NZCKEAI North Island Event 
This event was endorsed by the New Zealand Council of Kali Eskrima Arnis Instructors.
By Richard Mitchell
The weekend of the 23rd & 24th June was yet another exciting event held by the New Zealand Council of Kali Eskrima Arnis Instructors (NZCKEAI). This time it was the North Islands turn. Run along the same lines as the South Island event previously held on Saturday 12th May in Christchurch, the event was held at the Rapid Arnis New Zealand Headquarters in Albany, North Shore. The host of the day was NZ Rapid Arnis Chief Instructor, Clinton Jones. Also, in attendance was Progressive Fighting Arts from Northland & Nelson led by Sailor Epiha, Bakbakan Eskrima from Howick, led by Damian Halforty and Mike Ahearn, Integrated Arts from Auckland led by Jarrod Redwood, Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima from Wanganui led by James West. Rapid Arnis/Doce Pares Original Multi-Style from Levin led by Richard Mitchell, Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima from Christchurch led by Leigh Jenkins and last of all support from Diamondback Eskrima Dunedin led by Lee Mackie.
Day one was scheduled fighting in different formats fighting under different rules. First up was World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation rules (WEKAF). This is where participants wear helmet, gloves and body armour. The protective armour worn allows a participant to experience full speed and power contact sparring without the usual concerns of injury. The armour absorbs the force of the weapon yet still allows the participant to move freely and to demonstrate the full range of their skills. This means that many students and potential students of martial arts who normally would not contemplate full contact sparring due to the high risk of injury are able to participate fully while experiencing real time physiological and psychological combative pressure and fatigue.
Rounds consisted of three 1 min rounds with 30 second rest in between rounds. Participants fought with one rattan stick to start off with. The under 18 year old single stick division started off the sparring. It was clear from the outset that there is a lot of potential talent coming from the Northland team and a couple of young eager fighters from Levin and Wanganui. The under 18 group displayed awesome control and sportsmanship’s. Well done to these young up and coming fighters.
The second round of sparring involved soft stick sparring which was fairly new to everyone but the Bakbakan group. For this reason the Bakbakan format and rules of sparring were followed. Fighters wore a helmet, gloves and any other protection they felt they needed. The stick they used was a soft stick called a Smak-stik which is slightly longer than the average rattan stick. Later fighters incorporated the smak-stik knife into their sparring.
Next the adults/over 18 years group WEKAF format sparring was conducted. In this section there were some excellent fights from all clubs. The fighters were not judged and the aim of the sparring was to get in and have a go.
After the single stick sparring was finished, Rapid Arnis, Levin Instructor Richard Mitchell and his 14 year old student Jacob Brunton demonstrated double stick sparring. After the demonstration a number of participants then gave double stick sparring a go. Again some excellent double stick fighting skills were displayed from all clubs.
Day two was scheduled to have council members put on short seminars. Damian from the Bakbakan Eskrima kicked off the seminar displaying some excellent knife skills. Next Jarrod Redwood from Integrated Arts demonstrated some empty hand drills. Finally Mike Ahearn demonstrated some Sinawali (two sticks) patterns from the Bakbakan system.
The highlight of this event was having all these groups in one room sparring – training together and helping each other out. The experience is something that can not be explained, it had to be experienced to be appreciated. To the council (NZCKEAI) members and all the clubs that attended - well done guys. Thank you all for making this a special event.
Comments on the event:
The weekend was awesome, so great to see everyone excited and eyes twinkling. Really impressed with the friendly approach everyone had with each other & seemed everyone really appreciated the experience. (Mel – Rapid Arnis, Auckland)
It was so good to see the different styles on display as I have never known anything much about any other style other than my own. The atmosphere was so neutral and very relaxing and everyone had a good time. It was good to see and I would like to see more of it. (Sailor Epiha- Progressive Fighting Arts, Northland)
It was such a pleasure and honor to finally meet everyone. It was just a awesome feeling having all our groups together under the one roof with no politics and no egos, just all working well together as one.(Richard Mitchell- Rapid Arnis ,Levin)
