Every week, around 100 students step onto the mats of the Martial Arts Club in Forker Hall to practice taekwondo, judo and hapkido.
One of the first things that stand out when walking into the training room is the respect these students have for the art, their teachers and each other.
As each student walks in, they bow to the room. Then, the student bows when they step on the mat and then again to their teachers and fellow students.
While respect is such an important part of the club, building community and having fun doesn’t take a backseat. Junior Skyler Smart is the club’s president in her third year of training taekwondo with a brown belt. Through all of her training, she said she has a favorite part.
“I just love the community that it brings in and the discipline that comes with it,” Smart said. “Yeah, I’ve met some of my best friends through practicing.”
Taekwondo is the largest art for the club, with 30 to 40 students actively participating and training.
A Korean striking art, taekwondo focuses on not just physical skills, but mental skills as well. It rests on five tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit.
The physical aspect of the sport relies heavily on kicking but involves other strikes as well, and is broken down into three parts.
Poomsae is the focused on form and mastering the movements of taekwondo. Kyorugi is the sparring element, and gyeokpa is the art of breaking boards.
Sparring has become a larger part of taekwondo in recent decades and is an Olympic sport. The club participates in tournaments around the United States, which involve both sparring and form competitions.
“We are going to Brookings, South Dakota Nov. 8 for another tournament,” Smart said. “So that’s just going to be a fun time for us to continue bonding as a team and to just show our skills to other people.”
Junior Lauren Nielsen joined the club this semester and trains in all three arts.
“Everyone is really welcoming to new people,” Nielsen said. “We see new people every single week, every single time we go in there. You just put on athletic clothes. You don’t need a uniform or anything.”
The club offers a three-week free trial, and then dues are $100 a semester, which is more affordable for students than many academies.
In addition to taekwondo, the martial arts club offers judo and hapkido.
Judo, another Olympic sport, originating in Japan, is a grappling art, focused on using throws, pins and submission moves to neutralize opponents.
Of the three, judo is the most focused on sparring. It is very relevant in American culture, as its most famous offshoot is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, and mixed martial arts at large, would not exist if it were not for judo and its offshoots.
Hapkido is another Korean martial art that uses striking, grappling and weapons training. Of the three, hapkido is the least dependent on sparring.
On top of the club, Iowa State offers one-credit Kinesiology courses in all three arts.
The Martial Arts Club trains Monday through Thursday. Information can be found on the Iowa State website or on the martial arts club’s Instagram page @martialartsatisu.
