Aikido: The mixed martial art of movement at FIU

Kristen King // Staff Writer

According to Cedric Capestany, the sensei of FIU’s Panther Aikido Club, the first rule of mixed martial arts is to move. Starting back in 2009, Panther Aikido has continuously made the effort to showcase this Japanese-based sport to the FIU community.

Favoring accuracy and effectiveness over speed, Aikido began as a sport that utilized your opponent’s momentum and energy to throw or lock them up in a specific technique that prevents them from harming you. In essence, the point of Aikido is to defend yourself while doing the least damage to your opponent.

This martial art chooses not to solve violence with more violence by precise movement.

“For me, the technical aspects of aikido which are breaking balance and having the option to take someone down safely instead of hurting them is better,” said Capestany. “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for harming someone over a small disagreement or argument.”

At first glance, this sport can seem a bit intimidating with the amount of falls and blows a person may take. But for James Ashe, current president of the Aikido club, this should not be seen as a deterrent to join but rather a welcoming.

Everyone can learn aikido as long as they have the discipline and acceptance of instruction that the members of the club possess.

“As long as you’re willing to follow the instruction of aikido, we welcome everyone. Aikido is not as straightforward as punching or kicking and there’s a lot of nuance with every technique so it’s best to follow what we explain,” said Ashe.

The explanations of technique come in an unconventional manner as Sensei Capestany employs a great deal of humor and emphasis on the senses within them. He believes that as long as he can appeal to at least three of the five senses of his students, he has done his job in teaching the techniques properly.

Making them laugh while doing so is also a benefit in making it easier to understand what is being taught, according to secretary of Panther Aikido, Guruchanan Kaur.

“It always helps me forget about other things like my school work because whenever I am here I feel so much more relaxed,” Kaur said.

A regular class begins with etiquette, where students must express their humbleness before performing the new techniques and bow to one another. Then, Capestany leads them in the new moves so that they may get an idea of how to perform them properly. Once class is over, Sensei sits the students down in a circle and go over what they each took away from that night’s class.

As far as the mindset upon entering the class, it’s a mixture of relaxation and fear. The students all agreed that in order to do these moves, your mind must be free from tension so that you can focus on executing it properly. But there also is this fear of not doing them correctly on the first few tries.

“You kind of reach this state of nirvana when you’re doing aikido because you’re not stressed. If you need to use a simple body movement, you can do so because you know what you’re doing,” said member of Panther Aikido Zar Garrido.

Students of Panther Aikido not only believe in practicing the discipline correctly but also reflecting the culture in which it comes from. There are many aspects of Aikido that highlight Japanese manifestations, and the club ensures that its values are upheld each night of practice.

To find out more about Panther Aikido, you can visit their website at www.pantheraikido.org. Practices are held every Tuesday and Thursday at the Rec Center in the Blue Room from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.