Jose Rizal the Athlete

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In line with the UAAP Finals between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the UST Growling Tigers, I will share to you some things sports fans don't know about both the two universities' most prominent alumnus, our national hero Jose Rizal. Many describe him as an author, a doctor, a philanthropist, and a revolutionary. But only a few know, and they're not even true sports fanatics, that Rizal is one heck of a sportsman when he was still alive.

Living with his prominent friends in Europe, Rizal learned the game of fencing, at the time a sport for the rich. Oscar Lopez even got a picture of Rizal and Juan Luna of the Spolarium artwork fame playing one-on-one.

 

Rizal also learned its local counterpart, arnis. He was also a chess master. In fact, before Eugene Torre and Wesley So became too mainstream, Rizal was among the best Filipino players in the game. Because he was all around Europe, I can presume he knew the sport of soccer as well. If he was not gunned down in 1896, maybe we can find some unearthed articles about his rivalry with the pre-Azkals legend Paulino Alcantara (What if Rizal joined Real Madrid? Hey! It's the Clasico on Monday!).

Almost nobody knows as well that Rizal was a good gunslinger. In fact, you can find a specimen of one of Rizal's guns, the Smith & Wesson no.3 revolver, more popularly known as the Magnificent, at the AFP Museum at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. If you still doubt about it, read El Filibusterismo, especially the part where Simoun, aka Crisostomo Ibarra of Noli Me Tangere aka Jose Rizal's alter ego, showed his gun to Tales. Fili was written at the time Rizal's still learning in the game.

But what's so cool about Rizal is that he also learned the game of judo. Former Philippine Amateur Judo Association president Rey Jaylo, in an interview with Eddie Alinea of PhilBoxing.com, even said that Rizal was the first Southeast Asian ever to master the art of the Japanese sport. So just think if Rizal is alive to this date. He might give us an Olympic gold or even dominate the PXC and the UFC because he's also knowledgeable in boxing! He even put up gyms in the cities of Calamba and Dapitan, which became the start of various judo grassroots programs there. No wonder why you should not mess up with the people in these cities.

Tough luck that basketball came to the Philippines in 1905, nine years after Rizal's execution at Luneta. But assuming he wasn't gunned down, he would have brought the game here earlier and would have become one of the premier point guards then. Anyway, these only show that our national hero also loved sports. He valued the Filipinos' physical abilities as much as he valued nationalism. Truly, Jose Rizal is a sports legend.