The late Gordon Carnie (NZ Doce Pares and NZ WEKAF Rep) with GM Diony Canette on one of his visits to the Phillipines.Gordon was my first Doce Pares Instructor
My instructor is a 90 year old Supreme Grand Master hold the official rank of 12th Degree Black Belt, his name is Cacoy Canete and he lives on the island of Cebu which is in the Philippines, and he is a legend and now world famous because of his over 100 Death Matches in the 1940's, 1950's and in the 1960's!
He won all of the no-rules stickfights, and he never killed anyone!
BRUCE LEE wanted to learn from this Filipino Stickfighting legend!
My Supreme Grand Master is linked by blood lineage to Rajah Lapu Lapu, actually it was this man Lapu Lapu who killed the famous Spanish explorer by the name of Ferdinand Magellan, this happened at the battle of Mactan Island in 1521, when the first fleet of Spanish tried to invade and conquer the Philippines.
But Rajah Lapu Lapu and his Filipino warriors who fought against the first fleet of Spaniards, andf the Filipino’s won that first epic battle.
Unfortunately came back with an even bigger fleet, and they conquered the Philippines for over 400 years, this is why so much of the Spanish language has been included into the Cebuano dialect now.
The Filipino men only fought with fire hardened rattan sticks, spears and their hand made swords called ‘Kampilan’ to fight against the advanced weapons of the Spaniards which consisted of Cannons, Rifles, Pistols and Sabre swords.
Yet the Filipino warriors won the first epic battle because of their shear spirit and determination, and Rajah Lapu Lapu had the final showdown of that battle when he fought against the leader of that Spanish expedition, explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
Rajah Lapu Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan fought each other on the shores of the beach on the Island of Mactan, and it was there that Lapu Lapu had killed Magellan, when he slashed at his enemy's head with his own sword, and it cut the explorer's head off.
The battle stopped momentarily as Rajah Lapu Lapu held up the severed head of Magellan, and he yelled out to his people these very famous words, "I bow before no Spanish King, my only allegiance is to my people!”
The Filipino warriors roared as the Spanish invaders fled back to their boats, and left the Island.
Rajah Lapu Lapu is described by an Italian chronicle writer who was with that fleet of Spaniards, his name was Antonio Pigafetta, and he described the Filipino warriors who were using a superior form of the stick and knife fighting that the natives called Pangolisi. (Filipino Stickfighting)
The Spaniards later referred to this style of stickfighting as, ‘ESKRIMA’.
Lapu Lapu was the first acknowledged Master of Filipino Stickfighting, and this art has been passed down from father to son, and from generation to generation, so the blood line goes directly back to Rajah Lapu Lapu, and all the people who learned this art were direct descendants of this great man!
Supreme Grand Master Cacoy Canete was taught the art of Pangolisi by his father and uncles, and they were taught by their father before that in turn, and this is how the lineage went back to the time of Chieftain Lapu Lapu!
When Supreme Grand Master Cacoy Canete walks down the street in his neighbourhood of San Nicholas, the peasant people bow their heads to the great warrior icon, and the children all run up and kiss the 'God Hand!'.
They believe that he has the blood of the great Lapu Lapu in his veins, and they worship their Filipino stickfighting hero of Cebu in the Philippines.
When I received my title of ‘Grand Master’ from SGM Cacoy Canete, it now makes me a part of the lineage that goes back to Lapu Lapu, and I become one of very few Westeners to get that incredible status and priveledge!
I am a product of all the great warrior men before me!
Pat O'Malley with the late great GM Momoy Canete of San Miguel Eskrima in Cebu City, Philippines in 1994