Winnipeg teen martial artist strengthens cultural ties with each kick, strike and blow

WhenJayzellePolicarpioruns through her sikaran and arnismartial arts forms, the championship athlete is doing more thankicking butt.

"As a Filipino-Canadian who has not been to the Philippinesor cannot speak the language, learning the sport and doing it is the closest thing to me to being in touch with the motherland," the 14-year-old said.

Policarpiostarted taking sikaran and arnis in Winnipeg when she was nine and was hooked. In October 2022, five years later,she won silver and bronze medalsat the World Karate Championship in Killarney, Ireland.

Policarpio'spassionfor martial arts and her journey to the world stage isnow the subject of a short video by students in theCreate programat Sisler High School in Winnipeg. The post-high program trains students in the creative digital arts, including filmmaking.

Create students Caryl Jazz Cruz, 18,Fateh Brar, 21, andTekie Gebrehawaryat, 19,produced the new video.

The short videowas produced as part of CBC Manitoba's Project POV: Sisler Create, an ongoing video storytelling collaboration.

Meet the filmmakers

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba's Project POV: SislerCreate is a storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBCManitoba journalists to produce short docs. The collaboration is in its second year. Past projects can be found here.

During fall 2023, CBC journalists taught storytelling to filmmaking studentsand led producing workshops over several weeks at theCreate program at Sisler High School.

The post-high school programfocuseson education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.