Just aikido-it
By Katie Sullivan
Cavalier Daily Senior Writer
The third floor of Newcomb Hall reverberated yesterday afternoon as full-grown men flung each other to the ground in Newcomb Hall Ballroom.
The only potential damage was to the floor itself, however, because all the fights were just part of the Martial Arts Expo.
The expo, organized by fourth-year Engineering student Jae Woo Pak, was designed to increase the martial arts presence on Grounds.
"I get frustrated because it's hard to book good rooms," Pak said. "If we had a bigger presence we could get better times and better rooms."
Pak, who prefers judo to other martial arts, also hoped to foster unity among the different clubs.
"Judo is so much more than practicing to defend yourself," Pak said. "It's about human relationships. It has taught me that you can't exist as an island. It's good to have this unity."
Students ranging from 7-year-old boys to adults participated in demonstrations of several different types of martial arts.
One of the smaller clubs exhibiting at the expo performed Uechi-ryu karate, the style of karate used in the "Karate Kid" films.
Third-year College student Tristan Cooper says he hates the movies, though.
"Uechi-ryu is about more effective ways to keep your opponent down," Cooper said. "It's not at all flashy, like tae kwon do."
During his demonstration, Cooper described how to inflict the optimum amount of injury on an opponent without harming yourself at all.
By contrast, Intramural-Recreational Sports instructor John Nguyen said that his martial art, aikido, is non-violent at its core.
During Nguyen's demonstration, his partner threw him to the floor several times.
But Nguyen said he wasn't hurt at all.
"I'm a little winded," he said, smiling. "But that's one of the great things about aikido - it uses the momentum of the attacker, so he's only throwing me as hard as I attack."
Most of the clubs offer classes through the IM-Rec sports department. Members said they learned how to defend themselves while at the same time making friendships and developing discipline.
"I started in middle school because my parents thought I was a bad kid and I needed discipline," fourth-year College student and Tae Kwon Do Club member Naz Ahmed said. "But I'm definitely going to stick with it"
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