AFTER TAKING arnis for her Physical Education (PE) class in freshman year, senior Lady Eagle Jude Rodriguez never expected to become one of the top arnisadoras in the country.
Before entering Ateneo, Rodriguez had an interest in dance. However, she was not able to pursue this because of her failure to try out for any organization.
Fortunately, Arnis piqued her interest. In her PE classes, she showed enough promise to be recruited by Ateneo Arnis Team coaches Aloysius Diaz and Richard Gialogo during the second semester of her freshman year. She originally did not want to join the varsity team, but after some convincing from her mother, she joined the team and grew to love the sport.
“In PE class, we didn’t really have sparring, but then, when I tried it in training, I really fell in love with it,” says Rodriguez.
She then began to set personal goals to become a better and stronger fighter. During her sophomore year, after months of rigorous training, she went through four belt tests in a span of three hours to jump from yellow belt to brown belt in just one day.
Now, she is the team’s co-captain alongside supersenior Jordan Cruz, a fellow international competitor. Rodriguez has even taken on team managerial duties which include forming the roster and making tournament reports.
Representing the country
Cruz and Rodriguez were both chosen by Kali Arnis Martial Arts Organization (KAMAO), an umbrella organization for Arnis teams, to represent the Philippines in the 2017 Chungju World Martial Arts Festival in South Korea from September 22 to 28. Arnis was an exhibition sport in the festival.
According to Rodriguez, the major factor that led to their selection was their active role in the Arnis community. Other members of the 11-member Philippine delegation were three Philippine National Police members and grandmasters from other Arnis groups in the country.
The delegation won 11 gold medals in total for other disciplines, with Rodriguez also winning a gold medal in Jang San’ati, an Uzbek martial art.
For Rodriguez, representing the country and the sport of Arnis in an international setting was a fruitful experience.
“I’m proud of my sport, and I’m proud of my country,” says Rodriguez.
Future endeavors
Having accomplished much locally, such as winning gold in the Pasindo 15th Invitational Tournament in August and silver in the UPakan 2017 Arnis Invitational Tournament in October, the next step for Rodriguez is securing a stint in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Amidst juggling academics and training with the team, Rodriguez still finds the time to give back by serving as Arnis coach in St. Paul College-Pasig, a job she took after stepping in for a colleague of hers.
Rodriguez plans to continue teaching in the grassroots level because this is something she is passionate about. “Cultivating that passion for Arnis can start as early as grade school or high school. If I can help with that, then why not.”
