Cacoy Doce Pares holds int’l tourney

The Cacoy Cañete Doce Pares will be hosting a world invitational tournament on Aug. 8 at the Robinsons Galleria Atrium, featuring the crowd-favorite Skygo Demo team contest.

The competition is part of the week-long event dubbed the SGM Cacoy Cañete Filipino Martial Arts Festivial, which is held every two years in honor of the late legendary eskrimador. Supreme Grandmaster Cacoy Cañete died in 2016 at 96 and is acknowledged as one of the reasons why the Filipino martial arts has spread worldwide.

Head organizer Cacoy Cañete, grandson of the late SGM Cacoy, said there will be participants from Australia, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, the US and the UK. The event, which is bakked by SkyGo Marketing Inc, Robinsons Galleria, Golden Prince Hotel, Masters Academy Plymouth, Stix Arnis equipment and supported by the Cebu City Sports Commission, will also have teams from Cebu and other parts of the Philippines.

“In Cebu alone, there will be 10 teams but when had our first tournament in 2006, we only had three. This only means that the efforts of Sen. Zubiri in making arnis as our national sport was a huge factor in the rapid growth of our own martial arts, especially with the youth,” said Cañete. “Before, not everyone knew what arnis/eskrima is, now almost everyone in school is doing it. It’s very fulfilling to know that this martial arts of ours will live on in the generations to come.” /