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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY August 16 - 31, 2016
ALBERTA / WINNIPEG News
Arnis Academy wows crowds at the Winnipeg Fest
The Winnipeg Sikaran
Arnis Academy (WSAA) is
a Filipino-Canadian martial
arts academy that trains its
students in the martial art
of arnis. The WSAA is on its
twelfth year of operation and
it is owned and operated by
Kelly Legaspi, a registered
nurse and her husband,
Redentor Igne. Redentor is
a 5th degree black belt and
is the Chief Instructor, while
Kelly is a 4th degree black
beltias one of the instructors
and the administrator for the
school.
The WSAA is currently
located at Unit 12-1833
Inkster Boulevard, Winnipeg,
was 11 years old and is also
one of the instructors of the
school. Their second child,
Lee Angela who is 14 years
old, became the youngest
and the only brown belt to
become an arnis instructor
when she was almost 13
years old, she teaches adult
arnis classes at their satellite
school at the TK Taekwondo
Club in Selkirk, Manitoba, a
20 minute drive from the city
North of Winnipeg.
The school is mostly
comprised of the youth, ages
5-17 years old. They teach two
of the traditional Filipino styles
of Martial Arts called sikaran
(foot fighting) and arnis (stick
Manitoba. They moved at this
place on June 1st to undergo
some renovations and facility
improvement after we signed
the lease and acquired the
place.
The husband and wife
team are at the helm of the
school and their children have
joined them in their quest
to promote this Philippine
martial art. Their eldest, Lex
, 19 years old, became the
youngest black belt when he
fighting). They welcome
any student, regardless of
age, nationality, religion and
cultural background and
their program prepares these
kids in competing at local,
regional, national and even
world tournaments.
Some of them have
competed and brought home
honors from Regina and
Weyburn,
Saskatchewan,
Kenora, Ontario, and as far
as the Diamond Nationals
in Minneapolis. In May
of 2014, eight of their
students
competed
at the World Sikaran
Open
Tournament
held in Winnipeg, and
they brought home 33
gold medals, 12 silver
medals and 1 bronze
medal, and four them
won the World Grand
Champion Titles.
Through
the twelve years of
existence, they have
produced nine black
belts, including Kelly
herself and their eldest
son. Soon in October
or November, two
more will be testing
for their black belts,
and one of them
is their 14 year old
daughter Lee Angela.
Aside from
competitions,
the
students also learn how
to preserve and be proud
of their Filipino culture by
performing Martial Arts
demos in many festivities
and celebrations. They have
fused cultural and ethnic
dances on their martial arts
routines to make it more
entertaining.
The team has
been seen in many events
such as Folklorama, Asian
Heritage and was also the
first Filipino martial arts team
from from Manitoba, who
participated at the world’s
famous and greatest outdoor
event, the Calgary Stampede
Parade for two years in a row,
in 2015 and 2016.
Their most recent
performance was at the
Manitoba Filipino Street
Festival (MFSF) in August
this year. The MFSF is on its
5th year and the WSAA has
been a part of it since its first
day of conception. WSAA
has always competed at the
MFSF’s Cultural Competition.
Amongst the competing
groups at the Festival were the
Aklan Ati-Atihan Association
of Manitoba, BIBAK (Banawe,
Ifugao, Benguet, Apayao,
Kalinga)
Association
of
Manitoba, Neepawa Dance
Group and us. The Winnipeg
Sikaran Arnis Academy won
first place in this competition
in 2014 and 2016 .
You can see more
of their videos on youtube
and on their Facebook page
Winnipeg
Sikaran
Arnis
Academy.
Pinoys Celebrate Filipino Fiesta 2016 in Calgary
The
Philippine
Fiesta Council of Alberta
in partnership with the
Philippine Consulate General
Calgary presents the Filipino
Fiesta 2016 to be held at the
Calgary Olympic Plaza on
September 2 and 3. Jericho
Rosales is one of the special
guests in the two-day event.
The Filipino-Canadian
community of Alberta will
come together and celebrate
Philippine heritage as a
united group. In addition, this
will also give the community
to share our beautiful and
colourful heritage to the
people of Alberta.
True to its primary
objective in promoting the
Filipino arts, culture and
traditions, the Fiesta Filipino
YYC, during its two-day
celebration, features exhibits,
paintings, songs, sports
and dances that showcased
the richness of our cultural
heritage, according to its
website.
The event will feature
songs and folk dances from
the Philippines, as well as
singing and art contests,
a variety show and a band
concert. Folk dances such
as the tinikling and singkil,
as well as popular dances
like hip hop and zumba will
be featured. There will also
be Philippine games such as
the pabitin, karerang lubid
and karerang talon. An Atiatihan drum demo as well
as art demos will also be
showcased.
Filipino Fiesta 2016 is
organized by its committed
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
members and the council
leaders,
community
organizations,
volunteers
and individuals, and the
success of the occasion and
in keeping the spirit of the
Philippine Fiesta forever in
Calgary is because of the
cooperation of the various
members and organizations
in the community.