Datu Dieter Knüttel
Datu Dieter Knüttel was born in Berlin and began his study of the martial arts in 1967 with Judo. He would go on to study Karate, Kung Fu, and Tai Chi. In 1978 he began to learn Arnis from Jackson Cui Brocka, a student of Roberto and Ernesto Presas of Manila. He earned his black belt in the art in 1981. He studied with many Modern Arnis instructors in the Philippines, like Rodel Dagooc, Rene Tongson, Cristino Vaquez, Bambit Dulay, Roland Dantes, later also Jerry de la Cruz and Victor Sanchez and the three Presas brothers. In 1988 he graduated from the German Sports University with the degree of “Diplom-Sportlehrer” (equivalent to a U.S. Master of Arts degree) in sports science.
Throughout the 1980s he focused on Modern Arnis as taught by Ernesto Presas (now called Kombatan). In 1994 he met Remy Presas, the founder of Modern Arnis, whom he regularly brought to Germany to teach seminars. In 1996 Remy Presas awarded him the rank of 6th Dan in Modern Arnis and the title of Datu.
Website: http://www.dieterknuettel.de