Maria Carrillo’s very own Martial Artists
Maria Carrillo wrestling team (Alex Ricci/ The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Austin Garcia Villalpando, staff writer
Maria Carrillo High School offers various sports, from football to basketball and even badminton. However, some sports that are not practiced are martial arts, systems of combat, and fighting, which originated as forms of warfare and ultimately became hobbies or used in self-defense. These sports involve a lot of physical contact and a high risk of harm, which would be hazardous for students. Despite this, many students at Carrillo still participate in martial arts outside of school as hobbies or classes.
With one of the most popular forms of martial arts, boxing, students can join programs such as NorCal Fighting Alliance, Ringtime Fitness, and Phas3 for classes providing boxing lessons–and programs that offer trainers and equipment specifically for boxing. In Junior Santiago Corona’s case, he used to train at A&B Boxing in Petaluma. Attending a boxing gym–a training space specifically for boxing and sparring– means training with multiple people who you may not know, which may be nerve-racking for some. However, this allowed Corona to “always try to surpass or catch up to them,” as he is “always competitive” in his practices. This competitiveness in martial arts contributes to his attitude in school-affiliated sports, as he is also on the varsity football team"
Another junior player on the football team, Dylan Olsen, participates in wrestling, one of the few martial arts sports provided at Maria Carrillo. Olsen wrestled in middle school and entered high school with the intent to continue this sport.
Maria Carrillo wrestling team (Alex Ricci/ The Puma Prensa)
For Olsen, getting into wrestling in middle school was like any other sport, as it was just an extracurricular he could join with his friends to have fun. Entering High School, he only attended two tournaments all season when he first joined wrestling as junior varsity before swiftly being promoted to varsity that same year, in which he had to adjust mentally because he was now going against 18 and 19-year-old players. Despite this, Olsen states that the change was “night and day” because he had experience and would simply adjust to the new competition. This would change his mentality as he faced “more discipline” in his actions to improve his skills while cutting weight and working out to hone his physique. Although Olsen has not been able to complete a whole wrestling year–from various accidents he has been in, he is still optimistic about the sport.
Another martial art that is practiced by many students at Carrillo is Muay Thai. This martial art has a well-known training program in Santa Rosa called Phas3. Multiple students attend this program with severe and significant coaches and teachers. Joining a program or class can take dedication, depending on your goals and ambition. Junior student Trenton Hansen explained how he simply joined these Muay Thai classes over a friend's request. At Phas3, ranks can be necessary “to some people,” according to Hansen, but “with [him], [his] ranks have no meaning,” as he just enjoys having friends and comfortability in his martial arts. Training with friends enables Hansen to “be more comfortable in [his] work and train to [his] fullest extent.”
Despite Maria Carrillo not providing more martial arts sports, students have found these outside classes and programs to participate in, and Carrillo will always have very successful martial artists.