Getting a kick out of Yaw-Yan classes
Kids as young as four learn mixed-martial arts in YawYan Ardigma YawYan founder Ekin Caniga says he treats kids as family members Caniga says Yaw-Yan promotes discipline and moral values
Children, including one who’s only 4 years old, are spending part of their summer learning a Filipino martial art (and plenty of discipline) in this gym along Cebu City’s Sanciangko St.
In summer when school is out and kids have a lot of time to spare, parents enroll their kids in different summer classes to keep them preoccupied. Aside the usual sports like basketball, football, volleyball, taekwondo and karate, another option for kids is the all-original Filipino martial art of Yaw-Yan.
Situated at the fourth floor of the Coast Pacific Downtown Center in front of University of Cebu Main Campus along Sanciangko St., the dreaded YawYan Ardigma is home to over 30 kids each morning.
Yaw-Yan or “Sayaw ng Kamatayan” may sound scary but it’s not all about fighting but rather discipline, values and family.
“I instill discipline first, moral values and then self defense,” said Yaw-Yan Ardigma founder and CEO Benigno “Ekin” Caniga.
The annual summer clinic has various courses for kids like Yaw-Yan Ardigma System, MMA, Muay Thai, boxing, arnis and grappling.
And at the end of the summer clinic, the kids will showcase their talent in a culmination activity at the gym in front of their parents.
The kids who train at Yaw-Yan Ardigma range from four years old to teenagers.
The youngest of the group is four-year-old Fil-Canadian Magnus Colley, who is in Cebu City for vacation.
“Yes, I like to practice because of the monster. I like to punch and train because of the killer clown,” said Colley, who has already trained in the gym for two months.
Siblings Jacob and Liz Audrey Aycardo are newbies and were just recently enrolled this summer but they are starting to get the hang of it.
“I like punches and kicks. But my left kick still does not work,” said nine-year-old Jacob.
“I like stretching,” said sixyear-old Liz Audrey.
Nine-year-old Jeth Matthew Puao has joined the clinic every summer for the past four years and was inspired to join because of his brother.
“I was brought here by my daddy to watch my brother. So a year later, I joined,” he said.
Zairah Nicole Mendoza comes to the gym every summer since she was eight years old after being enrolled by her mother, also a Yaw-Yan practitioner. She likes the atmosphere and wants to be a fighter when she grows up.
“I like it here because there are a lot of kids. My mother also trained here and she was the one who brought me here. I want to be a fighter,” she said.
A successful product of the Yaw-Yan Ardigma Summer Clinic are 10-year-old Jodi Marie Banzon and 11-year-old Josh Ybañez.
Banzon has been training with Yaw-Yan since she was four years old.
Banzon, who studies at the St. Theresa’s College, was a gold medalist in Muay Thai in last year’s Batang Pinoy. She is also a football player for STC.
“It has taught me discipline and self-defense,” she said.
Ybañez, on the other hand, also competed in Muay Thai in Batang Pinoy and has fought in amateur MMA in the Cebu City Sports Commission’s Bakbakan MMA event.
Ybañez started to train in YawYan when he was five, and the values and discipline that Caniga has instilled in the minds of his students are evident.
“I only use it to defend myself against bullies,” said Ybañez. “I only fight back when they already hurt me physically. I think it’s wrong to start a fight.” /
When they are in their houses, some of the kids don’t communicate and just play with their computers or tablets. Here in the gym we mingle like a family and we gather friends. I treat these kids as my sons and daughters. EKIN CANIGA, YawYan Ardigma founder