Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Galib Ahmad [Click to enlarge]

The Mixed Martial Arts club at Sac State is starting off fresh from last semester. The club is building its foundation from the ground up after last semester's founding instructors mysteriously stopped showing up to teach the club.

Member Matt Thompson has taken over the reins of the MMA club. After just two sessions last semester, Thompson quickly fell in love with the sport and has made it a priority to keep the club up and running.

"It pretty much fell apart toward the latter half of the semester last year. Basically, me and a group of 3 other guys pretty much took it over and started doing our own thing. At the beginning of the spring semester we started off fresh and did a lot of recruiting on campus. We pretty much got things going again from the ground up," said Thompson, who also serves as the club's president.

The MMA club is free of charge and gives its members the opportunity to learn from experienced instructors with different martial arts backgrounds.

"We have two designated instructors. We have a stand up kickboxing instructor and we also have a jujitsu instructor who works on the ground game with us. It's volunteer and they give up their time for free so it's awesome," added Thompson

The club has been busy promoting events and trying to recruit new members by setting up tables in the quad and posting flyers around campus. Members have tried to spark interest in the club primarily through word of mouth.

"Once people came, their friends came and then their friends came. Pretty much a lot of people started talking about it and that is why we have so many people now," said Martin Osier, who also serves as the club's vice president and treasurer.

Sophomore business major Nick Kouba is a new member that previously trained in San Diego before moving to Sacramento for school. He sees the club as a great way to continue practicing MMA without having to pay hefty initiation fees or gym membership.

"This is my first semester with the club. I joined because I don't have the time and money to work out at another gym. So it works with my work and school schedule, and its free and it has some good instructors who I can learn from," said Kouba.

Although the club at Sac State is free of charge, many of the members pay to study Muay Thai kickboxing and Jujitsu techniques at a local gym to receive further training. They then teach what they learned to members in the MMA club.

"We've been taking lessons at Muay Thai Lao on Howe Avenue while also taking our jujitsu lessons there. After doing it for awhile we started getting pretty good at (martial arts), then it started to become fun. It's all about having a good time with some friends while doing something you enjoy," Osier said.

The club has recently been awarded a grant from Sac State that has been used to buy equipment such as pads and head gear for members to use while sparring. Thompson believes that the club is finally headed in the right direction under the new leadership.

"We've got big plans for the club. We're hoping to potentially hold a mixed martial arts cage fight. It's been our dream for awhile to hold a Sac State vs. UC Davis cage fight for awhile. It's going to take a lot of work but it's a lofty goal for us. It's definitely something we're looking into in the near future."

The club practices from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday in Yosemite Hall.


Michael Mital can be reached at mmitcal@statehornet.com

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