The Founding Fathers
Eulogio "yoling" Cañete
One of the original founding fathers of Doce Pares in 1932. The first President of Doce Pares and has been re-elected 56 times until his death in June 1988. The creation of the Doce Pares organization allowed him to set a global standard in the practice and study of the art of eskrima. And through the years, he successfully steered the organization through the years despite the wide variety of styles and philosophies of each of the founding fathers.
Son of Gregorio Canete and Aquilina dela Cuesta. First trained in the art of Eskrima by their father and uncles particularly Pedro Canete, a well-known eskrimador at his time. Trained alongside the Canete brothers(Florentino Canete, and Felimon Canete), under the tutelage of renowned eskrimadors such as Tenyente Piano Aranas, Juanso Takya, Kapitan Andres Suarez, Tito de Goma, and Cesar Aliason, and Lorenzo Saavedra and his nephew Teodoro. His training allowed him to acquire combat techniques from Lapu-Lapu and Magellan as taught by Juanso Takya, who claimed to have his combat style from said historical figures.
Dionisio "Diony" CañetE
The youngest son of Eulogio Canete Sr.;; Started his early training of Eskrima in 1946 alongside his father and eldest brother Illuminado(Mado) as his first mentors. Took up boxing and Kodokan Judo in the 1950s for several years and participated in numerous competitions. Which broadened his knowledge and perspective about martial arts. During this period has witnessed numerous Death Matches or “Juego Todo” fights involving prominent names in Eskrima coming from Cebu and neighboring provinces.
With experience in bloody matches in Judo and boxing competitions, served well in writing guides that formulated the tournament rules that civilized or formalized the competitions involving the FIlipino Martial Arts. Organized Cebu Eskrima Association (CEA) in 1974, in which all fourteen (14) eskrima groups joined as members which brought all the rival clubs into one organization and also brought reconciliation among the masters of the rival clubs. Which then led to the convince them to civilize the sparring competitions through adoption of governing rules. To adapt to the rules, he also designed protective gear such as headguard, body jackets, and hand gloves. Which led to the first historic staging of the National Arnis Championships held in Cebu City on March 24, 1979 and the first National Invitational Tournament in Manila on August 19, 1979.