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News

HARMONIOUS WARRIORS

At Aikido club, the focus is on the mind

by CASEY WOOTEN
The Daily Cougar

This is the second in a three-part series profiling campus organizations involved in combative arts.

When anthropology junior Luke Bahar walked into his first Aikido class at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, he didn't know what to expect. The combat room at the CRWC was a small, second floor space where the walls and ground were covered in red foam padding that looked soft, but felt hard enough to hurt if you fell. 

Many believe Aikido, like many other martial arts, is all about fighting, battering your opponent with kicks and chops. Three years into studying Aikido at UH, however, Bahar has found the true meaning of "the way of harmony" -- Aikido isn't a path towards violence, but an inward journey toward a spiritual and physical balance. 

"When I first came in, I thought it would be a lot more physical instead of more mental," Bahar said. "But now it has gotten to a point where you take the aspects that you learn on the mat in Aikido and apply them to school, or work or friendships."

Bahar is part of a second generation of teachers at UH's Aikido dojo. UH alumnus Cesar Aguirre founded it in 2003 and since has tutored Bahar and biology senior Burke Ghozali to head classes. Aguirre, who graduated with a degree in psychology in 2004, believes that martial arts should teach more than fighting, and passes this philosophy on to his students.

"The biggest difference between Aikido and most martial arts is the greater emphasis on a spiritual path -- or a better path -- than just beating somebody up," Aguirre said. 

When Aguirre, who is a sensei, or teacher, came to UH, he had already spent years studying Aikido at his home dojo in The Woodlands and wanted to share it with his fellow students.

"When I transferred over here I was in The Woodlands training with my instructor, training maybe six or seven days a week, and I didn't want to stop," Aguirre said. "I really wanted to bring Aikido to UH."

Since then the organization has waxed and waned in membership, but it is always accepting new recruits. A core group of students attend classes regularly and many make trips to cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles for in-depth seminars. 

Though some hear about Aikido by word of mouth, other students happen upon the class, try it out, and find that Aikido fits well into their lifestyle.

"When I started, I was actually looking for Tai Chi. Then, I saw a flyer and called sensei, came into class and was like, ‘Wow, this is cool,'" Ghozali said. "I had very little background in martial arts at the time, so I started coming regularly and had a blast." 

An Aikido class resembles most other martial arts lessons. There is a warm-up session where the sensei demonstrates what students will be learning for the day. There is always, however, a deep philosophical undertone to everything taught. Like Aguirre, Aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, viewed other martial arts as relying too much on physical dominance at the expense of strengthening oneself psychologically. 

"He felt that martial art was too violent, that martial art didn't solve the solutions that it's supposed to, so he merged his spiritual belief with his physical technique," Aguirre said. "Instead of saying, ‘We believe in peace,' but not really follow it, we merged them together and we can practice it all the time."

Like other martial arts Aikido requires physical conditioning. Classes start with a regiment of exercises.

"An average class usually starts with a general warm up, kind of a loosening up of the body, some stretching, some kind of basic rudimentary movement to get the body relaxed and going with techniques," Aguirre said. "Then we do rolling so we learn how to fall, and then we do techniques and stuff like that."

Aikido is not without an offensive side, however. After a student advances through the basics, they begin training with weapons. Aguirre teaches his students two primary weapons, a bokken and a jo.

"(A bokken) is a wooden replica of a katana, of a sword. It is a little thicker and heavier, and it's weighted in a sense so that when you are using a real katana, a real live blade, its very light, very easy to maneuver," Aguirre said. 

A jo, or short staff, is similar to the better known bo, or long staff, and is commonly used against swordsmen. 

Both weapons have roots in Japanese samurai tradition, and Aikido itself takes much of its teachings from feudal Japan's warrior class. 

"It's very deeply rooted in samurai (history). The founder studied a lot of the more famous prominent schools of empty-hand technique and sword technique." Aguirre said. "And he culminated it all together to blend into one technique that was geared and based more off his philosophy."

For someone looking to start in Aikido, Aguirre says that initiates, who don the classic white belt similar to other martial arts, should come in with a sense of commitment and be prepared for hard work -- both physically and mentally. 

"For people who try this, Aikido is not like your normal exercise," Aguirre said. "It's not lifting weights; it's not cardio. It's not even really like a kickboxing class. This is actually something that you have to think about. It's an alternative type of thinking. So when you come in, come in with an open mind and try something that's off the beaten path." 

Bahar compounds the benefits from his years of practice into a single sentence, summing up people's first impressions of the martial art. 

"Some of the stuff looks so fake, but hurts so bad," he said.

UH aikido classes are held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The beginners' segment starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. 

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