Breaking the Ice

The sounds of shouts, clapping and the thuds of bodies hitting mats filled the Ora L. Wildermuth basketball courts Saturday as a dozen groups gathered for the latest installment of the Martial Arts Fest.

While raffle prizes and the video game Tekken 5 might have provided some allure, the main draws were demonstrations from groups like North Star Capoeira, IU Police Department Sgt. David Rhodes’ small-circle jiu-jitsu group and student organizations such as the fencing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, hapkido and tae kwon do clubs.

“Capoeira’s dance, too,” Contra-Mestre Iuri Hart Santos told his audience as he demonstrated his art, which might look like slow-motion break-dancing to the untrained eye. “We samba, we samba, we tap, we tap, and we kick.”

Many students came for the variety the martial arts community can provide.

“I’ve been trying to get more involved in the martial arts program here,” junior Breitegan Paules said.

Paules began studying tae kwon do at age 7 and has since dabbled in jeet kune do, Capoeira, Hapkido, Muay Thai and Filipino martial arts.

“I didn’t really get into martial arts as a community until I came to college,” Paules said. “I feel very much that I’m still a beginner, and we’re all still learning.”

Some students came with a specific discipline in mind. Freshman Katie O’Connor said she fenced in high school and came out Saturday because she is considering joining the club here.

Doctoral student Chris Silvia said he brought his daughters, 6-year-old Sadie and 4-year-old Shea, to the event so they could see all the different arts. Silvia himself used to study aikido and said he is teaching the girls.

Many of the clubs emphasized the self-defense applications of their styles.
“I think you need to be able to fight standing up and on the ground,” Rhodes said. “You’re all the same height on the ground.”

Rhodes demonstrated techniques for disarming an attacker armed with anything from a machete to a gun.

“You have to think on your feet,” said instructor Cody Sexton during his club’s judo demonstration. “That’s one of the most important things in a fight.”

Other arts, like the t’ai chi ch’uan club, focus as much on the health benefits as much as, if not more than, fighting applications.

“It’s an internal martial art, so it’s very soft, very slow,” said club instructor Ross Durrer. “I started when I was a student here at IU, and it was great for stress.”
Each club said no experience is necessary to join.

Whether for the exercise, the company or the reassurance of knowing self-defense, organizers seemed happy with the attendance.

“I think we had a good turnout, better than I expected,” said hapkido club president Brian Pike, lead organizer for the event. “All the clubs had pretty good demonstrations.”

While Pike will graduate this year, he said he hopes the clubs will make this an annual event. In the more immediate future, both the hapkido and Brazilian jiu-jitsu clubs plan to have public self-defense seminars this semester.