Sewing the Seed of Modern Arnis in Mississippi 
 By: Brian Johnson

I am a Karate Five student living in Mississippi.  Ever since 
my family and I moved here I have been looking for a dojo. 
My search has continued for over two years. Since there are 
no Isshinryu dojos near me I have expanded my search to 
other arts. I recently met Master Dhaamin Shakur of Shakur’s 
Martial Arts in Columbus, Mississippi. He graciously allowed 
me to visit his dojo. However, he threw me a curve by asking 
me to teach his class the first night I attended.  Being that I 
am only a Q rank, this surprised me. He told me that he likes 
to expose his students to other arts. I happened to have my 
sticks in my bag so I showed the class some basic Modern 
Arnis techniques, beginning with the twelve basic strikes and 
blocks.  After class he surprised me again, by asking me to 
put together a demonstration for a presentation he was doing 
at Caledonia Middle School.  With Master Wilson’s helpful 
input, my training partner Jay and I put together a short program 
displaying various disarms. We showed techniques where both 
opponents were armed, where only the attacker was armed, and 
finally a few knife disarm techniques. Master Shakur and some 
of his students are very interested in pursuing Modern Arnis. 
Hopefully this interest will lead to Modern Arnis blossoming in 
Mississippi.