Doce Pares Eskrima
| Focus |
Stick fighting Knife fighting Hand-to-Hand Combat |
|---|---|
| Country of origin |
 Philippines
|
| Creator | Lorenzo Saavedra Eulogio Cañete Filemon Cañete |
| Famous practitioners |
Ciriaco "Cacoy" Cañete Dionisio "Diony" Canete Daniel "Danny" Guba Percival "Val" Pableo |
| Parenthood | Eskrima |
| Olympic sport | No |
Doce Pares (Spanish for twelve pairs) is a form of Arnis, Kali and Eskrima, or a Filipino martial art that focuses primarily on stick fighting, knife fighting and hand-to-hand combat but also covers wrestling and other weapons as well. In reality, the stick is merely considered an extension of the hand, and is meant to represent almost any weapon, from sticks to swords to knives to anything else you can place in your hand and use as a weapon in the modern context. Doce Pares was founded in 1932.
Following the death of Ciriaco Canete in February 2016 there are only two surviving Doce Pares Supreme Grandmasters, Dionisio Canete and Danny Guba.
Most native Cebuanos know and refer to Eskrima as "Arnis". Eskrima, however, is the internationally recognized term for Arnis/Kali/Eskrima.
In the late 1920s, Eskrima attained a high level of popularity in Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines. In 1932, the most renowned eskrimadors, mainly from Cebu, founded Doce Pares as a society to promote the only original native martial art of the Philippines. The name Doce Pares is Spanish, taken from the Twelve Peers or Paladins of Emperor Charlemagne, whose legend the Spanish transmitted to the Philippines through popular literature and theater. To mirror the Twelve Peers, the Doce Pares school had twelve founding masters.
Lorenzo Saavedra, one of the original twelve masters, was recognized as the foremost eskrimador in Cebu City. He was ably supported by four other top-rated eskrimadors: Teodoro and Federico Saavedra, his nephews, and Lorenzo and Filemon Cañete.
Eulogio Cañete, Filemon's older brother, was elected first president of Doce Pares and remained in that position until his death in 1988. A younger Cañete brother, Ciriaco "Cacoy" Cañete, concentrated on boxing but later became an eskrimador while also training in Judo and other arts which he incorporated into his system, one component of which is called "Eskrido".
...
Wikipedia