Quantum Jujitsu Penn State

There are many ways to face the perils of life.

For the group of Penn State students spending a summer month in Santa Cruz, Calif., the warrior path is the only way.

"Central to the warrior path is that one should approach obstacles as stepping stones," says Cory Wimberly, instructor of the Penn State Quantum Jujitsu club. "Through challenge and conflict one has the greatest opportunity to grow."

The Quantum Jujitsu club has provided its members with opportunities to grow both physically and spiritually through full-contact training since Wimberly arrived on campus as a graduate student in philosophy more than four years ago. At the conclusion of the spring semester, the club will take its already intense training to an even higher level when it travels to the city that claims to have "more martial artists per capita than anywhere in the world."

Wimberly and his pupils will be rubbing elbows, along with exchanging kicks, punches, grabs, and throws, with some of the world's finest martial arts trainers from a wide variety of disciplines including shootfighting, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing.

"I'm from that area, and there are a lot of great people to train with," Wimberly said. "We'll take as many classes out there in a month as we do in a whole semester [at Penn State]."

While most tourists travel to Santa Cruz for its clear blue surf and subtropical weather, the club's main objective on the trip will be martial arts training. Club members will be training an average of 6-8 hours a day, seven days a week, starting at 8 a.m. on weekdays.

The students will receive grappling training from Claudio Franca, a Pan-American gold medalist, and protégé of legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu master Helio Gracie, at the beginning of each weekday. The middle of the day will be for relaxing and recuperating energy.

Each weekday will conclude with an evening training session instructed by Sensei Jeremy Corbell, president of the Quantum Jujitsu Federation.

"[Sensei Corbell] has been working on strategies involving the pre-fight rituals," said Wimberly. "It's kind of new territory for martial arts."

The club will be experiencing many territories in martial arts during its stay on the West Coast.

The weekends will be utilized to diversify its training. "Camp Quantum," on May 24 and 25, will feature shootfighting with five-time Ultimate Fighting champion Frank Shamrock, as well as one of the first American grapplers to receive a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, David Meyer. Another weekend training session will offer world-class judo instruction by Willy Cahill, two-time coach of the U.S. Olympic judo team.

"We don't have people like that to train with too often," said Mike Drew, a club member who will be making the trip this summer. "You get to see them everyday and you get to see why they are so good and how they train. You can't get that at a seminar."

The club members feel that in Santa Cruz they will find tutelage superior to any they've experienced previously.

It's no surprise the path for these warriors leads all the way to California.

Cory Wimberly (graduate student-philosophy) gives Avi Mandell (graduate student-astrophysics) a side suplex in practice for the Penn State jujitsu club.

PHOTO: Justin M. Bennett/Collegian
Students in Quantum Ju-Jitsu practice Capoeira Wednesday for a presentation this weekend

The Old Main lawn was a hub of activity as students tossed Frisbees and played with their dogs Wednesday afternoon.

A circle of blue and white clad students clapped along to traditional Brazilian music as two members turned cartwheels, barefoot, in the center. It wasn't a gymnastics display, nor was it a stress-induced reaction to the upcoming finals week. These students were practicing a form of physical conversation called Capoeira.

Mestre Itabora Ferreira will present a Capoeira seminar at 5 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. Sunday in the Rec Hall Wrestling Room. The seminar costs $3.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that resembles more of a dance than a fight. The players of Capoeira form a circle and clap to the beat of the music as the two players in the middle of the ring fight, or dance, together. Here at Penn State, Capoeira is taught as one of 25 sub-arts in the Quantum Ju-Jitsu style.

Eye contact is maintained throughout because there are no rules and the action is controlled by the attention of the players, said Quantum Ju-Jitsu Instructor and Foundation Vice President Sensei Cory Wimberly (graduate-philosophy). Wimberly, who has studied Quantum Ju-Jitsu for six years, studied under Quantum Ju-Jitsu Foundation President Sensei Jeremy Corbell in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Capoeira players are in a constant state of movement as they clap, while observing, or participating within the circle. The circularity of the style is seen in the cartwheels and rolls used by the players. Capoeira has a lot of energy and every person brings a different energy to the group, said club member Stratton Lobdell (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management). These maneuvers provide the only activity for a player's hands. Slaves in Brazil developed this dance-like style as a cover for fighting -- which would often lead to punishment from their master. Because their hands were always manacled, the art of Capoeira focuses on evasion and kick techniques.

Capoeira is a physical art, but more importantly, it is a mindset that allows its players the opportunity to use other methods such as Ju-Jitsu, Lobdell said.

The basic move of Capoeira is the ginga, which is a three-part dance step, this is among one of the first things taught to a beginning student. Learning how to say hello and good bye in Capoeira only takes about half an hour, Wimberly said.

Among the other sub-arts included in the Quantum Ju-Jitsu program are Ashtanga Yoga Warrior (Yoga Arts), Healing Arts (Shiatsu Restoration Massage), and Calligraphy Arts. Quantum Ju-Jitsu meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Rec Hall Wrestling Room.

"This is something you can join at any time," Tony Sherbondy (graduate-electrical engineering) said. "It is very cyclic so you're always learning."

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