Club Dojo kicks its way to a decade at Penn

For the past decade, passers-by have heard grunts and yells emanating from Hill House's Upper East Lounge four days a week. The martial arts club that makes those noises -- accompanied by kicks, punches and blocks -- is celebrating its 10th year on campus this semester. Club Dojo specializes in teaching students self-defense through ryukyu kempo --Ea Japanese martial art that emphasizes attacks on pressure points. Chas Terry, the club's shihan, or teacher, founded the group as a College freshman and Hill House resident in 1986. He is now a fifth-degree black belt and a resident doctor at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. "I try to give [students] a hard workout," Terry said. "I strive to make the time spent as efficient as possible." About 40 students dressed in white or black martial arts outfits -- called gi -- attend the weekly sessions. Classes are divided into a one-hour sections for beginners and another hour for advanced students, with a 30-minute overlap for calisthenics. "It's a great way to meet a lot of friends and get in shape? as we build confidence in ourselves," College senior and brown belt Matt Taff said. Club Dojo Vice President Polina Yampolska, a College sophomore, said class attendance was up this year, but didn't cite any reason for the increase. She added that she's glad to see an increase in women in the club this year. Terry not only teaches ryukyu kempo, but also modern arnis -- Filipino stick fighting -- and kenjutsu -- Japanese sword fighting. His medical background enables him to modify the traditional martial arts approach to engage participants in repetitive exercises that help boost fitness, he said. But increasing the heart rate isn't the class's only activity. Students also learn kata, memorized self-defense routines that have many applications, and engage in sparring, or organized fighting with strict limitations. Terry emphasized that students should "never lose sight of the self-defense aspect" of martial arts. So Club Dojo places special emphasis on practical application of skills. Students mainly learn what to do in "the real world," Terry explained. So 40 voices can be heard yelling -- the most powerful defense, Terry says -- from the lounge, and students learn how to avoid confrontation and act safely at all times before they take a single punch. The training seems to pay off in confidence. "I feel I have a much better chance of defending myself in the street than if I had not taken martial arts," Yampolska said. The class works to encourage discipline and respect as well. Students try to advance through a series of seven belts, from white to black. Black belts are known as sensei and are the most highly regarded. It takes three to four years to graduate to black belt level, and Terry is proud that 16 of his students in the past decade have made this honor. "Real training starts to take place [at this level]," Terry said. He dispelled the myth that a black belt is the highest level of martial arts: It is in fact a stepping stone for more advanced degrees, though they're hard to come by. Grandmasters of different martial techniques can be black belts of the 10th degree, but in his 22 years of learning, Terry has only trained with three people at this level.