Childhood passion turns into livelihood

CEBU, Philippines - Every person is blessed with good talents and skills in some aspects in his life. A talent, if given a great amount of love and passion, may become a big factor for an individual to reach his goal or build his own enterprise.

This is precisely what Master Benigno “Ekin” Caniga, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Yaw-Yan ArDigma Martial Arts Federation, Incorporated, has proven.

At an early age, Ekin already desired to learn the contact sport Yaw-Yan, a form of martial arts that originated in the Philippines. Also called “Sayaw ng Kamatayan” or “Dance of Death”, Yaw-Yan is a form of kickboxing which was started by Grand Master Napoleon A. Fernandez in 1970.

“Gamay pa lang gyud ko, mahilig nako magtan-aw-tan-aw og Martial Arts,” the martial arts expert said in a one-on-one interview with The FREEMAN.

Because of his deep interest in Yaw-Yan, he had to manage his time between studies and his passion to learn the sport. “Ang maayo lang gyud, supportive kaayo akong mga ginikanan before mao nang pasalamat pud gyod ko.”

When he finished high school, instead of pursuing college, Ekin instead decided to first continue learning the contact sport. But eventually, when he had his own family, he found himself in a situation where he had to identify his real purpose in life.

From passion to income

At one point in his life, he realized he had to find a job as factory worker outside the country to support his family. At age 25, the Master travelled to Japan even if he knew he had to live far from his love ones. Like fate, his chance to work in Japan even made him closer to his first passion, he saw the importance of martial arts.

He appreciated as to how Japanese have applied martial arts in many aspects of their lives, one reason for the country to be rich and successful in this field of business.

Furthermore, the Cebuano sportsman was able to compare Japan and Philippines as to how the two perceived the martial arts industry.

Ekin lived in Japan for five years, enough time for him to save money. After that, Ekin came back to the Philippines bringing with him the strong enthusiasm to boost the martial arts industry in Cebu. Aside from that, he also decided to pursue his studies and finish a degree in Criminology because one of his ambitions was also to become a policeman.

While pursuing his studies, Ekin also built his own Yaw-Yan martial arts school. Using the savings he earned in Japan, he acquired a location for his Yaw-Yan dojo in Sanciangko. The Caniga family bought Thailand made martial arts equipment and spent for other operational costs for the business. The Yaw-Yan ArDigma was officially born in 2002.

Starting the business was hard and challenging, Ekin emphasized, because people before had little appreciation of the contact sport and would normally get snubbed as it was perceived as a “brutal” activity.

Caniga, however remained hopeful that soon people will realize that martial arts is part of life.

At the onset of Yaw-Yan ArDigma, the combat slowly got its root in the industry and became known in the “Octagon”, the official arena of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in America.

Unlike the traditional martial arts that is very conservative when it comes to discipline and styles, UFC introduced the term “mixed martial arts”. MMA showcases the various styles and disciplines at the Octagon.

The idea of MMA became attractive and exciting to the public and it was deemed more interesting than the traditional martial arts, wherein competition is between the same discipline.

But in MMA, a boxer can challenge a fighter engaged in different martial arts practice.

In the Philippines, several Filipino martial artists and the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner Alvin Aguilar has started a local version of a competition called Universal Reality Combat Championship. It was not long for martial arts reality shows to regain the interest of the new generation on martial arts.

This was what basically made the Cebu martial arts industry, which already staged various competitions, alive and thriving. And Master Ekin has become one of the known promoters of these fight events.

Ekin described the business of martial arts as similar to “show business” because it is surrounded with intrigues but he tried not to be affected and instead continued his passion. His notable contributions to the martial arts have given back good benefits to his business through the recognition as one of the people behind MMA’s existence in Cebu.

Despite the credits, Ekin emphasized the importance of humility and that he should remain the same as he was before when he just started building his dreams.

When asked about the big factor that has made his school successful, Ekin revealed that it is the quality training to the students and he also bared that he is a hands-on trainer.

He further added that, “Ampo lang g’yud ni God. Di man gud imo ra ang success. Manawag man g’yud ‘ta ni Lord. Naandan na gud na natong mga Kristiyano. Everytime nga naay event akong students o bisan unsa pa man mosangpit lang g’yud ko sa Ginoo.” (FREEMAN)