Original article can be found on the web at the Oregonian

A Bethany man teaches classes without the hierarchy and aggressiveness of other Asian martial arts

09/20/01

TOM QUINN

CEDAR HILLS -- Dan Penrod studied karate for 10 years before discovering aikido, a Japanese martial art that takes a nonviolent approach to dealing with conflict.

"Karate is about punching and kicking and breaking boards -- how much devastation can you create," said Penrod, 38, of Bethany. "Aikido is really more a practice of bringing things into balance and resolution. How do I work with the environment I find myself in, and how do I blend into that environment in a peaceful manner?"

Penrod, a systems and network administrator at Norm Thompson, never looked back. He abandoned the study of what he calls "how to pummel people" and instead devoted himself to techniques of  redirection that were first developed by Morihei Ueshiba early in the 20th century.

Now a third-degree black belt, Penrod will explore the discipline and the philosophy behind what's been referred to as the gentlemen's fighting art starting Monday at the Cedar Hills Recreation Center.

The hour-and-a-half classes will meet weekly through Dec. 5. A similar class will begin Sept. 27 at Garden Home Recreation Center.
 

According to Penrod, in developing aikido, Ueshiba incorporated martial arts such as judo, Japanese sword fighting and spear fighting in an altogether new method of self-defense. 

In aikido, Penrod says, attackers are subdued without causing them undue harm. "Ueshiba didn't want to create an art that was going to degenerate into rough play," he said. 

To that end, there are no aikido competitions -- unlike other martial arts, including judo -- and the term "opponent" is never used. "We always refer to the other person as our partner," Penrod said. 

Aikido also differs from other martial arts, he says, because there is no rainbow of colored belts indicating rank. There are only white and black belts, further showing the modesty associated with the style. 

Penrod usually begins his classes with 15 minutes of warm-up before practice. Although most students wear a gi, a martial arts uniform, those with more than about 40 hours of aikido study earn the right to also wear a hakama, traditional samurai clothing of heavy pleats.

At its most basic level, Penrod says, aikido is all about balance and center. 

"In every technique, there are two things that we are trying to do," he said. "One is we try to take our partner's balance, and the other thing is we try to preserve our own balance." 

During classes, Penrod asks the highest-ranked student to attack him, in the process demonstrating the defensive move, or throw, he wants his students to learn. 

In aikido, the attacker is called uke, or receiver, and the person doing the throwing is called nage. Penrod says that students learn just as much if not more from being thrown. 

Penrod says his students are evenly divided between men and women, from teen-agers to people in their 60s. 

"I think a lot of people who sign up for my course are looking for self-defense," he said. "But after a while of practicing, their original reason for being here fades away and is replaced by what I think is a more profound purpose and goal."

Penrod says his students develop confidence and seek out physical and spiritual balance that carries over into their everyday lives.

"I think, on and off the mat, the principles of aikido really work better than other martial arts," he said.