Welcome, With Strong Spirit

MAC

“Professor Forrester shows the club a great combination of discipline and kindness: kindness to each other, to your partners,” says Zijie Zhang '17. “And that changed me, and it seems everyone.”

The Martial Arts Club has a place for everyone who’s interested

by Tony Moore 

A lot of things could leap to mind with the term “Martial Arts Club.” Maybe UFC or MMA. How about spinning nunchucks and flying slo-mo kicks?

Well, none of those captures Dickinson’s Martial Arts Club, where you're more likely to find serious students, and serious camaraderie.

“While we’re officially designated as a club, we operate more like a school, in that we offer a lot of formal instruction,” says Associate Professor of Mathematics Dick Forrester, the fifth-degree black belt who is the club's founder, advisor and head instructor.

The Martial Arts Club was formed as the Chidokwan Karate Club, but recently students with backgrounds in a variety of styles started teaching alongside Forrester, prompting a name change. Now students come in the door with some Muay Thai or taekwondo under their belts (or often no experience at all), and Forrester and more advanced members work with them to form a cohesive group.

Zijie Zhang ’17 (international business & management, economics), the president of the Martial Arts Club, brought with him a background of sanda, a form of Chinese kickboxing. Now, as a senior member, he’s also one of the instructors.

“Our main goal for the club is to teach students self-defense—hand-to-hand, takedowns, hip-throws, hand-throws,” he says. “We keep it simple for newcomers, and everyone is really friendly, and we make sure everyone respects his or her partner.”

 

martial arts club workout

 

 

 

 

 

Tournament success

In November the club members took part in their first tournament, the Battle in Hershey. The tournament turned out to be a great motivational tool, and they saw their skills improve greatly in the weeks leading to it.

“It was a great goal for all of us to strive for, especially students new to the club,” says student instructor Desmond Carpenter ’16 (East Asian studies), who just returned from a year abroad in Beijing. “Something Professor Forrester stressed to us was that if we have something like this to train for, the training feels more important.”

And the training paid off: Of the eight students who participated, six won trophies. Zhang, Noel Bryant-Nanz ’18 (anthropology) and Meredith Davis ’18 (undeclared) all took third in their divisions, Nam Nguyen ’18 (environmental studies) took second in his and Anthony Del Vecchio '17 (law & policy) and Mike Sinclair ’18 (archaeology) took first in theirs. For Del Vecchio, the tournament success was a great culmination of what he’s been learning.

“I came to the club toward the end of my first year,” he says. “I was apprehensive at first, not sure if I really wanted to join, but then I did it, and it’s really taught me discipline, going in each day for practice, and the moves come naturally now.” 

Del Vecchio’s feelings on the club and his good fit with it are echoed by others, and for a variety of reasons.

“We bring in students from every part of campus, and we see each of them gain confidence, in the club and beyond,” says Carpenter. “There are club members I would not have known otherwise, coming from fraternities, sororities, other clubs and sports teams, all from different majors. We get a lot of international students as well. And that's great to see.”

Tight-knit group

Zhang has found something of a home away from home with the club, and it’s just one more reason that it’s so popular among members.

“When I sometimes think, ‘I'm here in a different nation speaking a different language,’ the club really gives me a sense of friends and trust,” says the three-year member. “We work out together, practice together and encourage each other. I love our club, because we're so tight now.”

Based on Zhang's experience, the club seems to be delivering on its motto: “All are welcome to participate here, with strong spirit.”

Beginner classes are on Mondays and Thursdays, and in the fall semester there were about 20 beginners taking part. Ten students were in the advanced classes, which are held on Wednesdays and Fridays. All classes are held in the lower level of Goodyear, 5-6 p.m. Students looking for a new way to exercise their bodies and minds, to learn self-defense tactics or to work out and bond with like-minded students should contact Zijie Zhang at zhangzi@dickinson.edu for more information.

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Published January 5, 2016