Are belts in martial arts just a money grab? This is a question I hear all the time. Most often, it comes from one of two places: the backyard martial artist, or someone who trained for a short time, walked away, and decided to do their own thing. And while everyone...

Choosing Integrity Over Success Throughout my career - really, throughout my life - I’ve been given the same choice over and over again: do what’s right, or do what’s easy. And every single time, the right choice has been the harder one. I’ve had plenty of...

To Belt or Not to Belt? The Real Issue Isn’t Rank - It’s Honesty Every few years, this debate resurfaces: Should martial arts have ranking systems at all? And once again, Filipino Martial Arts finds itself in the crosshairs. The common refrain is predictable: “Skill...

Leading the Way While the Critics Stay in the Basement You know, people often ask me about the folks who love to take shots at what I do. And let’s be honest, a lot of them are teaching in their basements or backyards, or they don’t have a group of their own and...

The Road He Walked, the Path I’m Still Finding Not long ago, I was on a transfer bus in Germany - one of those shuttles that takes you from the plane to the terminal. I was staring out the window, tired but content, when it hit me: This is what Remy used to do. I felt...

The Truth About Rank in Modern Arnis People love to ask, “Who are the highest-ranked black belts in Modern Arnis today?”On the surface, it sounds like a simple question. But the truth?Most people aren’t prepared for it. When Professor Remy A. Presas passed away, he...