After the former Karate Club disbanded several years ago, there has been a lack of presence of a student organization dedicated to the martial arts. With a background of seven years in Tae Kwon Do, I was disappointed to only able to continue training when performing for the culture shows. However, there is a relatively new student-run club on campus called SMAC, the Student Martial Arts Club.
What is SMAC?
We’re (proudly) the only martial arts club on BC’s campus. We accept any student of any experience level and try to show them just how awesome training in martial arts can be, plus our instructors are all students (except for some professionals we bring in for seminars) and so we really try to bring the BC community together from that peer-perspective.
Why did you decide to start a martial arts club?
Back in freshman year (2011-2012), Chris Lucaj and Leslie Snapper were just regular students enthusiastic about their disciplines, and loved to talk about and demonstrate their knowledge. The now co-presidents would (semi)-playfully spar in our common room and hallway, which really caught the attention of our floor-mates. Sophomore year this continued until people were asking to join in and learn something, and after Chris attended a Muay Thai seminar on campus he went to Leslie with the intent of starting a club with her; we all saw students had the willingness to learn but no place for them to go. It quickly became a group project among our friend group, we had Leslie’s dad Dr. Snapper (professor in the Chemistry department, also trained in Taekwondo) sponsor us and drafted the club application.
We started really small, just us and friends in the Plex racquetball courts, but with the facebook page going up and more people heard of us, our turnout really started to improve and more people who shared our interests started to join practices regularly.
What is the primary goal of SMAC?
More than anything, we want to promote the lifestyle of engaging in martial arts to improve physical and mental health. Along the way, we really try to incite interest in the cultural awareness, mutual respect and community surrounding the disciplines we teach, plus bringing like-minded students together is always a great way to learn and have fun at the same time
What does your club offer BC students?
Simply put, a place to work together, train, learn from and prepare each other using martial arts as the medium. We want to provide a safe and accepting environment for this training, free of judgment and full of encouragement. From a practical standpoint, we teach you how to defend yourself in a variety of ways, and be ready when faced with conflict. On a deeper level, we try to build the person from the strength of the community, to inspire confidence in oneself and to work out, have fun and learn something along the way.
This semester, SMAC will be hosting classes on Monday (Muay Thai and GoJu-Ryu) and Thursday (Tae Kwon Do) nights from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in Eagle’s Nest. To get the most recent updates, like their Facebook page and sign up for their listserv. The group is also planning on ordering tank tops, so if you’re interested sign up on the Google Doc.
If you’re looking to further your martial arts knowledge or for something new to try, definitely look into SMAC. Their classes are a great workout
Photo Sources:
SMAC E-Board https://orgsync.com/71527/chapter