Men and women breaking boards and slamming bodies were applauded at a martial arts demonstration hosted by the Pi Delta Psi fraternity brothers on Monday night in the Alumni Arena wrestling room.
Representatives from four UB martial arts clubs, each devoted to a separate discipline, were on hand to demonstrate their styles to approximately 60 students in attendance.
Brian Chang, a senior communication major and Pi Delta Psi brother, said the event showcased Asian American culture, which he said has been underrepresented at UB in the past.
The free show featured demonstrations of seido karate, tae kwon do, goju ryu and jiu jitsu.
Sensei Jeff Evenson, a fourth-degree black belt who has studied seido for 17 years, represented the Seido Karate Club. Evenson said seido "does not develop fighters, it develops people."
According to Evenson, the personal discipline Seido helps develop was evident in the group's well-rehearsed, synchronized series of movements known as "katas."
Both the basic technique and more complicated routines were presented in the seido demonstration, with the finale being a rehearsed bout between two of the club's black belts.
The tae kwon do presentation was more action-packed than the seido demonstration, including various katas, students breaking wooden boards and displaying Olympic-style sparring.
"Notice the snap, the power and the concentration," said tae kwon do co-head instructor Lauren Dunn, a senior psychology major, about the katas. "You need all these aspects to perform the form completely."
Dunn later participated in a minute-long sparring match.
Hyun Woo Lim, the Tae Kwon Do Club's other head instructor, displayed his abilities by kicking and breaking three separate boards after a running leap.
The next martial art showcased was goju ryu, which, according to instructor Kareem Simmons, is a more aggressive marital arts form.
Simmons, a senior communication major, is a black belt who began studying goju ryu 14 years ago. He said the discipline, which he has been teaching at UB since his sophomore year, is both "forceful" and "unique."
The goju ryu demonstration was the fastest paced of the evening, although Simmons slowed down some of the movements so the audience could "understand how goju works."
"We don't teach you things that you can't do, like a flying kick or jumping kick," Simmons said. "Our main focus is to work with what you got, what you have."
For the final presentation, a group of Brazilian jiu jitsu students captured the audience's attention with a martial arts form that resembled grappling.
According to the performers, Brazilian jiu jitsu is a form of ground fighting based more on leverage than size.
Tim Gera, a freshman undecided major, said he began training in jiu jitsu last summer and that the form is not as aggressive as other types of martial arts.
"If the other martial arts are rock hitting rock, this is water and rock," said Andy Taylor, a junior media studies major. "It's peaceful fighting."
According to Evenson, the demonstration was worthwhile for his club because it exposed a large group of students to seido karate. "It's good to show people about what the martial arts are," he said.
Amanda Dolan, a senior physics major who participated in the tae kwon do presentation, agreed. "It's always fun to come out and do something," she said. "Especially to see other martial arts."
