Martial Arts Festival Kicks Off the Week with Excitement

SUBANG JAYA, Selangor — Taylor's University led by the Karate Club recently organised a Martial Arts Festival on Taylor’s Lakeside Campus from 25 to 26 September.

The event is a collaboration with other martial arts themed clubs such as Taylor’s Taekwondo Club, Taylor’s Boxing Club and Taylor’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club.

The festival consisted of booths stationed across the Student Life Centre walkway and held performances at the Block A foyer. As many as ten diverse martial arts clubs and academies were present throughout the two-day event.

Each martial arts booth displayed their respective club or academy information, photos and equipment used for the sport. Booth activities such as ‘catch stick’ and punching games were the most popular as students surrounded the machines when volunteers tested their abilities.

A volunteer trying out the punching machine during the event.

(Source: Lean Jia Yao)

The first day of the martial arts showcase started off on an action-packed note, with exhilarating performances by Taylor’s Silat Fighters, Saha Champ Academy (Karate), Wushu Club and Fight Dynasty (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club).

“It's a very big honour to be given a chance to perform in Taylor's because I have also represented Taylor's for numerous university games”, said Mandy Cebelle Chen, 19, the Wushu exponent and Advertising and Brand Management student at Taylor’s University.

Mandy Cebelle Chen’s Taijijian (Tai Chi sword) showcase.

(Source: Chen Cher Hao)

The second day’s showcase featured a variety of educational demonstrations from the likes of FC Athletic Club, Capoeira, Sunway Judo Club, Monash Muay Thai, Team Arena (Taekwondo) and Taylor’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club. Club representatives explained the martial arts moves as they showcased their performance while inviting the spectators to try those moves themselves.

“To be honest, it's a really good experience for me because when I approached (the clubs), I had no idea what type of club they were”, Ilanggo Sivahmuhan, 21, president and one of the founding members of Taylor’s Karate Club said.

“They (sent) their performance to us and I was really surprised to see that there are actually people who do this kind of stuff, because there are different styles (and) performances, so I got to learn a lot from them”, added Sivahmuhan.