De Anza Associated Student Body President Marlo Alvarado Custodio founded “FIGHT club” two years ago. The club takes a teaching and training oriented approach to martial arts, rather than focusing solely on the fighting aspect.
“The purpose of our club is to train and condition ourselves in the various forms of martial arts; whether it is Korea’s tae kwon do, Russia’s sambo, Japan’s karate, Brazilian jiu jitsu, American wrestling, China’s san shou, Thailand’s muay thai, western boxing or Israel’s krav maga” Custodio said. The club separates itself from the negative image normally associated with most fight clubs. Their practices and methods are legal and follow recommended safety procedures.
Their focus on different styles of fighting is their way of paying tribute and respect to different cultures and their methods. They aim to unify all of the different martial arts by finding unique qualities in each of them and applying them to other forms of martial arts.
The club had 30 members last quarter, but is not recognized as an official club this quarter.
“Many of us have been training independently due to the conflict of class accessibility. That is why we are not an official club this semester,” Custodio said. “I have been training diligently with passion. I train two times a day on weekdays and once on Sundays.”
The goal of the club is to inspire its members to maintain self confidence, express themselves through the art of martial combat, push their bodies to the furthest limit and study the historical and philosophical values and virtues of combatart forms. Through a combination of martial combat and literary teachings, Custodio wants the club to achieve the feel of an actual college course, while providing the environment for physical training. Custodio, along with club member Alex Sia, competed in two-minute exhibition bouts of Muay Thai kickboxing at the Asian Street Festival in San Francisco on May 15.
There are plans to turn “FIGHT Club” into an official De Anza club next quarter. In the meantime, Custodio wants to focus on De Anza Student Body projects, as well as his employment at De Anza’s Institute of Community and Civic Engagement.
