Blade system in Modern Arnis ?

Z

zenman

Guest
I was there when Datu Kelly Worden showed his first prototype of the Presas Knife to the Professor. This time was not the day before the Professor died, it was in late July, about the 27th or 28th. Datu Worden brought several knives for Professor to look at, and Professor showed an intense interest in the blades in fact we had trouble getting the knives back from him he did not want to let them go! Once Datu Worden had shown Professor the other knives he had designed, he showed him the knife he had designed especially for him. The Professor was visibly moved and stated he was not worthy of this honor and a joke followed which I am not a liberty to discuss. Datu Worden told Professor about the knife and how he wanted to produce it and name it after him. He gave his blessing at this time. Another person was in the room that, I could not remember I will see if their name is in my journal somewhere I believe it was a man named Mike Chen.

The Presas knife, in the forum I saw it and as shown and described to the Professor had the footwork patterns of Modern Arnis incorporated in the back of the blade. I also had a special area in the tang right below the hilt for using the knife for trapping and applying an enormous amount of pain to your opponent (I was the demo for this move so I am quite familiar with the pain this area of the knife can produce). I do not remember if the steel of the prototype was Damascus or not but I think the production model may be.

By the way, we had Lunch with the Professor that day in the Dining room and he fed himself, I had to help him with his drink when the glass was full, other than this he looked as good as I had seen him the numerous times I was there. About the Professors mental state during this time, I believe he was tired and fatigue set in quickly but his mind was active. The professor would have a tendency to play opossum when certain people were around which was kind of funny because we all thought he was asleep and then he would open one eye when he thought they were gone and very quietly ask if the had gone. He would do the same thing when others would call at various times he would feign fatigue and once the caller was dispatched he would pop up an start asking questions and talking about his plans. Again, his energy was limited but he also liked to use this as an excuse at times. Furthermore, that Sunday before I left Datu Worden, I walked in, and the Professor was sitting in his Recliner and Mike Chen was there with him. He wanted me to work on his legs and he got up on his own and moved to his bed with Mr. Chen holding his arm, so the Professor still had strength at this time though it was limited. When I would work the Professors hands, he would also try to get me into a finger lock at times. Overall, I think many people underestimated the Professor during this time.

The last visit to Professor made by Datu Worden was with Pappy Geo so maybe he has some insight as to what occurred at that time.
 

Latest Discussions

Top