My teacher Tom Weismuller’s teacher is Christopher Petrilli. Chris Petrilli is a former U.S. Army Ranger, and for years Chris trained in the Philippines directly under one of the founding members of the Doce Pares Eskrima system, Cacoy Cañete.
Petrilli is now one of the highest ranked students of Cañete’s, holding the esteemed rank of 10th degree black belt in Doce Pares.
I thought I had an idea of what the self-defense training would be before attending but was pleasantly surprised to get some review as well as important information to consider. I really appreciated the emphasis on keeping self-defense techniques simple, that one can perform them swiftly in an emergency without over thinking them, as well as the fluidity in quickly being able to go from one self-defense attack move to another. What I found to be the most critical and new for me to learn was being conscious about how attentive I am in my surroundings, conscious of my space and distance, and how attentive I appear to others to stay safe and aware. I additionally found value in learning strategies for making my home appear more protected or guarded from the outside than it may be in actuality.