Sticking With Arnis

Nowadays, only the volleyball and basketball players are in the limelight, and these are just some of the athletes of certain sports that outshine the others specifically Arnis players. However, there are still some optimistic Filipinos like me who believe Arnis players in general deserve equal attention as the other athletes because they are also talented and versatile, and Arnis in itself is a very interesting sport to be left in the shadows. Sadly, most Filipinos are not even aware that Arnis is the National Martial Art of the Philippines. Somehow this sport is ignored and perhaps most Filipinos fail to recall it, and even the players of Arnis have been quite unnoticed. Take for example Tinelle Palecpec. Despite all the accomplishments and contributions Palecpec has made for the school and the country through playing Arnis, she unfortunately still does not seem to get the attention and appreciation she deserves. A passionate and graceful Arnis varsity player born on April 4, 1996, Yzabela Kristinelle R. Palecpec has given pride to the school and her country through her achievements in the sport. Truly, junior BS Psychology student Tinelle Palecpec is not just your ordinary Atenean. During one interview, Tinelle shares that she just heard about Arnis from her uncle when she was in fifth grade. He taught her Arnis basically for self defense, but that was also the time when Tinelle became engrossed to arnis. However, it wasn’t until college that she learned more about the sport and actually got to practice it. She started learning arnis under Sir Richard Gialogo in his PE class. Soon and luckily enough, she was invited to become part of the Ateneo College Arnis Varisty team the semester after. Everything escalated from then on.

Of all the mainstream sports, Palecpec chose to play a snubbed sport. And so we ask, “Why Arnis? Why not volleyball or basketball or any other mainstream sport?” Unexposed and out of sight, the MAC (Martial Arts Center) located near