Arnis revival

2010 is going to be a big year for arnis in the Philippines locally and internationally, even without the involvement of its national sports association.

This writer had the privilege of interviewing the world’s oldest living arnis grandmaster, Ciriaco “Cacoy” Canete, who is only a couple of months past 90. Canete, who has been living next to his gym, the world headquarters of Cacoy Doce Pares, since the early 1950’s, grows effusive when he talks about the sport he has been involved in for almost 70 years.

He has every reason to be: he spent the months of July, August and September touring the US, teaching arnis and its variants to willing Filipino and foreign students from the West Coast to the Eastern seaboard.

“Next November, we will be having our invitational mixed martial arts tournament, and we will be taking the opportunity to bring together all the masters and talk about the future of our sport,” says Canete, who personally conducts demonstrations on various stick fighting techniques all over the world.

In April, Cacoy Doce Pares hosted the World Kali, Escrima and Arnis Championships in Cebu, with no less than delegations from 15 countries in attendance. It was a thrill for this writer to witness masters from all over the world bow and perform the traditional mano when meeting Grandmaster Cacoy.

The sport of arnis atrophied since the mid-1980’s, when Arnis Philippines became a private enclave of some of its founders. Since then, all the great teachers of the sport went their own way, and each prospered, to a fashion. But the sport itself, which is only included in the Southeast Asian Games when the Philippines hosts, has been in and out of the Philippine Sports Commission’s graces. The PSC has a policy of withdrawing support from a sport that is excluded from two successive SEA Games. Hence the problem of arnis.

“We have to find a way to unite all the masters, and come up with a group that will accept all the different styles,” Canete offers.

The Lower House has already passed its version of the arnis bill, making it the official national sport of the Philippines. The Senate version of the legislation is being pushed by Sen. Miguel Zubiri, who is himself a practitioner.

Initially, arnis was very slow and formal in its practice and sparring. Canete claims he changed all that.

“In 1949, I changed the sparring to full contact,” Canete claims. “The old way was very boring. I prefer it with more action.”

Meanwhile, Pateros and Taguig will be holding a two-day arnis clinic for all its barangay tanods on Dec. 11 and 12. The clinics are sponsored by Sen. Alan Cayetano, Cong. Lani Cayetano, and Pateros Mayor Joey Medina.

A total of 500 tanods are expected to attend.

“We are proud that we are pioneering this program,” says Medina, who actively supports sports. “This will also do a lot in improving further the peace and order in Pateros, and we hope that other local governments will see the merit in promoting our national sport.”

Next week, the Philippine Council of Kali, Escrima and Arnis Masters (PCKEAM) will also hold a national tournament in Binangonan, Rizal, in preparation for its international tournament next February. All these efforts are being pushed by individual private groups who love the sport, known worldwide as FMA, for Filipino Martial Art.