Martial arts festival kicks off

IU has the second largest martial arts program in the country, but recruiting large numbers of new members has been hard for many of the clubs. \nIn an effort to create new interest in the program, the IU Martial Arts clubs are playing host to the first ever Martial Arts Festival from 2 to 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Wildermuth Gymnasium in the HPER building.\n"We're doing this to showcase the martial arts clubs and to show the students what we have to offer," said Ross Durrer, one of the event organizers.\nNationally, only West Point offers more individual martial arts clubs than IU. \nDurrer said the main purpose of the festival is recruitment for the 12 different clubs in the martial arts program. Each club will have a desk set up on the perimeter of the gym with club information available to anyone interested.\nThe clubs will perform several demonstrations unique to their specific form of martial arts. Each club will give two demonstrations, with two different clubs performing at the same time. \n"This will be really cool especially because some clubs use mats and others don't," Durrer said. "Others use weapons which will be cool to watch."\nThe Hapkido club will give a weapons and self defense demonstration. In addition to the two demonstrations, the club will sponsor a fund-raiser for charity called "Beat the Mugger." For a donation, people in attendance will have the opportunity to literally, as Durrer said, "beat the crap" out of someone dressed in a padded suit. \nThe Taekwondo Club also has a diverse show lined up that shows the club's range of skill and talent, club president Theresa Conway said.\n"The Taekwondo Club has planned a very energetic and spirited demonstration for Saturday that will have everything from traditional forms, basic kicking and striking, to special breaking skills, sparring, and self-defense," Conway said. "Our demonstration represents the full range of our club and has beginning students through black belt students participating."\nHapkido Club president Meridith Hahn said she believes the festival will be an opportunity to show students who are not involved in martial arts what the programs are all about.\n"(The festival will) be also a place to see some very talented students show off what they've learned," Hahn said. "The important thing to remember is that anyone can study martial arts. You don't have to be strong, or fast, or flexible. You just have to come in with a good attitude and try your best."\nTaekwondo co-instructor Jim Thomas said he believes that IU's diversity and wide variety of cultures go hand in hand with the many different martial arts programs available on campus.\n"Indiana University is a truly unique martial arts experience," Thomas said. "The diversity here is simply phenomenal, and includes Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Philippine, Malaysian, Argentinean and Russian martial arts, as well as several others. There are few places on Earth where you can experience so many different styles."\nFor more information on martial arts programs at IU, visit http://php.indiana.edu/~rdurrer/.\n-- Contact staff writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.