RSCO Feature: Martial Arts Club

RSCO+Feature%3A+Martial+Arts+Club

Bella Lee, Staff writer

Are you a master in kung fu, taekwondo, or Brazilian jiujitsu? Do you want to learn self-defense mechanisms for if you were ever confronted by a danger? Do you want to be the coolest fighter in town, but you just don’t know where to start? If your answer to any of these questions was yes, then the Martial Arts Club is for you.

“Martial Arts Club is a place for everyone whether you have years of experience or have never thrown a kick before,” said Julianne Johnstone, sophomore Forensic Science major and president of the club. “The focus of the club is to teach martial arts. I draw from my background in Tae Kwon Do and teach what I can to new members. This semester we have focused more on kicks and self-defense at our meetings. We cover basic kicks and combinations and we have done some work with evading and defending against punches and how to get out of certain grabs. I also like to incorporate games into the meetings because that can make everything more fun. One meeting we did a martial arts version of Simon Says and have also played some self-defense games as a form of practice.”

Like many clubs, the Martial Arts Club has had to change things for the pandemic. “The club this year was small in numbers, but we have been working on different ways to recruit members and keep them engaged in the club,” said Johnstone. “We had two events that we did this year. Last semester we had a Zoom session with the kids at the JFK Center and it was really nice to get to work with them and to show the kids some different kicks and punches. Then this semester we partnered with MAC/SAC and did one of their weekend events. It was called ‘Kick It!’ and we demonstrated some different self-defense techniques and taught some other combinations of kicks and punches.”

The Martial Arts Club hopes to continue its endeavors in the fall and bring in new members in the process. “As far as plans for the future we hope to keep recruiting new members in the Fall and to continue to have fun,” said Johnstone. “I would also love to recruit members with different martial arts experience so that they could share what they know with the club and we could learn from each other.”

If you’re wondering what clubs to join next year, keep the Martial Arts Club on your mind! You can impress others with your newfound skills or use them to take down bad guys should you confront them. Be sure to reach out to Johnstone or Dr. Joseph Johnson, the club’s advisor, if you’re interested!