Training

Curriculum Overview

Multi Style System

For many years and even up to the present people are still confused about the real Doce Pares system. This is only understandable because while the system is a conglomeration of various styles as introduced by the founding masters in 1932, there are many instructors and masters today who only teach a specific style of any one of the original masters. All the founding masters had their own set of followers and the students who chose not to study and cross-train in other styles naturally learned only the particular style of his own teacher.

Doce Pares was a virtual supermarket of Eskrima styles, hence, there's the Larga Mano of Eulogio Cañete; the Espada y Daga of Felimon Cañete and Jesus Cui; the Corto Linear of Teodoro Saavedra and later on of Venancio Bacon, Delfin Lopez and Timoteo Maranga; the Corto Orihinal and Media Largo of Felimon and Iluminado Cañete; the Hirada and Retirada of Vicente Carin and Ponciano Ybañez; the Mano-Mano and Baraw of Maximo Cañete and Jesus Cui; the Corto Kurbada and Abaniko of Ciriaco and Felimon Cañete respectively.

Thus there are many masters today who only teach and promote one particular style and yet can validly claim to belong to Doce Pares family.

It was in early 1970 when Diony was commissioned by his father Eulogio Cañete, the President of Doce Pares to study, prepare and formulate a program of instruction that would cover and comprehend all the component styles. The specific objective was to come up with a training curriculum that would give equal treatment and prominence to all the original styles and by all means to afford due honors and recognition to all the founding advocates. Hence the birth of the "Multi-Style" system which very much set well with Grandmaster Diony as he and his three elder brothers were among the very few who were fortunate to have learned all the original styles as brought into and introduced by the founding masters when Doce Pares was formed in 1932.

Curriculum Components

The Doce Pares system of Eskrima is composed of Seven Styles or sub-disciplines which are described below. The drills described fall into one of these categories.

SOLO OLISI (Single Stick)
The strong hand wields a stick and serves as the primary defense. The empty hand is used mainly for defense, focusing on controlling the opponent's weapon hand.
DOBLE OLISI (Double Stick)
Each hand has a stick. They can be used for combination attacks or one can serve as defense while the other is used to attack
BARAW (Knife)
Eskrido (Locks, throws and takedowns with olisi). Similar in format to the solo olisi, but the weapon is a knife.
ESPADA Y DAGA (Sword and Dagger)
Strong hand wields a stick or long blade and serves as the primary offense. Other hand holds a knife and used for both offense and defense (blocking, checking and locking)
MANO-MANO (Empty Hands)
The Doce Pares empty hand drills usually involve boxing-style attack movements combined with effective trapping and foot techniques.
DUMOG (Grappling)
A variety of takedowns and throwing techniques are used, which can be practiced with or without weapons.
TAPI-TAPI (Alive hand, Sticky Hands-Old Style)
Sumbag-pated (punch and kick). All of the 12 Forms (Sayaw) Karanza, including the 5 minute duration Form 12, the so-called "San Miguel".