Aikido Club to enlighten campus in martial arts

Emma Carmichael Assistant Sports Editor

This weekend, April 28-29, the Vassar College Aikido Club will host a two-day seminar that will bring in the top martial arts instructors from the region. The lessons, according to Aikido Club President Eric Snyder ’07, “are meant to help propagate sharing and cooperation among martial artists in the region.”

The seminar will begin Saturday morning with a 9 a.m. lesson with Kyoshi Mansfield, an instructor with 35 years of experience. Mansfield specializes in Filipino stick and knife fighting, and has studied under a number of esteemed masters. Following this, John Borter Sensei, a blackbelt in Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Combat Hapkido, and Kyusho-Jitsu will begin the second seminar of the day.

After lunch, Aikido Faculty Advisor and Associate Professor of Economics Sean Flynn Sensei will lecture and demostrate on his specialty, Tomiki Aikido. Flynn is the author of the book Understanding Shodokan Aikido. Instructor Shihan Barbara Dawes will follow with an hour-and-a-half lesson likely to be centered around Tae Kwon Do.

The day will conclude with an “open mat” to discuss and review the day’s seminars, followed by dinner and a social gathering for campus visitors.

Sunday, the second day of the seminar, opens with a seminar by Renshi Derek Benedict, an expert in Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do with 16 years of study under his belt. Earl Leyumas Sensei, who has studied various types of Aikido as well as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Karate extensively, will then take over.

The weekend will conclude with a seminar by Brandi Collesides Sensei, an Instructor of Genri-Ryu Life Protection Arts and a licensed massage therapist, followed by another open mat.

Snyder said that the weekend is not meant for strictly advanced martial arts students. “This event is not a competition and will only incorporate light touch activities in a friendly, cooperative, and supportive atmosphere,” said Snyder. “We invite and welcome anyone, of any rank, from any martial arts school to attend this event.”

The seminar will focus mainly on open-hand activities that are applicable to a number of different martial art practices, and may include a limiteinstruction on weapon use.

“We hope that holding this event at Vassar will help introduce the Vassar community to the martial arts and demonstrate how martial arts is more than physical exercise or defense,” said Snyder. “[It] is a way of life that promotes harmony and compassion in human interactions.”

The seminar culminates a year of growth for the Vassar Aikido Club, led by Flynn. Flynn will also host a lesson this weekend. Earlier this school year, the Club hosted the National Championship tournament and traveled to Ohio, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Massachusetts, and throughout New York for various tournaments, seminars and competitions. Vassar students and staff can register for the seminar for $20 with a Vassar I.D. and can access the full schedule and infortmation at http://vsa.vassar.edu/~aikido/index.htm.