“The Foundation of Arnis”, by Jim Coleman Black Belt May 1982 Vol 20 No 5.

THE FOUNDATION OF ARNIS— Practice in arnis can improve the hand-eye coordination of any martial artist: but most of all, these simple training exercises can communicate the subtle Idea
of “flow.”

Excerpt:

“One of the unique characteristics that sets arnis apart from other martial arts is the fact it was developed to fit a person’s natural movement, rather than reprograming a person’s natural movement to fit the art. in arIis, a trained practitioner’s movement is ail so natural, so fluid, he never has to stop and think about what to do in any given situation, it just flows together in a series of block-and-slash techniques.

Although arnis is best known for its characteristic rattan sticks and native broadswords, it is a complete fighting system featuring both weapons and empty-hand combat. With or without weapons, the training principles of arnis are the same. A weapon simply becomes an extension of the hand, moving in the same circular motions as if the fighter were unarmed.”