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Support sought to bring PH martial art to Canada Games

A master of Filipino stick fighting urges Fil-Canadians to support his bid of bringing it to the country's national sporting competition.

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Rowena Papasin

TFC News

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kbu75q38CUc?&amp;ab_channel=ABS-CBNNews&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>Shishir Inocalla has been promoting “Arnis” or Filipino stick fighting as a sport in Canada since the 80s.But it was only this year that the Canadian Amateur Athletic Association accepted its registration as a non-profit charitable athletic association.The 69-year-old said it took a long time to convince the CAAA that arnis, as a sport, is safe.&quot;This is safer than other martial arts because we have the helmet, the padded stick, we have body protector,&quot; he said. &quot;Finally, we got the approval. That&#x27;s the good news for everyone.&quot;Inocalla, who played Michaelangelo in the 1993 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie, has been traveling across Canada to promote the Filipino martial art.He has been busy recruiting coaches and organizing grassroots groups but Inocalla admitted that it is a challenge to persuade Filipinos to try the sport.&quot;I feel that they have more inclination to foreign martial arts,&quot; he said. &quot;But then when they realize that we actually have our own and they try it, they love it.&quot;One of the facilities that has started teaching arnis as a self-defense martial art is the Mendoza Boxing Club, owned by Filipino-Canadian Oneal Mendoza.He noted similarities between boxing and arnis, as both are contact sports that use the point system in scoring players on the ring.But Mendoza believes arnis can be considered safer than boxing.The two said arnis remains largely underground and not too many Canadians know about the sport.But Inocalla added that he has noticed that many of its techniques are now being used for movie stunts.&quot;Almost all of the fighting systems used now in films use Filipino arnis blades,&quot; he said. &quot;The trend of flying Kung Fu, karate, these are no longer used these days.&quot;The arnis mentors noted that arnis is practical and that one does not actually need the sticks to be able to use its techniques for self-defense.But even if Canada has already recognized arnis as a sport, Inocalla wants to take it a step further so that the Filipino martial art can be included in the Canada Games.Before this can happen, he needs about 10,000 signatures, so he is asking Filipino-Canadians to register and support arnis so they can help in realizing this dream.

A master of Filipino stick fighting urges Fil-Canadians to support his bid of bringing it to the country's national sporting competition.

Fil-Canadians' support sought to bring PH martial art to Canada Games

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Fil-Canadians' support sought to bring PH martial art to Canada Games

Rowena Papasin,

TFC News

Published Jul 31, 2024 12:51 AM PHT

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Martial arts

Arnis

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