Sixth Session

Matt, Cherie & Dylan.

We had 3 new attendees at W2FC this time and they were great! Joining us were Matt West (Boing Boing TV), Cherie Hurwitz (Buzznet) and Dylan Tarason (Gold Circle Films). Jessica Mae Stover (Artemis Aeternal) trained for an hour with us but had to leave early due to production deadlines. Everyone had some had prior training in other arts, so after a few minutes they picked up the basics of kickboxing quite rapidly and by the end they were doing six strike punch/kick combos (jab-cross-left hook-right hook-right roundhouse-left roundhouse). They were so good, we tried doing spinning back kicks and they each were able to pull off push kick-spinning back kick combos after just 2 hours of training. A little sweat and a lot of fun on a Sunday morning.

5th Session

Jessica, Kathleen, Rudy, Casey, Tracy, George and Sagid

Our 5th session concentrated on defending certain attacks and we practiced techniques against jabs and hooks. There was a fair amount of contact this time out but everyone controlled their power and no one got hurt. Overall, quite an impressive showing from Jessica Mae Stover (Aertimis Eternal), Kathleen Leonard (ICM), Casey McKinnon (Galacticast, A Comicbook Orange), Rudy Jahchan (Galacticast, Best. Zod. Ever), Tracy (The Man With No Las Name) and Sagid (guy who saw us in the park last time and joined in). Looking forward to see you there next time. More pictures after the jump.  Link

4th Session

Tracy, Mike, Dan, Ryan, Alex, George, John and Liz

Great turnout this session! Joining in the fun were Tracy (from the Twitterverse), Mike Outsmeguine (WiFi Toys), Dan Tischler (BBC WorldWide America), Ryan (Exec. Producer of MTV’s “Exiled”), Alex Albrecht (Diggnation, Project Lore, The Totally Rad Show), John Meadows (Savate tournament fighter), and Liz Shannon Mller (New TeeVee). We focused on Muay Thai and Savate techniques so there was a lot of punching, kicking, spinning, push-ups, and sparring. Everyone left happy and tired after two hours of training on a windy Sunday morning. Please join us next time!

More photos from this session and past meetings are here.

2nd Session Photos

No mercy at W2FC!

Sean readies to attack Lala

Sean readies to attack Dan. Sean is so violent.

Nerd punching drills. You can tell by the shirts.

All photos courtesy of Mike Outmesguine’s iPhone.

Second Meetup. Still No Casualties.

Bunny-ear'd. Note the Magic and Firefox T-shirts.

Great times at our second meetup. We had Mike Outmesguine from Wi-Fi Toys, Mystery Mike (didn’t get his last name and Mystery Mike sounds cool), Lala Fastwater from Tiki Bar TV, Sean Bonner from Metblogs LA and Dan Tischler from BBC America. After 2 hard hours learning the jab, cross, hook, uppercut, roundhouse kick, push kicks and spinning side kick, we finished off with some light sparring. It was the first time sparring for Dan, Mike O and Lala and they were truly awesome. I have the bumps to prove it.

We’ll be doing it again in 2 weeks, so get ready.

We Survived

Mike, Dan, Casey & George

Mike, Dan, Casey & Rudy were awesome.

The inaugural gathering of W2FC was a “smashing” success! We went over kickboxing basics and by the end of the two hour session everyone looked smooth as they delivered punch and kick combos. Lots of sweat, some dry heaving and a few tired muscles was the price to step outside of Sunday’s brunch zone and try something new.

We’ll do this again real soon. Thanks everyone for a really great time.

Welcome to Fight Club

Web 2.0 Fight Club is about collaboration and training among different martial arts practitioners who inhabit the web community. It’s not about banging, but instead about educating others in your fighting art. So far we have interested participants who have trained in boxing, muay thai, kenpo, tae kwon do, savate, kuk sool won and few other  esoteric arts. Over the course of several meetings you will have the opportunity to train and be trained by others.

We will drill and work pads until we grow comfortable with each other and our varying styles. Then we will have to the option to do some light contact sparring. No one will be required or pressured to spar. That will always be voluntary.

Our first meeting will held Sunday September 28, 2008 from 10am to 12 noon at Clover Park in Santa Monica. Please wear comfortable workout clothes (e.g., shorts and t-shirts but no gis) and wrestling shoes or cross-trainers. If you own any of the following it would be appreciated if you could bring them: jump-rope, boxing gloves, hand wraps, Thai pads, focus mitts and kicking shields. Since we’ll be outside for two hours, make sure to bring lots of water. If you think you might like to try sparring, please bring a mouthpiece, shin guards and groin protection.

The format for our first meeting will be as follows:

Warm-up,

Stretching,

Basic hand drills

Hand combinations

Kick fundamentals

Kicking drills

Hand and feet combinations

Advanced techniques

Stretching and cool down

Most of the drill and combinations will be done with partners and everyone will be constantly switching so you get a chance to train with everyone.

You will sweat, get a great workout and learn some new techniques. Mostly, it will be a lot of fun and you’ll meet lots of friends from the Web 2.0 and L.A. Twitter community. See you there.