"WEKAF-NARAPHIL" ......... part 5

“The NARAPHIL-WEKAF Affair”
by Meneleo E. Estepa, MD

In 1988, with the leadership of Atty. Dionisio A. Cañete as NARAPHIL President, he was able to persuade some of the delegates from the US and Australia to forge an international activity in arnis. A year before that activity, he was busy traveling abroad delivering seminars and conducting meetings with the leaders of the different arnis groups abroad.


The US based arnis group (Arnulfo Cuesta, Fred Bandalan, Edward Abinsay and Leo Fernandez) has helped a lot and assisted Atty. Cañete’s goal of opening the avenue for accommodating him with the group in California. The biggest of which was the Jet Kune Do Academy under the leadership of Richard Bustillo and Dan Inosanto. From thereon, news spread like wildfire from the different arnis groups outside US like Canada, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Atty. Cañete’s popularity became steadfast abroad and was even featured in the Kung Fu magazine as advocator of arnis. He initiated the training of the different groups using his affiliate Doce Pares Club of Cebu in teaching the methodology in the full contact event. After a year of preparation, the NARAPHIL Board finally agreed and decided to pursue the first international arnis event to be held here in the Philippines.


There were two venues offered but finally agreed to both give the international participants a view of the country by offering two activities coinciding one after the other. Cebu was chosen as the primary place for the event in recognition of the Doce Pares birth place and the other event which is the Invitational was to be held in Manila. During the "2nd WEKAF Convention/Championship" the other way around was adopted with NARAPHIL as the host organization and still was held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.


Only eight of the eleven countries who signified their intentions attended the event plus the attendance of the Japanese delegation for the kendo demonstration event only.

So thus the partnership of the NARAPHIL and WEKAF began. They are sister organization and that is just the beginning of a new era in arnis activity in the Philippines.

"My services will always be available for WEKAF and NARAPHIL"
by Atty. Dionisio A. Cañete