Eskrimadors

There was a somber mood at the Mactan Island Golf Club noontime last Thursday when news about the crash in Cotabato reached Cebu.

This was because one of the fatalities, Maj. Gen. Mario Butch Lacson, was a very active member of the club and had many friends in Mactan even when he was already transferred to Palawan then Zamboanga after his stint in Cebu.

Rest in peace, sir!

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With the winds blowing extra hard last Thursday, the scores in the opening round of the Mactan-Cebu Amateur Open were also somewhat blown up.

Nobody made even-par or better. In fact, the best score was two-over-par. 

I haven’t played the new layout of the Mactan Island Golf Club (MIGC) yet where hole No. 3 is now a par-5 and there are a few more changes in the next few holes.

I did get a little peek when I went out to shoot some pictures of the tournament, but was too lazy to walk around due to the heat, but it felt good to be on a golf course and not inside a building facing a personal computer.

As of this writing, I am still waiting for the results of the final round. I did see one brilliant shot in the few minutes I spent around the green of hole number 9 early afternoon yesterday when first round leader Renato ‘Ninoy’ Aquino knocked in a birdie from a bunker on the left side of the green.

I would have wanted to stay longer, but this deadline beater has landed a desk job that makes the forays into the fairways to do some coverage feel like heaven. Yes, it did feel that way for about 20 to 30 minutes yesterday while waiting for the groups to finish the front nine and tee off for the back nine.

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Eskrimadors, a movie about the martial art that Cebuano grand masters have propagated around the world will be shown this 8 p.m. at SM City Cebu.

I was invited to the press screening early this month at the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus, but could not make it due to a conflict with my work schedule.

From what I gathered, the movie is also some sort of a documentary about the art and its practitioners.

Eskrima or Arnis is now practiced in many countries all over the world. What is just unfortunate is that many Filipinos still don’t look at the martial art with equal regard as they do for the Japanese or Chinese styles.

As a martial arts practitioner, I made it a point to really try my hand at eskrima with my close friends from Doce Pares, because I believe that you can never claim to be a Cebuano martial arts enthusiast unless you know the basics of the art of stick fighting.

I would have loved to be at tonight’s premiere, but there is another conflict of schedule, but I am looking forward to buying a copy of this movie once they have the DVD version out. 

I’d like to remind those who are also eager to get hold of a copy not to patronize those from the ‘pirates’ and buy only the original.

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MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings go to my fellow judoka and avid golfer Junrey Pelayo, who turns a year older today. The same goes to Jong Borromeo, Leah Joy Dormitorio-Cabanban, Malou Ramirez-Villamala, and Nanette Cavada.

Advance happy birthday greetings go to tomorrow’s celebrants – Atty. Bennet Pongos and Loures Pe. 

Very special birthday greetings for tomorrow also go to my mother-in-law, Herminiana ‘Heming’ Gabuya Reyes and for Monday to my dear cousin Jose Carlos ‘Jolo’ Q. Miranda.

More power to all of you!