NewsDoce Pares at the SeniDanny Guba Doce Pares is part of the Seni Show 2008, one of the biggest martial arts exhibition in Europe, a two day event, on 26-27 April 2008.
In the 10 years that Seni has been running, it's the first time that a full on eskrima tournament was held. There were two formats, the first was a WEKAF-style competition (full armour) and the other was a limited armoured one called KOMBATA. The Seni Eskrima Open Championships is born. There were about 50 competitors; kids, women and men who competed in forms and sparring (single and double stick). The ringside was packed with spectators, a lot whom have never seen this type of sporting event before. Some of the spectators were interviewed by British-Filipino film crew, FilmMeFilms, and asked them what they thought of the tournament. Some said that they had never seen anything like it in their life and others never knew that such a sporting competition exists. The tournament was the perfect opportunity to show to people the sporting aspect of eskrima. It's the main reason eskrima tournaments were made for in the first place, to promote the Filipino martial art of eskrima. GM Danny Guba and some of his students such as Jim Smith and Nimesh Desai referreed the tournament where two rings were utilised. Judges also came all the way from Sheerness to help. Competitors were from different systems such as Doce Pares (tfour clubs: Ermar Alexander's, Ian Forster's, Nimesh Desai's and Sardara Singh's), Escrima Concepts, some JKD groups (two clubs: Andy Nugent's and Roger Barne's), UAF (United Arnis Fighters), Rapid Defence and others. Others who were around to support were Instructors Andy Gibney, Jonathan Wesley, Phil Ireland and legendary Richard Bustillo. Apart from the tournament, Doce Pares also had a stall right next to the classical ring where demonstrations from various traditional martial art styles were held. People from various backgrounds came over to learn more about eskrima and many came by to enquire about classes. They were even more impressed by GM Danny's youngest son, at less than 2 years old, can hit with a stick just like his dad. We are now looking forward to next year's Seni Show! We will keep you posted.
Also, major thanks to: Manoir D'Herqueville Rebecca Kane Andy Gibney Josephine's Filipino Restaurant Spiros Politis GMEC-LTD / S Magazine Europe
28 April 2008, Monday |
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