BY ALICIA FEYERHERM
Aikido Club meets every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Cunningham Hall Room 122.
“Aikido is a Japanese Martial Art that’s focused on finding harmony,” Aikido Club President Kathryn Wilmington said. “It’s focused on using both your energy and your partner’s energy in a way that you don’t hurt one another.”
Adapted from more violent Samurai techniques, the original Master of Aikido turned those movements into a more peaceful art.
The club is welcoming to individuals of all skill levels and encourages people to drop into a meeting and try it out.
“We love new friends and a lot of people who have come to visit we still talk with,” Wilmington said.
In addition to weekly meetings, the club fosters a community through occasional board game nights or coffee socials.
The club also takes an annual trip to Chicago over winter break. The group stays at the Dojo in Chicago which is the home Dojo for the Aikido Association of America.
Toyoda Sensei, the president of the association, teaches classes at the Dojo with different instructors and other Aikido students.
In addition to Aikido, the group experienced different Japanese cultural classes including Buyo (Japanese dance), Shodo (Japanese calligraphy), and Sumei (Japanese watercolor).
Between classes, the group went sightseeing, visiting different tourist attractions like the bean and the Field Museum.
“It was so much fun,” Aikido Club Webmaster Historian Riley Sanford said. “The University generously funds a lot of the trip, so most people only have to pay out of pocket for food and souvenirs.”
For those interested in Aikido, two events are coming up shortly.
First, the Aikido Club is partnering with FHSU Barn Hoppers to host a “Swing-Kido” event. Participants will learn the basics of swing dancing, the basics of Aikido and then put the two together. The event will be held at 7:30 on Thursday in the Cunningham Hall Dance Room (Room 122).
April 8-10 the club will host its spring seminar. Aikido seminars typically cost about $200 per person, but this event is free to all students and guests.
“We invite people from all over the United States to the event through Aikido Facebook pages and so forth and the president of our Aikido association comes down for the weekend to teach everybody,” Wilmington said.
These sessions can serve as “boot camp” for new members.
“You’d be surprised how much better you get at something when you do it for three hours straight,” Wilmington said. “Afterwards, we get meals together and have a little social event.”
The seminars also allow members to get to know each other better.
“It’s very fun, we have a good time, you work with a lot of new people and by the end of the weekend you’ll have made a lot of new friends,” Sanford said. More information can be found on the Aikido Club’s TIgerLink page.