THE ARNOLD CLASSIC MARTIAL ARTS EXPO
I just got back from Ohio, where I attended the Arnold Classic Fitness and Health Expo, February 29-March 2, which includes a Martial Arts section, and while I am rightly exhausted, it was a very enjoyable time. For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to experience this event personally, I highly recommend blocking out the dates for next year’s event.
If you’re a martial arts enthusiast, which I imagine you are if you’re browsing the Aznar Weaponry website, then believe me when I tell you that you will get your fair share of the martial arts. Not only do they have a number of vendors, including those of us who were there from Aznar Weaponry, but you have a chance to witness demonstrations and competitions in the numerous styles of the martial arts. If that’s not enough, there are several seminars and clinics being held throughout the weekend, and it isn’t unlikely to bump into the many celebrities who are in attendance to this event, including Joe Lewis, Chuck Zito, Jason David Frank, many, many guys from the UFC, including Dana White, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger himself.
If you get tired of browsing the martial arts section, you can wander off into the fitness and health section, as well as the bodybuilding section, both of which are in the same area as the martial arts. Personally, I enjoyed wandering around until I either got so depressed that my 12% body fat content was considered morbidly obese in comparison to the fitness buffs who were in attendance, or else I got scared away by the insane number of women who could crush me (literally) with the smallest muscle in their bodies….and I cannot even tell you which muscle that is since they all look equally large!!!
They also had other events in the different areas of the Convention Center, which included dancing, gymnastics, arm wrestling (I was going to join up for one of these competitions, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings on the miraculous chance that the woman I went up against who, in all likelihood, could bench press twice my body weight, had a terrible muscle strain in the middle of our arm wrestling bout, causing me to win in a freak accident), table tennis and more….seriously, there was a lot more, but I just can’t remember right now that I am daydreaming about the idea of being arm wrestling champion of the world (just a quick note, I can barely bench press my own body weight of 120 lbs., so moving on….)…..
Anyway, some wonderful friends of mine, Donna, Matt and Amanda Owen, all Grand Champions, were on-hand to represent the ISRD System through several demonstrations, under the instruction of an amazing individual, Doc Braff. If you missed it, hopefully they will be back next year to put on more amazing demonstrations, but if not, you can catch them in the various tournaments in the different circuits throughout 2008.
All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable weekend, with the UFC Fight Night between Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson being in town, and be sure to check out some of the new pictures that will soon be up to showcase the events. Hopefully, you will all get a chance to make it next year and we will see you there!!! Maybe a few of us can team up and join some of these bodybuilding events (as in try and lift the weights together as a team effort) so that we can show these guys and girls what’s what!!!<wink>
Keep training and keep smiling!
Melissa Aznar