Sunday, July 27, 2008 Kids' involvement needed to regain RP pride in Wekaf By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
“IF we want to win again, us kids should do our part.”
This was the solution young Filipino gold medal winner Thad Kholenn Cañete offered when the Philippines once more lost the overall title to the USA in the recently-concluded Wekaf championshhip.
The cry to win back the glory lost by the Filipinos to the Americans in the sport of arnis has became a personal battle for young Filipino arnisadors.
“It is very unacceptable that we lost again. We worked really hard for this but we still lost,” said 15-year-old Cañete, a gold medal winner in the 14 to 15 years old forms division.
Cañete, along with his younger brothers Christian and Joshua, all won medals in the world meeting of stick fighters—something they have prepared for too long. Eleven-year-old Christian finished with a silver medal in the kids heavyweight, while five-year-old Joshua clobbered an older player from India to win the sparrng title of the 8-Under division.
Kholenn, a well-versed student from Don Bosco College, has taken arnis so seriously that he said it pained to see his RP team fail to win the world title yet again.
“Lisud kaayo dawaton. It is our sport and we are playing at our own turf,” he said.
Arnis runs in the blood of these Cañetes. The Cañetes are the people behind the propagation of arnis worldwide. Their father Michael is the Wekaf Philippines director.
Positive
“We all started when we were very young. Our dad did not allow us to compete until we were ready,” said Kholen.
Kholenn, who encourages other kids to patronize their own local form of martial art, however is positive that it won’t take long and the Philippines will once more reign in the sport.
“The kids are the future of this sport. We have to practice real hard in order to more make the Philippines the No. 1 in eskrima because after all, this is our own sport. We are the only ones who could pass on this to the next generation,” Kholenn said.
Cousins Jedah Marie, Jereah Marie and John Eric Mosqueda share the same sentiment. “We are still young and we can do something for this sport,” said 15-year-old Jereah, who studies at University of San Jose Recoletos.
“It is also important to have someone to believe in you because it gives you the confidence and inspiration to really work hard,” said John Eric, who is the older cousin of the Mosqueda sisters.
John Eric won the title in the men’s light featherweight sparring competition, defeating players from Norway and Reunion Island.
Eric was referring to their trainor Master Yvonne Trigila, the diminutive Filipina master who is not only making waves in Asutralia, but also making champions out of young children.
“She is like an inspiration to us and she teaches us all the techniques and strikes that will bring down a bigger foreign opponent because she is small and is used to play with bigger opponents,” Eric said.
It is not surprising why these kids have gotten into the sport because after all, their fathers have already claimed the Masters title for Eskrima. Jedah and Jereah’s father is Master Erwin Mosqueda, while Eric’s father is Master Jose Eric, but are both in the US and have not seen their kids win medals in their very first shots at an international meet.
“We were not forced into it. They just told us to practice everyday,” said 11-year-old Jedah, who admitted to crying before the competition because she got scared after only having a few days to practice her forms.
These young fighters are looking ahead into the future and up next for them is Mexico, the next venue for the Wekaf world championship in 2010. Mexico bid and won the hosting rights during the congress of the country directors held before the competitions.
“We have two years to prepare for it and we will do our best,” Eric said.
