MORE important to demonstrate good fundamentals as a senior student, because junior students will see what seniors do and emulate it. So if I drop my hand, if I step differently than what I’m telling them to do, if I fail to chamber, or if my targeting is off, they see it, and they’ll do what they see me doing.

Even if I didn’t have juniors watching me like a hawk, if I let the fundamentals slide, they fall out of my “motor map” (aka “muscle memory”) and the habits I spent a lot of time building go away.

Good form and technique degrades if you don’t continually practice them.

If your form and technique is off, then if you need your skills in a pressure situation, they’re no longer there.

That’s why we emphasize fundamentals at Kindred Protective Arts. We make sure all of our students develop the good habits and techniques handed down to us by our instructors.

We want students at KPA to be as skilled and as safe as we can make them, and should they someday become teachers of Presas Arnis, we want them to be able to communicate those fundamentals to their own students.

In this way, our art lives on.

That’s why FUNDAMENTALS ALWAYS MATTER in Presas Arnis.

Come join us at Kindred Protective Arts for a free trial lesson (click HERE) - and learn why FUNDAMENTALS ALWAYS MATTER!