24th Oct 2008
‘The Art of Aikido’ - Lee Witt, The University Leader
This an article from The University Leader from at seminar hosted by FHSU Aikido featuring Stephen Toyoda Sensei this past September. Also pictured are Irene Brown (left) and Lydia Rinke (right). Special thanks to Brandon Nimz, club president.
‘Aikido club instructs in self-defense’ - Lee Witt, The University Leader
Balance and energy are two word that many college students are familiar with having too little of. To bring more of these attributes to students, the aikido club held its open invitation seminar this past weekend.
Attendees of the seminar were greeted with a relaxed environment that introduced them to some of the basics of aikido.
Third year aikido club leader, senior Brandon Nimz, began the Saturday seminar with introductions and then led the group through the traditional warm-up maneuvers the club uses at the regular aikido meetings.
”The first 30 minutes of class are about getting stretched out and warmed up for safety and doing some of the basic moves of aikido for muscle memory,” said Nimz.
After completing the opneing routine, Nimz ushered on Stephen Toyoda Sensei, a visiting black belt instructor for the Aikido Association of America, to begin the lessons. Toyoda is an instructor from the Tenshinkan Dojo in Chicago.
For the seminar, Toyoda demonstrated some of the basic moves of aikido, while informing participants of the strategic value of each manuever.
Toyoda, age 27, has been practicing aikido since the age of three. Born in America, Toyoda has a direct lineage of training to the founder of aikido. He has spent extensive time in Japan studying under one of the masters of aikido.
”Its a full-time apprenticeship. It becomes more of a philosophy than just a martial art,” Toyoda said.
Toyoda has devoted his life to the study of aikido, bu he doesn’t allow his high level of knowledge of the art to overwhelm newcomers. he is excited in interesting as many people as he can in aikido.
Stephannie Pfannenstiel is a junior and has been a participant of the Fort Hays State University aikido club for two years now.
”Aikido is a good means of self defense without harming other people,” Pfannenstiel said.
Masters of aikido aim to actually use the lessons learned from aikido to resolve conflicts before physical confrontations arise.
”if someone attacks with a negative you don’t have to respond with a negative,” said Toyoda. ”If possible you want to take that negative attack and produce something positive.”
Established as a combination of other studies, aikido can have a large draw for people who have a general curiosity in martial arts.
Richard Lisichenko is a professor of Geosciences and has been studying aikido for 17 years.
”Since I was a child, I had an interest in martial arts,” Lisichenko said. ”During my stay at K-State, I was introduced to aikido and fell in love with it.”
The aikido club membership is growing, with ten returning members and around seven newcomers this year. the club traditionally meets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
