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lightning scientific
arnis international
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
ART AND THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT.
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Lightning Scientific Arnis
International was founded in 1937 in Mambusao,
Capiz, Philippines by Grandmaster Benjamin Luna-Lema
and 20 other members. Their objective was to systematize
the arnis-kali systems handed to them by their
clans who kept these family styles for protective
purposes.
They also searched for other arnis resources like
respected elders Mauro Buhat (Panay) and Jose
Fernandez (Roxas) who added to their knowledge.
Their integrated family styles and added knowledge
were called Lightning Scientific Arnis.
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During World War II, the Japanese burned and destroyed
Mambusao. Members of Lightning Arnis were killed for participating
in the underground guerilla movements. In 1947, Grandmaster
Lema became captain of the US Aiforce Department in Guam.
As a member of US Airforce personnel, he joined many seminars
and training programs held at the Kodokan Judo Institute
in Japan.
LSA became LSAI in 1959 with the help of Professor Agripino
E. Mayuga, who passed on last September 16, 2003. As of
August 29, 1988, SEC (Securities and Exchange Comission)
approved the organization with its registration number
of 154767.As of 1989, there were only 6 remaining original
founding members of LSA. They were Saturnino Pestano,
Rodrigo Ponce, Carlos Villas, Rafael Ceneres, Poldo Leones,
and Benjamin Luna-Lema.
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Grandmaster Benjamin Luna-Lema
founded Lightning Scientific Arnis International
in 1937 in Mambusao, Capiz, Philippines. He was
born on March 19, 1919 in Panay, and his father,
Juan Lema, was his first arnis teacher. He acquired
additional training under several respected arnis
elders in the Visayas. He also studied Karate
and Judo while in Japan, and was an avid boxing
and body-building practitioner in both the Philippines
and Guam. In 1941, he served as a Guerilla under
General Macario Peralta in Panay to fight off
the Japanese advances.
It was during a special mission to Agana, Guam,
in 1947 that he met and married Maxima Perez.
They had four children, Patty Jean, Bejamin Jr.,
John Edward, and Paul Anthony-- all current practitioners
of the art.
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In 1959 Grandmaster Lema returned to the Philippines to
teach, and lived and taught there until his death on January
5th, 2003. He was a great man and a good teacher, and
the Lightning system has been both his legacy and his
gift to his many students.
Below is a poem taken from one of Mang Ben's instructional
books regarding Lightning Scientific Arnis. It was an
excerpt from a japanese martial arts book that the editors
included when preparing the book for publication.
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The steel
from the earth
And wood from the forest
Are tempered by fire
And washed in the stream of purity
The mind and body of a martial artist
Are likewise conditioned
Through countless moments of training and meditation
To serve the purpose of self-defense with prudence
When life and honor depends on it.
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