Master Vince Palumbo, of the Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima World Federation visited Jakarta in Indonesia during July 2006, and he conducted a week long seminar/workshop on the essence of Supreme Grand Master Ciriaco 'Cacoy' Canete's Filipino Sport Stickfighting.

Master Vince was asked to come and teach in Jakarta at the Combined Martial Arts Academy which is operated by Glen Gardiner  the brother of Master Martin Gardiner who is the Instructor at Alice Springs Martial Arts Center. 

Master Martin Gardiner is the main man that is responsible for bringing the Filipino art of Doce Pares Eskrima to Australia, and he was the first teacher of this style in Australia.

Master Vince Palumbo conducted a very intense week long training seminar, and  this workshop was focussing on all of the necessary skills needed for Filipino stickfighting.

 Master Vince Palumbo is well qualified as an Eskrima, Karate, Jujitsu, Boxing, Kickboxing and Grappling instructor because of his extensive training in the very numerous martial art disciplines that he has studied ove thirty years, and also because of the fact that he has competed in over 200 full contact fights in Boxing, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Karate, and the Filipino Stickfighting.

He is also a multiple world title holder in this Filipino art of stick fighting and boxing, so Master Palumbo concentrated the full weeks seminar towards developing the club's competition stick fighting abilities, skills and their ring craft,  so the training consisted of two sessions a day, which were broken down into a two hour training session in the morning, and another three hours of hard training in the evenings as well. 

The intensity of the sessions which focused on match fitness and fight training, especially in the extreme heat and humidity of Jakarta, and technique development was also structured so as to enable a maximum endurance and fitness development with the entire seminar focussed on doing as much full contact stickfight sparring as possible.

Master Vince Palumbo & Glen Gardiner doing a drill.

The Combined Martial Arts Club members all had the opportunity to spar with single stick  and double stick free fighting in the protective body armour, as well as doing the 'KULATA' sparring with a single stick, and wearing very minimal protective armour, the fighters only using the headgear, gloves, elbow and knee protection.

Everyone had to wear the appropriate safety groin cup, because no body armour jacket was used at all during this type of stick sparring.

All members could then start to appreciate just how necessary this type of hard training and conditioning really was, so as to really develop their level of fitness and skill for stickfighting, and all of this was truly quite noticeable by the end of the week long seminar there in Jakarta. 

All of the student's desire to really succeed, this coupled with the enthusiastic and so very infectious approach that that the Master Palumbo demonstrated with his very intense teaching methods, empowered the participants so as to try and overcome all the challenges and their fears of full contact stickfighting, with either one or two sticks in full contact sparring.

At the final completion of the weeks truly awesome seminar, it had worked out that Master Vince Palumbo himself had fought in well over 120, two-minute rounds of sparring, with and without the stickfighting protection armour for the body! 

For participants to include novices new to the art, the opportunity to familiarize them with ring conditions while facing off against a multiple world title stickfighting champion was a real honour, great priveledge, a big shock, and also it proved to be an incredible challenge to all of the members present during the week long workshop of full contact stickfighting. 

This great experience certainly boosted the skill and confidence of all the participants, and it fostered an exceptional learning experience for all of them. 

It was also most impressive for a seminar instructor and champion stickfighter that of Master Palumbo's caliber, to see such eagerness from all participants there. 

All of the club members decided to actively participate, while never declining or shying away from an opportunity to fight, and it was this fighting spirit that enabled them to overcome any aversions or the uncertainties that they may have had at the beginning of the week before they started the seminar workshop. 

When they finished, they left knowing they earned Master Palumbo's deepest respect for making the seminar a success by their great enthusiasm, and for achieving a newfound understanding of the basics of the really tough Filipino Stickfighting from the world famous Cacoy Doce Pares Eskrima stickfighting system. 

All the Jakarta members of the CDPEWF are planning to compete in the next CDPEWF World Full Contact Stickfighting Titles Tournament which is now scheduled for Cebu, Philippines in November 2006. 

This club is relatively new now, with having just been established in January of 2006, and with the majority of the members also being new to the whole real concept of the  Filipino stickfighting.

The timing of Master Palumbo's visit was coordinated to boost the club's ability to focus on match fitness and ring technique as well as the competitive and reality of the full contact stickfighting with/without armour. 

In their remaining time before going to Cebu, these men and women will concentrate on perfecting fitness, technique and also with polishing of those competitive skills that were learned during that week long seminar with Master Palumbo's visit to Jakarta.

Master Palumbo will meet the team of stickfighters from Jakarta just prior to the main competitions in Cebu of the Philippines in November of 2006, when they will all compete at the World Stickfighting Championships. 

 Master Vince Palumbo is also bringing his team of fine Australian stickfighters to the tournament in Cebu, and there will be some sparring activity between the two teams prior.

The Jakarta Seminar Group