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In 1997, my efforts to convince Curtis Bohlen to teach aikido during fall semester led to the formation of the Bates Budokan Society, for which I held the President position for two years, followed by Treasurer in my senior year. This club was originally slanted towards give some officiousness to aikido practice and a budget for inviting guest teachers from out of state. But soon, it became much more. Since its creation, the Bates Budokan Society has been renamed "Bates Martial Arts" to avoid attaching a japanese word (Budokan approximately means "Martial studies") to non-japanese arts, and its a good thing, considering the variety of martial arts that are spearheaded by the club. To date, the list of martial arts that have been instructed at least once are as follows: Aikido, Hapkido, Small-circle Jiujitsu, Judo, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Shodokan Karate, Shorin-Ryu Karate, American Kempo Karate, Iishin-Ryu Karate, Wah Lum Kung Fu, Tang Soo Do, Soo Bahk Do, Tae Kwon Do, Capoeira, Wrestling, Shootfighting, Women's Self Defense, RAD (Rape Aggressive Defense), and Street Defense. |
| For me, this has provided a unique opportunity to grow as a martial artist. In effect, at the cost of being devoted to one martial art, and becoming skilled in it, I have acquired skills and appreciation from and for many different styles. Here I am with 7-degree blackbelt, Rigen Machado, the teacher of my brazilian jiu-jitsu teacher of this last summer. Brazilian jiu-jitsu and I get along famously; it just makes sense to my body, and under the Machado style of teaching, it can be effortless and graceful, as well as pragmatic, effective, and deadly. Wrestling with Rigen was like fighting 500 lbs of jello - his center was always forcing me to exert a lot of energy, which is grappling means I get to be tired and vulnerable, then BAM! Tapping out... I have been "teaching" a class of brazilian jiujitsu on Saturdays for this last school year, constantly reminding everyone that my experience is limited to 3 months of 9 hrs of practice a week, which means I can be and am wrong a lot! But its a fun class and I feel like everyone is getting a grasp on some of the basics that I understand well enough to show to others. |  |
| Here's the Seattle School of Brazilian Jiujitsu. I loved it, but sadly it closed. Glenn Barber, the lead instructor, wanted to continue his training, so after 3 years of teaching there, he closed up and went to California to train with Rigen. Not that I'd blame him! The "Northwest Fight Club" (no relation to the movie) opened up shop soon thereafter in the same location. It teaches both brazilian jiujitsu and some vale tudo (no holds barred brazilian fighting). When I return from school I probably will enroll to see if I like it. | |
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| Currently, I think I can rightfully claim some real knowledge and ability within several martial arts. Granted, it all is pretty choppy and basic, but these AREN'T the martial arts I've only seen or tried once or twice... (To the right is some of my martial arts gear) I've been doing aikido for about 3 years, plus some "practice" of aikido principles that my dad showed me when I was just a tot. I'm definitely improving, but man, its tough being harmonious AND extended. I've been doing more bokken work lately, inspired by the awesomely clean techniques of John Presley, a very skilled san-kyu who has blessed Bates with his arrival this academic year. Tae Kwon Do is the only martial art I have officially been promoted in. Its a little discouraging because the test consisted of doing a form, showing a few blocks, kicks and punches, and doing 30 seconds of sparring. (At the time of the test, I was regularly doing 45 minutes of non-stop sparring.) BUT, that said, Jeff Bastien, 3rd degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do, is a wonderful teacher. He also happens to have been my next door neighbor my first year, and I have scars to prove it. Jeff introduced me to proper technique in many strikes and blocks, got me started with sparring, and also led me down the dark path of nunchaku. (I have since ONCE added to his nunchaku repertoire with a lil sumthin I figgered out.) Just in this last school year, under the careful tutelage of Jacob Mandell, I have been learning some Wah Lum Kung Fu. It is an experiential style, which means that most things aren't much explained, they're just shown, and you pick it up over time. Jake, with much understanding, tolerates my incessant questions, but we both know I should shut up... but I'm so curious! Lot's of interesting stances here, including the knee bruising butterfly stances (woo dit mah and gui mah for mangled cantonese pronunciations). It's neat stuff, but hard to pull off. To the right is my training partner and friend Ben Jackson, one of two people I believe shares a sort of stubborn belief in perfection (other is Josh D'Errico) with me. |  |
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| My buddy Trevor Stevenson, who looks pretty unmenacing in this particular picture, recently picked up his black belt in karate, but its been a long time coming. He has trained in many martial arts, including various weapons and full contact. In past years he has taught street-defense at Bates, but this year he leads an intermediate group where we train aspects of martial arts, like speed, power, accuracy, deception, multiple attackers, and so on, without fussing so much about the niceties of technique. This allows people from different arts to come together and practice. He has been slowly shaping me into more of a fighter over the last couple of years, and although I'm far from there, I'm a lot better than I used to be. From him, I have picked up most of my practical fighting techniques, which mostly derive from his Okinawan Karate background, as well as whatever else he's picked up. It's hard to trace crosstraining! Other Pictures: Me as Bruce Lee! My SooBahkDo girlfriend being silly! |
| Kiyoshi's Homepage, 2000 jfurukaw@abacus.bates.edu |
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