Supreme Grandmaster (SGM) Dionisio Cañete (center in red) joins fellow grandmasters and organizers of the first Festival of Eskrima Kali Arnis during a press conference yesterday at the Hotel Fortuna. CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
AROUND 40 of the best eskrima grandmasters (GM) in the world will converge at the SM Seaside City Cebu this weekend for the first Festival of Eskrima Kali Arnis that will be hosted by the world-renowned Doce Pares.
The historic gathering aims to unify the different chapters and eskrima styles and fighting systems for a common goal of getting the genuine Filipino martial arts included in the prestigious Olympics.
Although it is a farfetched plan, supreme grandmaster (SGM) Dionisio Cañete said that the gathering this weekend will hopefully create a spark that will be noticed by the international sports community and prompt them to consider their bid to have arnis included in the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Games and ultimately the Olympics.
“Eskrima Kali Arnis is already worldwide, we have proven that it is the number one martial arts in the world and it is deserving to become part of the Olympics as a sport. Gathering these 40 grandmasters was never easy for me because we have different principles but luckily we already have an existing good rapport which makes it easy for me to invite them to come over to Cebu. This will be historic in nature because this is the first time to happen to witness 40 of the best grandmasters of arnis to demonstrate their different styles,” said Cañete in a press conference yesterday at the Hotel Fortuna. He was joined by his son, GM Gerald Cañete, and several of the 40 GMs who will take part in the event this weekend.
SGM Cañete will also celebrate his 80th birthday this Sunday, which will coincide with the event. The Department of Tourism (DOT) Region VII office officially chose him as one of the candidates to become the country’s next national artist.
GMs from Cotabato, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod, Manila, Dumaguete, Zamboanga, Japan, United States and Korea will be present during the festivities.
Aside from the gathering, there will also be a tournament that will serve as the selection of representatives for the Philippine Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation to the WEKAF world championships in July in Hawaii wherein the PEKAF is the defending world champions.
The gathering is supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Cebu City Sports Commission.