The 12 Principles of Presas Arnis - Own Your Space

When sparring, Fighter A makes a move that makes Fighter B move into a position that opens up a vulnerability for Fighter A to attack.

A woman walking alone out of a store into the parking lot keeps her phone in her purse, keys ready to unlock the door, and scans the area as she walks, head held high.

In the lead up to a fight, a man steps backward and puts his hands up in front of him, trying to create space between him and the belligerent while preparing to intercept a strike.

All three scenarios above are examples of a person being aware of and prepared to act and react to things happening around them. They’re examples of the fourth principle in the 12 Principles of Presas Arnis: OWN YOUR SPACE.

This principle is commonly understood and practiced  in the martial arts world. “Be the actor, not the reactor” or “Be the cause, not the effect”, or, as GM Bruce Chiu’s Arnis International has recently put on their newest shirts, “Command the Battle Space”.

We obviously agree with this idea, and it’s front and center of what we do.

At Kindred Protective Arts, we utilize the “driver” and “passenger” concept of Modern Arnis drills. The idea is that we lead students to learn how to act and react on the “passenger” side first. Then, over time and as they gain experience, we encourage them to become the “driver”.

“Drivers” are the people who lead the “passenger” into reactions and techniques that the driver can then control in some way: lead into another move in a flow drill, set up for a lock or a trap or a take down, or position for a combative insert or a disarm.

The KPA Student in red is is the "driver", and the KPA Student in pink is the "passenger". Both students are learning to "own their space" in different ways.

We believe the ability to “drive” is a key skill, one of the most important we have.

Owning your space allows you to reduce the universe of infinite possibility to a smaller possible reaction set. This makes it a lot easier to prepare for what is more likely to come, to "counter the counter".

We often say, “A defensive game is a losing game”.  We believe that to be successful in conflict, you can’t allow your opponent to dictate the situation.  Since conflict is ever evolving, we spend the time we train learning how to “own our space” in an ever-growing variety of situations.

You, too, can learn to OWN YOUR SPACE at Kindred Protective Arts. Come join us for a free trial lesson (click HERE) - and learn how!