The liberal arts throw it down in Aikido Kimberly Richardson showcases martial arts-humanities link

Author: Mike Murali

"I like myself so much more than I did when I was 21 and I can live in my skin," said Kimberly Richardson of Two Cranes Aikido, who gave a lecture at the College last Thursday as part of a symposium on martial and liberal arts. The series of events, entitled "Pursuing Knowledge Without Boundaries: Liberal Arts and the Martial Art of Aikido," went from Tuesday, Apr. 17 through Friday, Apr. 20 and featured a panel discussion, lectures and Aikido classes that were conducted by Jonathan Miller-Lane, as well as Richardson and Don Levine, both guest instructors.

Aikido itself was started by Morihei Ueshiba, also called "O Sensei." Born in central Japan, he was sickly as a child but eventually grew to be an individual strong of character who possessed an affinity for the martial arts. After practicing several martial arts, including Jujutsu and swordsmanship, and enlisting in the army, he returned to farming and Japanese martial arts, developing an interest in and personal style of Aikijutsu. As his dojo, a place of training for martial arts, progressed in the late 1940s and early '50s, so did the spirituality of his art and thus Aikido, "the spirit of harmony," was born.

Richardson's talk focused on her experience with Aikido and how it had impacted her views on life. Prior to martial arts, her focus had been dance. After an incident where she saw a woman on the floor hurling people around seemingly effortlessly, she became entranced and developed a love for Aikido. "The techniques of Aikido are intended for us to use in examining the nature of power, to engage in uncompromising self-scrutiny, and to realize our potential as powerful, compassionate, creative, self-aware human beings."

Among her first teachers was Mary Hiney Sensei, one of the highest ranked women in the world. A Buddhist practioner, Richardson claimed that "she had a great love for O Sensei" and a strong presence about her.

In such a way, Richardson went through her own journey to teach Aikido and eventually founded Two Cranes Dojo in Seattle, Wash. in 1995. In addition to her duties as an instructor there, she serves as an adjunct faculty member at Antioch University where she offers a course entitled "Aikido as Martial Art and Spiritual Practice." She also works as a consultant and trainer in conflict resolution, effective management and self-defense.

Throughout her lecture Richardson, without missing a beat, would talk about her philosophy and demonstrate techniques while throwing around two of her assistants on stage, one of whom was Miller-Lane, Assistant Professor of Education at the College and founder of Blue Crane Aikido here in Middlebury. Miller-Lane was a former student of Richardson's and the two schools are closely related.

One of Miller-Lane's Aikido students, Jaime Lam '09, who also serves as the Middlebury Aikido Club's president, helped organize the symposium.

"I had asked Jonathan Miller-Lane about his connections in the Aikido world. We had asked the Finance Committee for money, but were unfortunately denied sufficient funding. I suggested that Miller-Lane Sensei look at alternative sources of funding, such as the various symposium grants. He did so and got three amazing guest instructors to come to Middlebury."

Aikido was not Lam's first foray into martial arts as he began his training in kung fu at five years old. "To be honest, I started doing martial arts as a kid because I wanted to be able to do flips and other Power Rangers-esque stuff, but it evolved into something a lot greater for me."

Lam became involved in Aikido at the College after a martial arts student of his introduced him to it. "I've come to realize that it isn't just a martial art, it's a wholesome life philosophy. It is the only martial art out there that stresses taking care of your opponent," he said about the style.

Lam praised Richardson's talk. "Kimberly-sensei was nothing short of incredible, on and off the mat. She had such an amazing awareness of the world around her, and it translated very strongly into her Aikido techniques," he said. "What also amazed me was the joy with which she trained; you could not catch her without a smile on her face while she was training, which is something very few people can say about any martial artist in the world."

Richardson spoke of the importance of the field that we live in. Aikido itself focuses on extending one's sphere to encapsulate another and so control their movements with only slight movement on the part of the practitioner. "We in this culture yearn for a way to be connected. I feel like Aikido creates that," she said of the martial art.

In the end, Richardson showed that violence is not the answer, demonstrating the importance of spirituality in martial arts. As she said of the inner growth that comes with training, "You really can love people that you don't particularly like."