<p>Does anyone know about the martial arts clubs(mainly taekwondo) on campus and how practices work. And whether you can tryout for competitions?
Also has anyone done kendo? I'm trying to decide what I should try, I've done Tae Kwon Do off and on during the years, but I'm open to new things.</p>
<p>I'm not in any martial arts clubs myself, at least not at the moment (I'm a rising senior), but half my friends are in the American Jiu-Jitsu Club, which always welcomes new people. Martial arts are extremely popular at MIT, and there's a huge number of disciplines/styles offered. There's both a taekwondo club and a varsity taekwondo team, and I think both of them allow people at all levels to join, and both of them are pretty hardcore about the rigor of practices, etc. I think both attend competitions, though you might want to double-check about the club. The varsity team is top-notch, one of the best in the country I believe.</p>
<p>The MIT varsity taekwondo team is one of the best in the collegeiate sport taekwondo world. Erica Chan and Christina Park are national level competitors and I believe Christina made the PanAm team a couple years ago, but I'm not completely sure. MIT also just recently hosted the collegiate championships this past February. Overall, its a great team and probably only second to Berkeley. Also, I think CW Taekwondo is nearby to MIT and has some good training partners if you're looking to train even more often.</p>
<p>If you're just looking to get back into traditional taekwondo, I think the club team would be good for that. If you want to get into competing, that's probably where the varsity sport taekwondo team comes in.</p>
<p>Are the MIT martial arts clubs/teams only for MIT students or can students of nearby colleges crossregister for those as well as for classes?</p>
<p>The Club Sports Council says
[quote=<a href="http://web.mit.edu/clubsports/who_compete.html">http://web.mit.edu/clubsports/who_compete.html</a>]
All competitors must be MIT affiliates (students, alumni, staff). Period.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sometimes club sports will bend the rules a little (cheerleading, for example, has allowed students from other area schools to practice with us), but it's against the rules for club sports. How far the rules are bent depends on the club.</p>
<p>I was on the MIT Sport TKD club for 3.5 years (2002-2006). The club/team holds practices 4 times a week, MWF for 2 hours (usually from 7-9), and on Sundays for 2 hours. During tournament season (basically all year), some practices might be 3 hours long. Monday/Wednesday practices usually focus on curriculum work, fine-tuning techniques, and poomse. Friday practices focus entirely on sparring and are meant for more advanced members. Sunday practices are open workout - anyone can come and work on whatever they want.</p>
<p>Master Dan Chuang expects club members who are committed to attend at least 2 practices a week. During tournament season, there are additional 1 hr competition workouts twice a week (usually held right after a MWF workout).</p>
<p>The team develops a great camraderie over the year - the team makeup is pretty evenly mixed, since we constantly have an influx of white belts every few months or so. We've just won four straight league trophies (2002-2006) and are aiming for a fifth.</p>
<p>Please email the instructors, <a href="mailto:sport-tkd-instructors@mit.edu">sport-tkd-instructors@mit.edu</a>, for more information.</p>