Six members of Southeastern’s Shindoryu Aikijutsu Martial Arts Club preformed Saturday, Oct. 8 at the New Orleans Museum of Art’s (NOMA) annual Japan Fest.
Lead by Shihan Eric Temvlet, the high-ranking members demonstrated fighting techniques that involved hand-to-hand combat and live sword combat.
The club attends at least two large meetings each year: NOMA’s Japan Fest and an Asian Pacific American Society event in the spring.
“We represent Southeastern at events like this every year,” said Sensei Beux Kennedy, head instructor for Southeastern’s Aikijutsu training hall, which they refer to as “the dojo.”
“Our Aikijutsu doesn’t really lend itself that much to competition. We train with the use of throws and joint locks and submissions,” said Kennedy.
According to Grace Wilson, NOMA Director of Communications & Marketing, the Japan Fest welcomed over 1,200 guests for the one-day event, hosting distinguished guests such as Masataka Matsuura, mayor of Matsue City, Japan and several other delegates from Matsue City.
The Martial Arts Club meets on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the Kinesiology and Health Studies gym. All students, alumni and faculty are welcome to attend any of these free classes and is also offered as a Kinesiology credit class.
“We have a wide variety of people that come and study,” said Temvlet. “I think the main reason to come is that Martial Arts gives a person a lot of self-discipline. You have to have discipline to do something over and over again until you get it right, and that carries over into what people do in other areas of their life.”
Students of Temvlet and Kennedy often attend these classes for self-defense lessons and for exercise.
“It’s nice to know that I can defend myself,” said Megan McMurtry, junior Kinesiology major. “We stretch, get out there and do breathing. We do some punches and kicks, and then we learn a new technique.”
Beginning students are taught general etiquette first and continue to progress through the first level techniques, learning respect and honor for each other and the 1,000 year old tradition.
“The first thing that they learn is how to fall properly,” said Kennedy. “It’s called Ukemi, the art of falling. Because we use a lot of throws in Martial Arts and those are designed to hurt people, you have to learn how to fall properly to avoid injury. Safety is the very first thing that we stress.”
According to Temvlet, there are usually 10 to 15 students that attend each Martial Arts Club class and there is always a qualified instructor present. When attending the first classes, a student should wear casual “workout” clothes.
Students interested in joining can sign up by attending one of the club meetings during the week. For more information on the Martial Arts Club, visit www.shindoryu.com.