CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, September 26, 1995
3A
Club teaches philosophical martial art
KI AIKIDO
Ki-aikido students are taught more than kicks and punches
By Marc Mehiman Kansan correspondent
Carol Thobae / KANBAN
Andrew Tsubaki, chief instructor of Kansas Ki Society, and Koichi Kashiwaya, chief instructor of the Midland Ki Federation, perform ilado, a Japanese sword art as part of the purification ceremony last night in honor of the Kansas Ki Societv's new Lawrence dolo at 619 E. Elshth St.
When Jennifer Burdick, Overland Park sophomore, first stepped into the martial arts practice room at 207 Robinson Center, she watched the students on the mats.
Burdick had arrived for her first ki-akido lesson.
Matt Stumpe, KU Ki-Aklido Sports Club vice president and Burdick's friend, had invited her to attend the practice. Once Stumpe, Lenexa sophomore, arrived, Burdick and other students removed their footwear, kneeled on the mats and awaited instruction, posture and breathing.
"Unlike most marital arts, we are not all kicking and punching."
Owen Livingston
KUKi-Aitkido Sports Club president
tion from Chris Jones, the sensel, which means teacher in Japanese.
The club began with a recitation of ki, which is Japanese for vital energy, to get the members focused.
After the ki, the class stretched and did exercises that emphasized coordina-
"The easiest thing was following along with the stretches," she said. "The hardest thing was to keep focused and remember what he (Jones) was saying."
Then the class learned forward and backward evasive rolls and alkido maneuvers. These consisted of two defensive techniques: avoiding a punch to the midsection and parrying an overhead strike to the head from two opponents attacking from opposite sides.
"I liked the way it was taught — the more experienced helping out the beginners," Burdick said. "I got to work with different people because we changed partners a lot."
Morehei Uyeshiba formed alikdo, a Japanese martial art meaning a way of harmonizing with the universe, in the 1930s. Koichi Tohei added ki development and introduced alikdo to the United States in the 1950s.
"Unlike most martial arts, we are not all kicking and punching," said Owen Livingston, club president and Lawrence graduate student. "We do not beat people to the ground."
Instead, the group relies on ki to guide its techniques. Aikido students learn to use an opponent's ki to their advantage by redirecting it, usually resulting in a pin or a throw.
Ki evolved from the Japanese religion Shinto. A Shintoist believes that humans are born of the ki of the universe and that it can be used to unify mind and body.
"We believe some of the things that Shinto believes, but we're not a religion at all," Livingston said. "We're a philosophy."
Livingston said aikido was more self-perfecting than self-protecting and that it was practiced easily, regardless of age, gender, race or body type.
"It wasn't too hard to keep up," Burdick said. "I think it would be really helpful if you were skilled at it, but it would take some time to learn."
The Ki-Alkido Club meets three times a week: 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Andrew Tsubaki, professor of theater and film, is the chief instructor and faculty adviser. Club dues are $35 a semester.
"I decided I'm going to join," Burdick said. "I was looking for something to get involved with."
For more information on the Ki-Alkido Club, call Stumpe at 864-6592.
Martial arts club opens new dojo in Lawrence
By Marc Mehlman
Kansan correspondent
About 70 people attended the ceremony at the dojo, located at 619 E. Eighth St.
The Kansas Ki Society celebrated the grand opening of its Lawrence dojo last night.
Koichi Kashiwaya, the chief instructor of alkido in the United States, performed a purification ritual involving the use of iaido, a traditional Japanese sword art.
it's not officially affiliated in any way with the University, although the Kansas Ki Society runs the dojo and provides the instruction for the KU Ki-Aikido Sports Club," said Stan Haehl, junior instructor at the dojo.
"It's the spiritual opening of the room to charge it with positive ki (a Japanese word for vital energy)," said Aaron Watson, Topeka junior and KU Ki-Allddo Sports Club treasurer.
the participants wore hakemas, a traditional Japanese pleated-pant that resembles a skirt.
Chief instructor Andrew Tsubaki, professor of theater and film, performed a dance from a noh, a traditional form of Japanese theater.
The alkido students also built a tokonama, a small alcove for the scrolls to hang. The Japanese character for ki hangs in the tokonama.
The dojo offers classes in ki-aikido and ki development.
Aikido follows a belt system.
"Ki development is for people learning to use their energy more efficiently but not interested in the martial arts side." Haehl said.
"There is a rank system that students use to test themselves, but it takes slower to progress than other martial arts," Haehl said.
The dojo also holds specialized youth classes on Saturdays.
Basic membership dues are $40 a month and $25 for children, although members of the KU Ki-Alkido Sports Club pay $10.
Shots now can prevent headaches later
For more information on the Kansas Ki Society, call 843-8419.
New students without vaccinations will face holds on enrollment
By Joann Birk
Kansan staff writer
But not quite as many as they should be.
The nurses at Watkins Memorial Health Center are sticking more needles in patients than usual.
Almost 2,700 new students ignored or forgot Watkins' request, for students to present records of measles, mumps, and rubella immunizations, or come in for the vaccine, said Diane Hendry, supervisor of radiology. Watkins sent letters in May asking for immunization information, but more than 2,000 students still haven't replied.
Students who do not respond by Friday will have holds on their enrollments and will not be able to enroll until they receive release stamps from Watkins.
After Friday, even if students get their shots or present vaccination information, they will have to go back to Walkins when they receive
their permits to enroll to remove the holds, Hendry said.
In the last two weeks, 510 students either have presented records or received the shot, but about 2,200 students have yet to respond, she said.
"The big crunch has not even started," Hendry said. "We anticipate huge lines."
She said that the large numbers were slightly higher than past years but that long lines for immunization appeared every fall.
Hendry said that public schools did not begin strict policies of immunization until about five years ago, and consequently many KU students never received the necessary shots.
She said there were not enough hours in the next week to immunize all the remaining students because so many students waited until the week of the deadline, but the health center would try to accommodate everyone.
"At this rate, we are not going to get half of them," said Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Watkins.
There is no charge for the immunization shot at Watkins.
Students can protect themselves against flu with influenza vaccine
By Joann Birk
Kansan staff writer
Eight dollars and a stroll to the health center may be all it takes for students to avoid the flu.
This years' influenza vaccine is available at Watkins Memorial Health Center, and students can get the shot without an appointment. The cost is eight dollars.
Jody Woods, nurse practitioner at Watkins, administers most of the shots. She said that although the shots were fairly painless and worth the price, some students were fearful of the vaccine.
"People still hear about it being a live virus and that you will get the flu from the shot," she said. "But scientists have it pretty well well perfect."
Charles Yockey, chief of staff at Walkins, warned that although the vaccine was effective, it was not a cure-all for every alarm that accompanies colder weather. He said students often taught the flu
Most patients do not notice any effects from the vaccine, other than a little pain when they receive the shot, Woods said.
shot could protect against the common cold.
"The flu shot is safe, it has no side effects, it is cheap and it is easy to get," he said. "But it does not prevent any illness other than true influenza."
Influenza is characterized by abrupt onset of severe headaches, high fever, sore throat, cough and severe muscle aches. Yockey said students who contracted influenza often could pinpoint the exact time that they started to feel these symptoms. The flu usually lasts from seven to 10 days.
Although influenza is not as common as upper respiratory infections or the common cold, doctors recommend the shot because of its low cost and high effectiveness.
Yockey said the vaccine took two weeks to begin working and lasted for six months. Since the flu season typically begins in November, students should get flu shots in October. Students should also get a new flu shot every year because the antibodies leave the body after six months and each year's strain of flu tends to be different.
Scientists developed this year's flu shot last winter by predicting the flu strains that would reach the United States. This year's vaccine contains three strains of influenza.
No slow pokes allowed on this research team
By Brenden Sager
Kansan staff writer
Look out, Speedy Gonzales — the fastest mouse in all of campus is attached to Alice Bean's computer.
"For raw speed, her computer is the fastest," said Adrian Melott, professor of physics.
Bean, assistant professor of physics, studies the fundamental building blocks of matter with a 266 megahertz, $14,000 Digital computer. Bean didn't know how many computations it could perform each second, but she said it was 2 1/2 times faster than the newest Pentium computer chip.
Bean organized the purchase of the computer, which the department has used since July. It was paid for by the National Science Foundation.
"The University didn't pay for any part of it." Bean said.
She said it had made life in the physics department a lot easier.
Her work — with other students and faculty from universities nationwide — entails examining tiny bits of matter, she said. The bits are smashed together at Cornell Electron Storage Ring at speeds even faster than Bean's computer can calculate them.
"There's a lot of data, so we need a lot of power." Bean said.
But she will calculate them nevertheless.
The information is sent from Cornell University through the Internet. Members of Bean's 23-person research team — the only ones who can use the computer — are able to access the data through on-line services with the correct password.
The members then can use the computer's high-speed hard-drive to make the numerous calculations. Of the research members, five are from Cornell.
But computers similar to the physics department's could be the future for other departments, Melott said.
"It's a general trend with computer manufacturers to put extremely fast microchips in cheaper computers," he said.
Melott compared the physics department's new computer with a super computer — a washing machine-sized computer that costs a lot more, but processes about the same amount of information.
"I have something sitting on my desk right now that was a super computer in 1895," he said.
"That's a demonstration of what's happened in 10 years."