Master Vince Palumbo, visited Christchurch based NZ Doce Pares Eskrima club to conduct an Eskrima seminar over the weekend of the 14^th October 2006.

Sifu Jenkins, founder of the NZ Doce Pares Eskrima Federation, has been travelling to Adelaide and overseas for additional training under the guidance of Master Vince Palumbo for over 10 years now, and he  currently holds the bonafide rank of 2 ^nd Degree Black Belt in the art of Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima.

Sifu Leigh Jenkins was graded to the 1^st Degree Black Belt in Cebu City of the Philippines, by Grand Master Cacoy Canete!

Master Palumbo travelled from Adelaide to conduct the 2 ^nd and 3^rd class brown belt gradings on the Saturday, and then he conducted a specific knife defence seminar on the Sunday for all the  members and non-members of the school.

Twenty nine students of the school, including six dedicated Wanganui students who travelled to Christchurch with Instructor James West, undertook an intensive full day of grading. 

The amount of dedication and time spent training by all of the students that were to be eligible to be able to grade in the eskrima, was really evident throughout the day, and all students passed their respective test.

Seven students were lucky enough to have the opportunity to suit up in their sport stick-fighting armour and spar with Master Palumbo in the ring.

All seven students sparred for 3x2 minute rounds with Master Palumbo, and even though they had lots of fun, it was still a very painful way to finish up after their Eskrima gradings.

All students learnt something new about the sport side of stickfighting, and this great experience left them all wanting to learn more… and yes, Master Palumbo completed 21x2 minute rounds of full contact sport stickfighting without taking a break, which was pretty awesome to watch!

The knife defence seminar saw 40 keen people including members from other martial arts clubs and the NZ Police Force to gain some invaluable insight into what to do and, just as importantly, what not to do when confronted by someone wielding a knife, stick, or any other kind of a weapon.

The opportunity to learn and practice the simple and practical techniques from someone of Master Vince Palumbo's calibre was very beneficial for all the students that attended the seminar.

The weekend was a great success, and Master Palumbo made a huge impression, not only for his outstanding martial arts ability and experience, but also for his passion for the Filipino stickfighting art that is commonly known as Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima, as taught to him by Grand Master Cacoy Canete.

It is an honour for the NZ Doce Pares Eskrima Club to be part of the Cacoy Canete 'family', and to represent this longstanding traditional lineage of stick fighting of Cebu, Philippines, in New Zealand.

NZ Doce Pares school would also like to thank Master Palumbo for the time he took to visit our school, to grade all of the Eskrima students here, and to share some knowledge.

 Master Palumbo is an incredible ambassador for Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima, and the experience was not only memorable for everyone involved, but it was hugely motivating for the students and all of the  instructors progressing in their skills of this art. 

NZ Doce Pares looks forward to traveling to Master Palumbo's school in Adelaide, and to the World Stickfighting Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2007.