Spring Break
CPA offers fitness alternatives
Max Hrenda
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: Sports
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punches at each other.
For the last five years, the CPA has offered combat-oriented
fitness programs as alternative
means of exercise, as opposed to the more traditional programs such as intramural
sports and aerobics classes. Jon Walker, director of campus recreation, has been present for the initiation of all of these programs.
"We've had judo since 2002, tai chi since 2003," Walker said. "In the fall of 2007 we saw a major increase in interest for these types of classes."
The interest Walker spoke of was not limited to students. He was approached by several prospective teachers to consult with him about their ideas for combative fitness programs. Last year, several of these prospective
teachers were students.
"It provides leadership training
for students, when they teach a class," Walker said.
One of the more recent additions
to the combative fitness programs is a Japanese sword-fighting class, taught by Wes Gideon. Gideon, who is in his P2 year in the college of pharmacy,
has taught the art of satori-ryu, a style of the iaido sword fighting technique, in the CPA for over a year.
"Iaido is a form of combat in Japanese sword fighting which focuses on the draw of the sword," Gideon said. "The idea is to kill your opponent during the draw of your blade. The rest of the style teaches you what to do if you don't kill them."
Armed with their wooden swords, known as bokken, Gideon's students engage in controlled sparring exercises known as free-flow. During free-flow, students practice their movements at very slow speeds in order to provide each other with opportunities to counter them.
"By doing it slowly, you learn to read your opponent's movements.
Then, when you speed it up, you can understand how best to counter those movements,"
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