ABOUT FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY
Doce Pares Original Multi-Style System
Eskrima • Kali • Arnis
Filipino Martial Arts Academy
Filipino Martial Arts Academy is dedicated to preserving, practicing and passing on the traditions of Doce Pares Eskrima through disciplined, practical and progressive training.
Our curriculum develops weapon skill, empty-hand ability, movement, timing, awareness, control and self-confidence. Students learn traditional methods while also developing the ability to apply those skills in realistic training.
FMAA teaches the Doce Pares Original Multi-Style System, a comprehensive approach that brings together the major ranges and methods of the Doce Pares tradition rather than focusing on only one specialty.
The Doce Pares Original Multi-Style System
The Original Multi-Style System was developed to preserve and organize the many component styles taught within Doce Pares. Its training covers close, medium and long range, single and double weapons, sword-and-dagger methods, knife, empty hand, grappling, forms and specialized flowing drills.
Core Areas
- Solo Olisi — Single Stick
- Doble Olisi — Double Stick
- Espada y Daga — Sword and Dagger
- Baraw — Knife
- Mano-Mano — Empty Hand
Integrated Training
- Dumog — Grappling and Takedowns
- Tapi-Tapi — Live Hand / Sensitivity
- Footwork and Range Control
- Sayaw / Karanza — Forms
- Sumbag-Patid — Punching and Kicking
Supreme Grandmaster Dionisio “Diony” Cañete ODL
Supreme Grandmaster Dionisio “Diony” Cañete was one of the most influential figures in the modern development and worldwide growth of Doce Pares Eskrima. He was the youngest son of Grandmaster Eulogio “Ylong” Cañete, the principal organizer and longtime president of Doce Pares.
Diony began formal training in 1946 at the age of eight under his father and his brother Iluminado. He later studied with other prominent Doce Pares masters, including Felimon “Momoy” Cañete, Ciriaco “Cacoy” Cañete, Vicente Carin and Maximo Cañete. This broad exposure gave him a deep understanding of the different systems represented within Doce Pares.
In the early 1970s, he was tasked with organizing those diverse methods into a unified instructional program. The result became the Doce Pares Original Multi-Style System, created to preserve the major component styles and present them in a structured curriculum.
SGM Diony also became a major organizer and ambassador for Filipino martial arts. He helped standardize tournament rules, promoted national and international competition, and played a central role in the formation of the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF). At the first World Eskrima Kali Arnis Championships in 1989, WEKAF was formally organized and he was elected Charter President.
He served for decades in senior Doce Pares leadership, including as Executive Director and Chairman of the Doce Pares Council of Masters. Through instruction, seminars, international travel and instructor development, he helped spread Doce Pares Eskrima around the world.
Supreme Grandmaster Dionisio Cañete passed away on August 22, 2021. His legacy continues through the instructors, schools and students who preserve and teach the Doce Pares Original Multi-Style System.
Grand Master Leonilo “Nilo” Baron
9th Grade Black Belt • Founder of Filipino Martial Arts Academy
Grand Master Leonilo “Nilo” Baron is a personal protégé of SGM Diony Cañete and received more than 10 years of training at the Doce Pares World Headquarters before moving to the United States in 1996.
In 1993, he was commissioned as a regular instructor at the World Headquarters and was authorized to teach major elements of the Original Multi-Style System, including Espada y Daga, Largo Mano, Media Largo, the three styles of Corto, Baraw, Mano-Mano, the twelve forms and Tapi-Tapi.
His accomplishments include membership on Doce Pares teams that captured Philippine national team championships, multiple Philippine National Championship titles, becoming one of the youngest Master instructors of the Doce Pares Multi-Style System, and numerous Cebu championships in sparring and forms.
Grand Master Nilo Baron founded Filipino Martial Arts Academy to continue teaching and preserving the Doce Pares Original Multi-Style System in the United States.
Train the Art. Build the Skill. Carry the Tradition.
Our goal is to produce capable martial artists who understand both the practical application and the history behind what they train.