| | Published June 23rd, 2010
| Trying Something New is Simple
| | Submitted by Norman Link and Jane Youn |  | | Jane Youn (in white) and UC Berkeley student Carolyn Orson placed third in the Weapons Demo category at the 2010 Yongmudo Championship. Their weapon of choice? The belt. Photo Lily Chou
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Finding an activity you enjoy can be as simple as walking into a martial arts school to see what it's about. That's how it happened for Moraga mom Jane Youn, who spent a couple of years training at The Karate and Fitness Place in Moraga. When she switched jobs and started working in Berkeley, she stumbled upon the Yongmudo Club at Cal. A few years later, she is now working on her last step towards earning her black belt.
What is Yongmudo? It's a mixed martial art that focuses on practical self-defense with an emphasis on safety. It uses kicks and strikes like karate and taekwondo; throws like judo; joint locks and wrestling like jujitsu.
Many people think martial arts is largely about strength, but one needs wits and wiles to figure out what would be the best technique to use on your opponent.
For Youn, practice is like a dynamic, ever-changing puzzle in human form. There is a diverse group of people to work with: one minute you are doing wrist techniques with a 38 year old professor, then bag work with a 24 year old grad student, then you are throwing a 50 year old local judge.
Go to http://www.ucmap.org/ for more information about Yongmudo and other UC Berkeley martial arts clubs.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA