This year’s 4th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration promises an action-packed, in-your-face, Bay Area martial arts round-up featuring students of all backgrounds.
The exhibition, put together in part by San Francisco’s World Team USA, is expecting a turnout of more than 100 participants and 500 spectators.
“The event will feature students who wish to exhibit their striking skills in the ring,” says Kru Sam (Chilaphanh) Phimsoutham, chief instructor and owner of World Team USA. Participants will get matched with other students of the same skill level, age, weight and experience.
The event organizers are hoping for at least 25 bouts, using muay thai (Thai boxing) rules: two 2-minute rounds, with a 1-minute break in between. Participants will dress in full gear — shin guards, gloves, body gear, head guards, mouthpieces, and cups for the guys. While that sounds more like going to war than just an exhibition, no winners or losers will be chosen, to keep things light-hearted and fun.
“We’ve invited people from all around the Bay Area — some as far as Fresno and even Los Angeles,” says Kenneth Giang, a staff member at World Team USA. “This is going to allow the crowd to just see a little bit of what martial arts is all about.”
Various styles of martial arts also will be featured, including san shou, kung fu, MMA (for mixed martial arts), karate and jiu-jitsu.
Given the rise in popularity of martial arts, especially muay thai, as seen in mainstream media such as the Oxygen Network’s Fight Girl, Phimsoutham hopes to further highlight their strengths by showcasing the “striking arts and its beauty, simplicity and effectiveness.”
“Mixed martial arts, muay thai and other striking arts have been given much attention,” Phimsoutham says. “However, the martial arts side of this practice has gotten lost. We want to bring it back into the picture and remind everyone how beneficial these arts are as a hobby and as a way of life, even for a non-professional fighter.”
This exhibition marks World Team USA’s second year in a row holding the event at the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, where they usually feature at least 20 of their own participants.
“Muay thai and the striking arts have gotten even more popular since last year, and as a result draw more attention to the cultural side of where these arts come from,” Phimsoutham continues. “For example, Thai culture for muay thai and Chinese culture for san shou. We just want to show the community at large that muay thai and other striking arts like it remain beautiful, effective, respectful and fun. We want it to continue to grow and be a positive way of life.”
The exhibition begins at noon and is expected to end around 5pm.