Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wyoming Karate Club members pose. Kansas alumnus Ben Froidevaux is the club leader.
Ben Froidevaux is not the most intimidating person at first glance, standing only 5 feet 7 inches tall. So when the 1988 Kansas graduate enters the weapons competition of Kobudo, he uses the Bo, a six-foot-tall wooden staff.
“In the minds of the judges, if you use a bigger weapon you appear very large and powerful,” he said.
In August Froidevaux won two gold medals in karate at the State Games of America in the male kobudo (weapons) 18+ advanced and male kata (forms) 35+ advanced sections.
The scoring is based on a 1-10 scale, but participants usually see their scores in the high sixes or low sevens. Froidevaux received a highly unusual 8.0 from one judge.
Froidevaux was an active member of the University’s Karate Club. However, when he moved to Switzerland after graduation he couldn’t find a place to study karate, so he took up Judo.
“A lot of martial arts tend to be very static in their way of thinking,” he said. “I try to train in other sports such as fencing, yoga, and aerobics to find universal truths to help out my competitive sports.”
Now he is the leader of the Karate Club at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo.
As leader of the club, Froidevaux is able to pass on his knowledge to younger competitors. Zhuxian Zhou, one of his students, won a gold medal at the 2008 western regional state games.
“The biggest thing that I learned from Froidevaux is his strong spirit,” Zhou said. “A lot of times back home I would want to stop when tired, but here because of the strong spirit I am not tired.”
Another of his pupils, Yan Ma, also known as Viva, said learning karate from Froidevaux has helped her in her outside life as well.
“The really hard training helps me overcome my tough problems,” she said. “Over the summer I was in a car accident, but my good physical condition and good reflexes helped me to avoid major injury.”
In addition to being great exercise and fitness, karate has helped Froidevaux in other ways.
“What you learn in training is how to fall, not be afraid of falling, and use the ground as your friend,” he said.
But the most important thing to take away, according to Froidevaux, is “good character, good spirit and respect.”
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