In 1932, a group of men wanted to unite as one and renew the dying art of eskrima. This group consisted of twelve people: the Cañete brothers – Eulogio “Yoling,†Florentino, Felemon “Momoyâ€, Tirso, Silvestre, Rufino, Andres, Ciriaco “Cacoy,†their nephew, Maximo, and three Saavedras - Lorenzo, Teodoro, and Fredrico.
I am the grandson of Andres Cañete. My grandfather left Cebu and went to Manila to pursue his dream-to become a lawyer. Live in Manila for several years and meet Agapita Domalag, which is my grandmother. Agapita and Andress got married and had two children, Arturo and Corazon.
In 1949, my dad, Arturo was only 5 years old and Lolo Andres had a heart attack! As I recall, my dad told me that Lolo Andres died after knowing that he passed the bar exam.
Lolo Cacoy Cañete told me that Lolo Andres Cañete is really well-versed in eskrima. To bad, I never had a chance to learn from him.
While I'm growing up, I always hear that Lolo Cacoy did really well in Eskrima competitions. Every time Lolo Cacoy comes to Manila, my dad will always meet with him. When I was young I have a eskrima stick. Sometimes, I will play and pretend that I know eskrima. I guess eskrima is engraved in my blood.
When I went to college, I took Eskrima class as my Physical Education subject for two years. I got suck into eskrima when I was in college. I love it!!! Graduated in college and started working and never had a chance to practice and study eskrima again.
I came here in the United States to work and hoping that I can find a Doce Pares affiliated Filipino Martial Arts school. Too bad, most of them are in west coast and the nearest school at my place is 3 hours away.
Now, I’m hungry and thirsty to learn the Doce Pares Eskrima.