6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24; 2009
MARTIAL ARTS
Kumdo/Kendo club teaches more than art of fighting
BY ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
There is an ancient sport that requires more than just physical fitness. The art of Kumdo/Kendo focuses on mental agility as well as strength.
The KU Kumdo/Kendo club teaches students the art of sword fighting. It was used by Swordai to practice and develop their skills outside of combat.
But, there is more to Kumdo/Kendo than violent attacks made on the opponent with the shinai, a bamboo sword.
There is also a mental aspect to the sport. To score a point in competition the attacker must correctly call out, in Japanese, the part of the body as they strike it.
He or she shouts out "Men" for strikes to the head, "Kote" for strikes to the wrist, and "Do" for strikes to the stomach.
Eunmok Lee,aKorean doctorate. student in geography, serves as the Sensei who teaches the club.
Lee said that the hardest part is "controlling yourself physically and mentally"
But, it can also be very rewarding.
"When I hit the head correctly, I get a big joy because it is a beautiful performance," Lee said.
Both Amie Vo, Wichita junior, and Sungwon Park, a visiting scholar from Korea, agree that striking an opponent can also be a good way to take out stress from the school day. Dr. Park said his favorite part was "the stress relief of the competition."
Some members of the club, like Park and Lee, joined after initially playing the sport back home in Korea. Park explained the biggest differences between the sport here and in Korea.
"Back home we usually practice on the floor instead of the mat." Park said. "And there is a big mirror to see the reflection of your motion, but otherwise the room is very good."
Lee explains the cultural differences in training.
WANT TO FIGHT?
WHO: Kumdo/Kendo club
WHAT: meetings
WHEN: Mondays and
Wednesdays, 9 p.m. - 11
p.m.
WHERE: Martial Arts room at Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center
"In Korea you can practice almost five or six times a week," Lee said. "Here the main goal is pursuing degrees so we only meet two times a week."
There are other members who are new to the sport and have only started since coming to Kansas..
"I saw it one day while running on the track and decided to check it out," Arlo Osler, Anderson County freshman, said.
— Edited by Anna Kathagnarath
NBA
Russia's richest man plans on buying New Jersey Nets
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov speaks at a news conference in Moscow, May 31. 2007. Prokhorov said Tuesday on his blog that he sent team shareholders an offer over the weekend
MOSCOW — Russia's richest man, a 6-foot-6-inch (1.98-meter) amateur basketball player who made billions in metals, says he wants to buy the New Jersey Nets in exchange for funding the team's troubled plans to build an area in Brooklyn.
Mikhail Prokhorov wrote Tuesday on his blog that he wants to improve Russian basketball by getting access to NBA training methods and sending Russian coaches for internships in the league.
Prokhorov said that he sent team shareholders an offer over the weekend. Under the proposal, Prokhorov's holding company Onexim would obtain a controlling share in the NBA team in return for loaning the money to build a new arena.
The posting says the controlling shares would be obtained for "a symbolic price."
Nets owner Bruce Ratner faces a
crucial December deadline for his plan to build an arena in Brooklyn and move his team there in 2011. The construction needs to break ground by then or lose access to the tax-free bonds financing the project.
Prokhorov, who owns a share in the Russian basketball team CSKA, has an estimated fortune of $9.5 billion.
said Wednesday that "we do not have a comment as of yet."
Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco
MLB
Gardner scores tiebreaking run, Yankees celebrate victory over Angels
BY GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brett Gardner scored the tiebreaking run on Alex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly in the ninth, and the New York Yankees celebrated clinching their 14th playoff appearance in 15 seasons Tuesday night with a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs before Mariano Rivera earned his 41st save for
the yankees, who were guaranteed a return to the postseason about 55 minutes before the last out in Anaheim when oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-1.
The Yankees blew a 5-0 lead before rallying to win for the first time in five games this season at Angel Stadium, where they've still lost 18 of 24. Phil Hughes (8-3) allowed the Angels' tying, unearned run in the eighth on Maicer Izturis' RBI single.
Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon
and their teammates are back in the postseason after staying home last fall in manager Joe Girardi's debut campaign. The Yankees won 17 playoff series and four World Series titles in a 13-year span after 1994, but New York hasn't won a championship since 2000 or even a playoff series since the 2004 division series, losing four straight.
These Yankees are likely to be in prime position to end that streak. They also have a six-game lead over Boston in the AL East and a
$ 5 \frac{1}{2} $-game edge on the Angels for homefield advantage at the new Yankee Stadium throughout the postseason.
Chone Figgins homered for the Angels, who had won four of five. Los Angeles still has a  $7 \frac{1}{2} $ -game lead on the Rangers in the AL West, but its magic number stayed at six for clinching its third straight division title.
The Yankees took a five-run lead in the fifth inning after early homers from Rodriguez, Jorge
Posada and Hideki Matsui, but Los Angeles chipped away with several typical small-ball rallies, tying it when Izturis drove home Howie Kendrick with a single over the drawn-in infield in the eighth.
Gardner led off the ninth with a single and stole second on a pitchout, thanks to a poor throw by fourth-string Angels catcher Ryan Budde. After Matt Palm (10-2) walked letter and Mark Teixeira was an intentional walk from Darren Oliver to load the bases with one
out, Rodriguez's drive was deep enough to get Gardner home.
Rivera's streak of 36 consecutive saves ended last Friday in Seattle with only his second blown save of the year, but Posada threw out pinch-runner Reggie Willits trying to steal second base after Juan Rivera struck out in the ninth.
The Yankees hit their homers off Los Angeles starter Ervin Santana, who yielded nine hits in six innings.
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