Monday, October 29, 2007

Martial Arts Club in America: It's Like Training with Bruce Lee

Martial Arts Club teaches FSC students an art form they can become passionate about, like the club leader.





Kicking and punching through the air Eliot Prisby begins preparing for his Tuesday night karate class. Eliot knows that preparation and dedication are the most important things in karate, especially when you are starting the Fitchburg State College Martial Arts Club. “The club already existed at Fitchburg State College but it had been inactive, so I restarted it in the fall of 2004,” says Eliot. Eliot wanted to restart the club. “Martial arts was a very large part of my life before I came to college and I wanted to be able to continue doing martial arts while in school. I also have made it a goal of mine to help people, like my martial arts teachers helped me.”
The yelling from the martial arts classes echos off Thompson Hall in the Hammond Building, where the classes are held. Eliot was president of the martial arts club for three years and decided to resign this year. “I want the club to keep going after the older officers and I graduate”. Plus, being President of such a club is a lot of work. According to the Martial Arts Club website the President must, “mediate meetings, schedule classes and events, and make sure that all rules are being followed.” Also, if you are such a President as Eliot was, you create and maintain the website which is exactly what he did. Eliot was able to cross over something that he loves, martial arts, with something he is studying, communications media.
Eliot loves karate, which is why it is the theme of his live journal blog and why it will be hard for him to leave it for an internship this year. “I will miss the wonderful community of people in the club who helped make it what it is today”. Eliot also said that he would miss teaching but that it was something he definitely planned on doing in the future along with opening his own studio. But for now, Eliot will continue on with his Tuesday night class preparing his students for his Thursday night class and smiling, sweating, and yelling the whole way through.

1 comment:

Esjeur said...

I remember reading this in class in the fall. (I have a new site here in addition to my Krowness one for music purposes, both are updated constantly to this day, I think I have no life).