There aren’t usually many people swinging broad swords or spears on the floor of Johnson Gym.
No, it wasn’t a reenactment of any sort but a demonstration of several fighting styles at the fourth annual Martial Arts Expo at UNM. Several martial arts were on display including: karate, Japanese jujutsu, mixed martial arts, judo, fencing and Shoa-Lin Kung Fu.
The event was held to promote the numerous types of martial arts that are available at UNM. The Department of Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences held the event.
“I think this is the fourth year of this event and we’re starting to make an impact. More and more people in the community are learning about us,” research professor Andrew Yiannakis said. “We get emails from a number of people from around the country wishing us well. It’s one of those things that is still growing and it’s becoming a significant force in Albuquerque in terms of martial arts.”
Each martial art had about 15-30 minutes to showcase some of its abilities. Some of the more traditional martial arts like karate and Shoa-Lin Kung Fu had several weapons demonstrations.
The most physical part of the evening – besides the board breaking – was when the mixed martial artists displayed some of their skills. During the MMA portion, the group boxed, wrestled and worked submissions on each other.
Bruce Brethers, the President of the United States Ju-Jitsu Federation, was the distinguished guest of honor at the event. He said it was nice to witness the different types of martial arts come together to help promote each other.
“I think that these are educational, entertaining, and they raise interest and questions in people’s minds,” Brethers said. “Sometimes when you look at a small town or a city, the different schools don’t corporate so much because they look at each other as competitors. If you have this type of platform which brings people together in a very corporative type of environment it’s positive.”
With UNM offering several different types of martial arts, the University has talked about making a degree in martial arts a possibility. Yiannakis said a martial arts degree is still in the planning stages but it may be a reality soon enough.
“We are proposing a program in martial arts studies,” he said. “A student takes a number of martial arts courses and couples that with a theoretical background of Asian languages or military science or history. This will create more publicity in the media, an academic program in martial arts studies.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
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