MOSES LAKE – On Wednesday, Freewind Martial Arts hosted the second of three seminars with Weapons Wednesday. Attendees were led by instructor Jacob Guertin through various movements with wooden sticks. Guertin said he was happy with the turnout and teaching kids something new.  

“Everybody got (to learn) something new, even if they had prior experience. For those that haven't done martial arts in the past, I feel like it was a good introduction to weapons,” he said.  

Guertin said the main goal for this seminar was to build the foundation and structure of using weapons while making it fun for new learners. He likes teaching weapons to people and those who are interested in MMA because it can teach confidence.  

According to Guertin, learning weapons can train someone not to shy away or be afraid of getting hit and build confidence. Guertin led attendees through six different movements before putting them all together at the end. He called it a six-count movement, where students go through all six while moving back and forth on the mat.  

Guertin said his favorite part of the seminar on Wednesday was seeing attendees try it out for the first time. He said his friend Gannon picked up the movements nicely.  

“He does my MMA program, and does really well in that, but seeing him pick up a weapon for the first time and excel made me feel pretty good,” he said.  

Guertin said he felt attendees got a good first impression of their weapons instruction and hopes that it will inspire them to learn more about it. He likes seeing new students try out classes at Freewind, as well. It’s great, he said, to see new students who come in lacking confidence or appear timid and gain it over time as they learn.  

“Once they start moving, and they see how stuff works, and they see the improvement in themselves, and they feel the improvement in themselves, then I feel like I've accomplished something, and I really like seeing that in people,” he said.  

Jessie Young is a student at Freewind with her son, Colin, but brought her son, Ethan, to check out the seminars to gauge his interest. She tried her best to sit aside and watch, but joined the fun Wednesday. Guertin said he liked seeing that because memories of his own surfaced.  

“They were going and learning together, that kind of reminds me of when I joined and my parents joined at the same time. So, it's really fun to see people make those same kinds of memories,” Guertin said.  

Guertin said martial arts are a great way for families to bond because they can do it together. According to him, it's hard to find a lot of activities that enable that for families, but martial arts can easily connect families.  

Freewind Martial Arts will be hosting their third seminar today in McCosh Park from 1 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. 

    Jacob Guertin, left, demonstrates a stick movement to the group with his friend Gannon, right. Freewind hosted a Weapons Wednesday seminar where attendees were introduced to weapons movements.
  

    Jacob Guertin, left, leads a group of students through stick movements during a seminar. Guertin said learning weapons in martial arts is beneficial for building confidence.
  

    Jacob Guertin, left, and his friend Gannon, right, demonstrate a weapons movement. Guertin said his friend works with him in the MMA courses.
  

    Jacob Guertin, middle, guides students through the weapons movement. Guertin said he taught attendees six different weapons movements during their Wednesday seminar.
  

    Ethan Young, left, and Gannon, right, practice hitting each other's sticks during Freewinds Weapons Wednesday seminar. Both students were learning weapon movements for the first time.
  

    Jessie Young, middle, works with Ethan Young, left and Gannon, right, on weapons movements. Jessie is a student at Freewind Martial Arts and brought her son Ethan to see what it was all about.