martial arts

 

I've studied various forms of Martial Arts since I began taking classes at the age of 8. For quite a long time, I've used martial arts as my main source of athletic recreation. Of all sports I've ever played I find that the martial arts provide the most well rounded workout, including strength, flexibility and cardiovascular training. As well, I know that training in martial arts pushes me to think quickly, focus my instincts and understand my capabilities. While most martial arts are inherently competitive, with frequent sparring between combatants, I have found that, because of the culture surrounding most martial art forms and the types of people who enjoy these arts, that this competition is almost always  friendly and respectful.
 
 

North Carolina Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an art form that is similar to wrestling in that it involves a significant amount of ground work. The major difference from other wrestling forms is on the emphasis on various submission holds to incapacitate an opponent, making this art form very useful as a practical form of self defense. I just joined this club at the beginning of last semester. Although I haven't had time to attend many practice sessions, I found that this absolutely free club had great instruction and some great people.


York University Kick Boxing, Escrima, Grappling

While I did my undergraduate degree at York University in Toronto, Canada, I took several years of classes from the late Dale Johns. The first classes I took were in Muay Thai kickboxing. This gave me my first exposure to full contact martial arts. Muay Thai is a very practical art form which uses punching techniques similar to western boxing, traditional kicking techniques found in most asian martial arts, mixed with some distinctive elbow and knee attacks. The pace is very fast, providing a great cardio workout. 

The next martial art that I tried was called Escrima. This is a form of stick fighting from the Philippines which uses one or two, 2 foot long sticks. We learned various attacking and blocking patterns, as well as how to disarm an opponent of sticks, knives and other close combat weapons. 

The last set of classes I took was in grappling. This was very similar to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes I took later at UNC.

Dale Johns was an excellent instructor, and I know that I learned a lot from him. The school that he founded is one of the best martial arts schools in Toronto. Go to their web site, http://integralcombat.com, for more information on his school, as well as some very good MPEGs showing some of aspects of these various martial arts.




Frank Hill Tae Kwan-Do

I took Tae Kwan-Do from Master Frank Hill, an 8th degree black belt for over 11 years. I started when I was 8 years old and earned a black belt by the age of 13. By the time I stopped attending I had earned a 3rd degree black belt and was teaching weekly classes. Tae Kwan-Do is a Korean form of Karate which emphasizes kicking. Master Hill taught a modified version of the art form with emphasis on speed, blocking and light contact tournament fighting. Me experiences at this club gave me the basic martial arts skills that I refined with all of the other styles I've taken
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