2005 Arnold Martial Arts Festival

[BennyMeng]

The Arnold Martial Arts Festival is fast approaching. As in years past, Master Benny Meng will be heading up the Wing Chun Division. And as in years past there will be a Wing Chun Division Grand Champion.

The Wing Chun Division includes:
Forms (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
Chi Sau (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
and Wooden Dummy (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)

To compete in the Grand Championship, participants must compete in all three Wing Chun Events as well as Sparring. This year, in order to make a stronger Chinese martial arts presence, all Sparring will be Sanshou. Sanshou includes kicks, strikes, and sweeps/takedowns. There are three levels to Sanshou competition: A, B, and C:

A) No body gear, No head gear, No shin gear, Head techniques are allowed.
B) Body gear is optional, Head gear is required, Shin instep gear is required, Head techniques are allowed.
C) Body gear required, Head gear required, Shin instep gear required. NO HEAD TECHNIQUES ALLOWED.

The Wing Chun Grand Championship requires participants compete at the C level of Sanshou.

The Sanshou events will be held Saturday Morning and the Wing Chun events will be held Saturday Afternoon.

You can register for the event by visiting:
http://www.arnoldmartialarts.com/registration%20form.html

Students can also register to compete in the Taekwondo Division: Forms, Breaking and/or Sparring. Taekwondo events will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

[BennyMeng]

There has been a lot of interest about the Arnold Martial Arts Festival. Here’s what’s going on:

Master Meng will be running the Wing Chun Division on Saturday, starting at noon and a Wing Chun workshop. Master Meng’s workshop is going to be held in Room C-222 from 5:30-6:30. It’s $50 for the workshop and you can register on-site. For all Adult Students, this workshop is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Master Meng also be presenting the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy on at the Night of Strength III, 5-9 on Friday night – 2nd floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Past attendees of this event include:

Kim Wood – long time NFL strength Coach
Randall Strossen – editor, MILO: Journal for Serious Strength Athletes
Pat Povilaitis – superstar stone lifter and nail bender
Bob Karhan – strongman
Richard Sorin – the first ever Captain of Crush
David Webster – strength historian
Dave Draper – 1965 Mr. America, 1966 Mr. Universe, and 1970 Mr. World
and many more…

Saturday’s competition begins at 8:00. The plan is to have students and families meet at the Huber School around 9:00 and then car-pool up as a group. Parking is always an adventure and the less vehicles we bring, the better. This week we’re putting together a list of people interested in going. Please contact the Huber office at (937) 236-6485 and let us know your name, the # of people attending and the time you need to be back in Dayton. The Festival is pretty much an all-day event but if people need to leave early, we’d like to coordinate as much as possible ahead of time. Students of all ages are encouraged to attend.

The day goes until 7:30 with numerous events to watch including touring the Arnold Fitness Expo (a MASSIVE event in itself). Saturday’s martial arts events include: Chinese martial arts, San Shou (Chinese Full-Contact Fighting), Karate, Specially Challenges Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Kali, Judo, Aikido, and Gracie Submission Arts/Jujitsu.

The spectator fee (for all events) is $10 per person AND children 10 and under FREE when accompanied by an adult. Due to space and safety considerations, strollers are not permitted on the premises. Tickets are available at the door.

There will also be a Taekwondo seminar by Master Greg Baker on Saturday @ 11:15-12:15 pm. Master Baker is a friend of Master Meng's and the two of them used to compete against each other in the 1980s. Master Baker is a five-time National Champion and took Bronze at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His workshop is $50 as well in room C-221.

The plan this year is to take students up and let them see what’s going on at the tournament. It can be a little intimidating the first time you’re there so we don’t want the added pressure of competition. Next year, we’ll plan on putting together a team to compete in forms and sparring. And to help prepare for the 2006 Arnold Martial Arts Festival, we’ll also be having our annual Meng’s Martial Arts School Tournament this year in the summer. This gives students an opportunity to experience a tournament in a positive, supportive environment before going to larger tournaments outside the Meng’s family.