Savate Seminar with Nicolas Saignac

On April 20th 2011 we invited Professor Nicolas Saignac to instruct UCLA Martial Arts students in the art of French Kickboxing or ‘Savate’ also known as Boxe Francaise. With a great turnout of over 40 people Nicolas began by teaching the importance of footwork with some exciting drills.

The first drill was to follow your partner around, if they step back you step forward, if they step forward you step back, if they circle right you circle right etc….the purpose of the drill was to stay just out of range from your opponent but close enough so you can move in quick to strike at any time. To pick up the pace and make this drill more exciting Professor Saignac added in a little competition of trying to slap/touch the other persons front leg. While this is not an attack used in Savate it was a simple way to improve our ability to get our leg out of the way, the hand slap was simulating a kick.

The rest of the seminar was dedicated to learning the specific kicks in Savate; the chasse, fouette and revers. These kicks look very similar to many other martial arts, and one good question posed at the end of the seminar was “What makes Savate unique compared to other forms of kickboxing?” Nicolas answered with “the shoes” in Savateur’s wear a specific kind of show which is similar to a wrestling shoe, but with no tread on the bottom. In fact ‘Savate’ literally translates to ‘old shoe’. Another unique part of Savate is that you can only kick with the foot, you cannot use the shin or knee and you cannot ‘check’ or shield against kicks with your legs you have to get out of the way or redirect the kick using your hands, but this is usually a last resort, the main weapon in Savate is the ability to move out of the way then move in to strike with either your hands or feet.

(Nicolas demonstrating footwork to avoid a kick)

(Savate veteran John Meadows demonstrating a jump spin kick while Nicolas easily floats out of the way!)

After two hours of intense drilling everyone was quite satisfied with for some of them their first experience in Savate! The group met outside to drill Professor Saignac with questions about Savate, from the rules to competition opportunities and from testing to strategy for 45 minutes Nicolas answered all the students questions. Khun Kru Genelle Gaudinez (UCLA Muay Thai Instructor)  asked the poignant question of who to look up on You Tube to be able to see more of this exciting martial art; Nicolas spoke of old friends and competitors with admiration. See below for some videos of the Professor recommendations (click on names to see videos);

Bertrand Soncourt

Amri Madani

Farid Khider

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Bruin Day – Martial Arts Fest

On April 9th 15,000 prospective students and their families visited campus to see what UCLA has to offer. The UCLA Martial Arts Program was charged with providing martial arts instruction and demo’s to show these students how awesome UCLA is. We did not disappoint! From 10am to 5pm we have a bevy of martial arts students and instructors giving demos and classes.

(Approximately from the left – Capoeira, Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Muay Thai, Shotokan, Ninjutsu)

Much appreciation to the UCLA Instructors who came to the Bruin Day; Peter Asco (Tai Chi), Lance Wisdom (Ninjutsu), Clarrel Pope (Jeet Kune Do & Capoeira), Brandon Florian (Hapkido & Capoeira), Genelle Gaudinez (Muay Thai), Beth Hyatt (Shotokan), Jimmy Tang (Brazilian Jiu-jitsu), Kenji Osugi (Judo), Jonathan Auzenne (FMA). Many thanks also to all Assistant Instructors and students that participated in the first Annual Bruin Day Martial Arts Fest.

Left – Ashley Castro performing a particularly nasty Ninjutsu technique on newly promoted Black Belt Jean Paul Goncalves

Right – Brandon Florian performing a jump back crescent kick from Hapkido)

(Ligei (Clarrel Pope) in a very impressive Capoeira move!!)

Make sure to check out the UCLA Martial Arts Facebook page for more photos of the 2011 Bruin Day Martial Arts Fest!! All photos courtesy of Josephine Runneboom @ www.runnneboomphotography.com

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UCLA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team Competes at the Pans

Our own UCLA BJJ team traveled down to Irvine to compete at the Pan Ams and came home with invaluable experience.  Everyone had great fights and learned about their weakness and what they had to work on.  All results from the team are posted below.  In the near future, the UCLA BJJ team will be competing again on April 17th, and also at the Mundial tournament in early June.

(UCLA BJJ Team on the Podium!)

The Pan Jiu Jitsu Tournament is held once a year in Irvine California and is one of the largest tournaments in the world.  The best athletes from all over the globe travel to California to test their hard training with all the other competitors.  More than 1700 competitors competed over four days that filled up four full days of non stop action.  Champions were crowned, tears were shed, but most importantly, everyone had the right to say that they competed in one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world.

A highlight of the event was when UCLA Team Member Ray Ramirez took Silver Medal in the Super Heavy Weight White belt division. Check out Ray with his medal below!

(Ray Ramirez with his silver medal and at the podium)

Competitors:

Blue Belt:

Lightweight:
DoHun Kim
Record:
0 wins 1 loss
Loss by 1 advantage, 0-0.

Opponent went on to take 3rd in division

Sang Bae
Record:
0 wins 1 loss
Loss by points 2-0

Featherweight:
Toshi Miyatsu
Record:
1 win 1 loss
1 win by points 5-2
1 loss by submission (rear choke)

——-White Belts———

Super Heavy
Raymond Ramirez
Record:
2 wins 1 loss
2 wins by points
1 loss by points

Took silver medal in the Masters Super heavy division

Middleweight:

Pepe Gonzalez
Record
0 wins 1 loss
1 loss by points

Oliver Kamari
Record:
1 win 1 loss
1 win by Points
1 loss by points

Lightweight:

Jimmy Rivera
Record:
3 wins 1 loss
2 win by Points
1 win by DQ
1 loss by Submission (armbar)

Gracie mat making secrets revealed – Make your own mats

UCLA Newsroom Article – “Tai Chi beats back depression”

Researchers at UCLA turned to a gentle, Westernized version of tai chi chih, a 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art. When they combined a weekly tai chi exercise class with a standard depression treatment for a group of depressed elderly adults, they found greater improvement in the level of depression — along with improved quality of life, better memory and cognition, and more overall energy — than among a different group in which the standard treatment was paired with a weekly health education class.

Click to learn more –

• Click text for full article…
• Click photo to learn more about the UCLA Tai Chi class
• Click here to sign up for the UCLA Tai Chi class.

ARCHIVE – Daily Bruin Article on Dorm Martial Arts Classes – 5/1/1997

Check out this article on having self defense classes in the dorms. UCLA Martial Arts provides self defense classes to any group on campus and does about 6-7 ORL programs in the dorms every quarter. Lance Wisdom is our resident self defense instructor for the dorm classes. Click here to learn more about what Lance does in these classes.

Click here to read about how classes used to run almost 15 years ago!!

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE – UCLA vs Stanford Tornado Kick – 3/21/2006

Check out this awesome tornado kick during  a Taekwondo match between UCLA and Stanford

Over 3 millions views!!! Check out the UCLA Taekwondo Program at these sites;

UCLA Taekwondo Club – Facebook Page

UCLA Taekwondo Club – Website

UCLA Taekwondo Instructional Class – Webpage

UCLA Kendo Club – 4th Annual Yuhihai Tournament

The term “Yuhi” means “A great leap of bravery and ambition” The UCLA Kendo Yuhihai Tournament aspires to motivate students to challenge themselves through Kendo competition. The 4th Annual Yuhihai Tournament took place on the 6th of March 2011 and included 9 teams from around the country.

Kendo “The Way of the Sword“, has evolved from a nearly 2000 year old tradition of Japanese Swordsmanship. The concept of Kendo is to discipline the human character through the application of the principles of the Katana. The UCLA Kendo Club was founded in 2002 under the head instruction of Masaharu Makino, 7th Dan instructor form the Long Beach Kendo Dojo, to promote the art of Japanese Swordsmanship. The club strives to practice and teach proper Kendo, balancing competitiveness and self cultivation. The UCLA Kendo Club currently consists of a committed group of roughly 40 active participants ranging from undergraduate to faculty.

(UCLA Kendo Club at the 4th Annual Yuhihai Tournament)

Competitors from California and surrounding states as far as Massachusetts (Harvard), attended the tournament to compete in this ancient tradition of sword play. The tournament began with demonstrations from Kendo Masters with Katana’s and the UCLA Kyodo Taiko Drumming .

(Kata Demonstration by Uchidachi: Uk Hur Sensei, 7th Dan & Shidachi: Chuljoo Pak Sensei, 5th Dan)

(Click picture for a video of the Yuhihai tournament including a Taiko Drumming Demonstration from UCLA’s Kyodo Taiko)

How To Watch a Kendo Match;

The four main target area, each worth one point, are hit with strikes to the head (MEN), torso (DO), wrist (KOTE) or thrust to the throat (TSUKI). The competitors call their attempted strikes in a strong voice (KIAI), and strikes must be delivered with the upper third of the bamboo blade (SHINAI)). Even though it may appear that many strikes are finding their targets in the course of a match, a successful stroke must be coordinated with correct footwork, powerful kiai, good posture, and a strong follow through.

The three referees indicate points by snapping red or white flags overhead; at least two must agree for the point to be awarded. A fast crisscrossing of the flags at hip level means the official did not consider a strike valid. The match is halted after each successful point and resumed at center court. Two good points delivered simultaneously cancels one another and the match is stopped. Penalties are given for stepping out of bounds, dropping ones shinai, and poor sportsmanship. If a contestant accumulates two such penalties in the course of a match, one point is awarded to the opponent.

Individual matches are fought for two out of the three points over a period of 2-5 minutes. A scoreless or tied match my be extended until a deciding point is scored, though in preliminary matches a draw may be decided by a referees decision based on form, technique and fighting spirit. Team matches are usually fought in teams of three or five. Each individual competes with normal individual match rules ad regulations. To win the team match the team has to win more individual matches that the opponent. If the number of won matches is the sames on both sides, the victor is decided by number of points scored If the number of points and matches won are the same, each team selects a member to compete in a sudden death match to determine the winner. (Courtesy of Southern California Kendo Organization)

The UCLA Kendo Club in Association with the UCLA Martial Arts Program wishes to thank all the competitors and teams in the 4th Annual Yuhihai Tournament and looks forward to seeing them next year. Special Congratulations to the winners of the tournament UC Riverside.

15th Annual Collegiate Wushu Tournament at UCLA

Congratulations to the UCLA Wushu Club, this past weekend (3/5/11) they hosted the 15th Annual Collegiate Wushu Tournament in the Student Activities Center. 27 Teams competed against each other in ‘forms’ which include techniques from various Chinese martial arts. Many of the forms include acrobatic and aerial moves which the competitors move across the floor in various orders. Some forms have the same techniques some have variations from school to school. But all are very impressive to watch, see below;

(Click the picture to watch a video of Stefan Wojciechowski – Co President of the UCLA Wushu Club, performing a form during the tournament)

While watching the tournament, I kept hearing a single chant to encourage the competitors, this chant was “Jiayo” and it means to ‘add oil’ or gas, like fuel to a fire. When I asked the UCLA Wushu Club President what the chant meant he expanded on how rival teams cheer for each other and what the collegiate tournament means to him;

“For me, the Wushu Collegiates shows true sportsmanship. There is no malice between rivals and it is common that your arch rival will lead the cheer for you as you compete. That strong sense of community and friendship and the ethic that we are about improving ourselves and our expression through martial arts, is what made me really love this sport and want to provide that opportunity to other college students.”

–Stefan Wojciechowski (UCLA Wushu Club President)

UCLA A team took 2nd place group set, losing by only .01 to Berkeley UCLA Wushu’s biggest rival! UCLA also took 2nd place in the overall team competition, again coming second only to Berkeley, Stefan said that Berkeley has a massive club with many schools in the bay area to train with, this makes them a force to contend with. Individually the UCLA Team received nine 1st place, eight 2nd place and three 3rd place medals. To see all the individual UCLA achievements check out the list below;

Julie Wang 1st place Beg Female Straight Sword
Chris Hoo 2nd place Beg Male Staff
Josephine Lee 2nd place Int Traditional Open Empty Hand
Andy Huang 2nd place Int  Male Traditional Open Empty Hand
Candace Sy 2nd place Int Female Traditional Open Empty Hand
Christine Truong 3rd place Int traditional Open Empty Hand
Karen Mok Adv Female Southern Fist 1st place & Adv Female Broadsword 1st place
Erin Wu 1st place Adv Female Straight Sword, 3rd place Adv Female Spear & 2nd place Adv Female Taiji Sword
Jarrad Lee 3rd place Adv Male Yang Taiji, 1st place Adv Male 42 Form Combined Taiji, 2nd place Adv Male Taiji Sword & 2nd place Adv Male Internal Open Empty Hand
Elaine Ho 1st place Adv Female Internal Open Weapon & 1st place Adv Female Internal Open Empty Hand
Janice Chan 1st place Int Female Straight Sword
Ernest Wong 1st place Beg Contemporary Open Weapon
Stefan Wojciechowski 2nd place Adv Contemporary Open Weapon

(Karen Mok with one of her medals)

List of schools that competed in the 15th Annual Wushu Collegiates;

1. UC Davis

2. UC San Diego

3. UC Berkeley

4. UC Irvine

5. UC Riverside

6. UC Santa Cruz

7. UC Hastings

8. University of Washington

9. University of Southern California

10. University of Oregon

11. University of Maryland College Park

12. University of Virgina

13. Northern Arizona University

14. Stanford

15. De Anza College

16. Cal Poly Pomona

17. College of Alameda

18. L’Academie de Cuisine

19. San Jose Community College

20. LCC

21. California State University Fullerton

22. California State University Northridge

23. SCC

24. San Jose State University

25. RHC

26. City College of San Francisco

27. UCLA

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COMPETITION SUPPORT – UCLA Kendo Tournament

COME OUT THIS SUNDAY AND SUPPORT THE UCLA KENDO CLUB!!

WHEN – Sunday March 6th (9am-6pm)

WHERE – Student Activities Center

WHAT – 4th Annual Yuhihai Tournament

Kendo (剣道, kendō), meaning “Way of The Sword”, is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional samurai swordsmanship, or kenjutsu. Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements. Click here to see the official Yuhihai Tournament website.

To learn more about the tournament’s history, and to listen to UCLA Kendo club members talk about what Kendo means to them, click the pictures below to listen to a UCLA Radio post, watch slow motion video of the All Japan Championships and to see USC vs. UCLA in last years tournament!!

(Click the picture to listen to the technical, emotional and historical aspects of UCLA Kendo)

(Click the picture to watch an awesome video of the All Japan Kendo Championships, it shows excellent slow video of each winning point!)

(Click the picture for a video of last years tournament – USC vs UCLA)