Aiza Salazar (left) and Geralyn Espiritu battle it out in the 1st Pekaf Invitational Tournament yesterday at SM Seaside City Cebu. Salazar won the match. (CDN PHOTO/ CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Adopting a fresh approach in arnis can sometimes discourage an athlete’s will to continue playing since it takes a lot of time to adjust and learn a new system of play.
But it was the opposite for some of the arnis groups in Cebu, who are embracing the change brought by the Philippine Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (Pekaf).
Take the case of San Fernando Eskrido. This is a group that was used to the old rules and regulations of the former National Sports Association (NSA), the Arnis Philippines.
San Fernando Eskrido head coach Arnel Jerat said the adjustments of the Pekaf is widely accepted by his group, stressing that it surely motivated the kids to work even harder since it is more strenuous.
“The Eskrima portrayed in Pekaf really tests the skills of the kid and in my opinion, reality-wise, Pekaf is much challenging compared to the previous one,” Jerat said.
Philippine National team head coach Cesario Perez was in awe with the kids who joined the event, citing that most of them showed immense potential of becoming a world champion.
Lot of potential
“So far the rest of the participants have potential especially the kids. It is given that some of the students [will have a tough time shifting] from the Arnis Philippines to Pekaf rules. But they showed a lot of potentials. We will just continue training them so that they can adapt to the new rules,” Perez said.
Meanwhile, Team CMACI ruled the 1st Pekaf Invitational Tournament, amassing 22 golds and seven silvers.
The Cebu City Central School (11-10-0) and Rhonda Eskrima (11-8-0) wound up second and third, respectively.