Spotlight: Mixed Martial Arts club

COURTESY // @ssu.mma.club on instagram

Spirited group of Seawolves gather for a picture after practice.

With all the craziness that has happened so far this semester in Rohnert Park, from creepy clowns to on campus stabbings, I think it’s safe to say that we could all learn some self-defense techniques in case we find ourselves in a dangerous situation. The Mixed Martial arts club offers just that. With practices every Thursday at 7 p.m. in International hall 104, the MMA club offers a variety of self defense techniques through different forms of martial arts. Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, kickboxing, and Muay Thai are some of the main focuses of this semester. 

The STAR was able to interview the president and coach of the MMA club, senior and          wine business and psychology major, Shaemus Cullen. Cullen has been involved in the MMA club since he was a freshman. He has been doing jiu-jitsu since he was three years old, but did not start competing until four years ago. When asked what types of martial arts the club will focus on this semester, this is what he had to say, “We are training mostly Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but I like to throw in a little kickboxing, Muay Thai, and wrestling every once in a while. I mostly teach BJJ because that is what I have the most experience with and that is what I am the most comfortable with teaching to others. An added bonus is that BJJ is the safest martial art to practice since there is no striking, it’s just grappling and it focuses a lot on technique.” 

Although the club is up and running now, it did have its struggles through these last two years because of the pandemic. Obviously, because of the physical contact between club members, the pandemic made it extremely difficult to hold practices without breaching COVID-19 regulations. The club was previously known as the Brazilian jiu jitsu club and had to be relaunched as the mixed martial arts club, as other martial arts like kickboxing require less physical touch and can be performed on punching bags and dummies. Cullen went on to discuss what the club has turned into since the pandemic, “ The MMA club has had a lot of struggles since the pandemic. Pre-Covid the MMA club was the Brazilian jiu jitsu club and it actually won club of the year multiple times in a row. When I took the club over in 2021, I knew that we were going to have issues with maintaining Covid guidelines, so I transitioned and rebranded the BJJ club to the MMA club to allow for COVID safe Kickboxing practices, until restrictions began to relax.” 

Lastly, Cullen spoke on the benefits of joining the club, “The benefits of joining this club are finding a community that will embrace you no matter who you are, and taking on the challenge of a new hobby. I think that BJJ and MMA have a lot to offer to people in their personal development if they take on the craft wholeheartedly. Personally, I think that MMA has made me a much stronger and more consistent person than I ever was before the sport. I also have made almost all my best-friends through the sport and some of my favorite memories. It is very fun to train, compete, and create friendships on the mat.” 

Bryan Peeso, Junior and GEP major, said he is looking forward to learning more about MMA through the club. Peeso has wrestling experience but not a lot of other martial art experience. He said that he’s looking forward to adding more knowledge in other martial art categories and pushing himself to his limits. Peeso also said, “ I hope to not only gain experience, but I really want to gain some more friendships. I hope to maybe even gain connections to maybe join a local gym or dojo and spar there and potentially further my MMA career.”  

The club has hopes to submit competitors in a few different competitions this year, along with the usual practices on Thursday nights. The MMA club has a lot to offer, with self-defense and a strong community.