What is Eskrima?

Eskrima, Kali, Arnis are terms used to identify the indigenous weapons-based martial arts of the Philippines. All three terms describe the knife, stick, and sword-based fighting systems used historically throughout the Philippines.

There is much debate in the martial arts community regarding the strict use of these three terms. One school of thought argues that each term defines the region of the Philippines from which the specific art originates: Arnis in the North, Eskrima in the Central Philippines and Kali in the South. Others maintain that the terms refer to the period in which the specific fighting system was developed. Kali during the pre-Spanish era, Eskrima (Spanish for "skirmish") during the Spanish occupation and Arnis in modern times.

Doce Pares groups use the terms interchangeably and you will often see/hear Doce Pares instructors refer to the system as Arnis, Eskrima or Kali. Regardless of your school of thought on this matter, out of respect, one should refer to a specific system using the same term as the instructor. In this case, we prefer "Eskrima".

The Filipino Martial Arts have become synonymous with "stick fighting". They are much more however. Many systems incorporate long and short sword techniques, knives, empty hands, and grappling as well as sticks.

What is Doce Pares?

In 1932 the Doce Pares Association was formed by a group of well known Eskrimadors on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. Each Eskrimador brought his respective style to the organization. The Doce Pares system is a system of "best practices" as developed by the Doce Pares Association which was heavily influenced by the Canete Family. Eight of the original 12 founding members were Canetes and Eulogio Canete was president of the Association for over 50 years. Today two Canetes, Dionisio (Diony) and Ciriaco (Cacoy), head two separate Doce Pares organizations.

Doce Pares means "twelve pairs" and refers to the 12 basic strikes of the system and the defenses for each. The system consists of training in 6 areas: single stick (Solo Olisi), double stick (Doble Olisi), stick/sword and knife (Espada Y Daga), empty hands (Mano Y Mano), knife (Baraw) and grappling (Dumog/ Pangamot).