Special Events

Jodo practice resumes!

We will start up our jodo program again with classes from 6-7pm, on Feb. 29, March 28 and April 25.

Kyu demonstrations held

Several students have advanced in rank in aikido on Feb. 29. Eddie is now first kyu, and Sean and Keith are 8th kyu.  Congratulations!


 

 

Aikido class times for March and April:

Adult class is every Monday and Wednesday in March and April except no classes on Monday, March 26 and Monday, April 23. Class time is 7-8:30pm.

Children’s classes will meet Mondays, March 5, 12 and 19 and Wednesday, March 28. In April, classes will be Mondays on the 2nd, 9th, 16th and 30th, and Wednesday, the 25th. Time is from 6-7pm.

T’ai Chi Time and Location

The T’ai Chi program is currently looking for a new location to practice. Hopefully  they will be up and running by early summer.

Aikido and jodo location

We are at the Broad Ripple Park Family Center, located at: 1550 Broad Ripple Avenue (Directions Here) (the building on the left as one enters the park from E. 62nd Street)

 

The Indianapolis Star Marks Evelyn’s Promotion

(The following is an article that appeared in the Feb. 6, 2011 edition of the newspaper.)

Dr. Evelyn Dysarz, 65, Indianapolis, chiropractor, Wellspring Wholistic Health

I was looking for a good form of exercise in 1974 when I met Christopher Howey, who later became my husband. He had just started practicing aikido, a defensive type of Japanese martial art, so he started to teach me.

I’ve been practicing it ever since. In late January, I was awarded a sixth-degree black belt, and I became the first woman with that ranking outside of Japan in the yoshinkan style of aikido. It’s quite an honor.

At Aikido and T’ai Chi of Indianapolis, where I am manager and senior instructor, you practice through the fifth degree of black belt. Someone with a higher level belt decides whether to pass you after watching you take a test. For the sixth level, though, there isn’t a physical test. The Japanese career aikido teachers at our home school in Tokyo look at how you help spread the practice of aikido.

I run the school’s day-to-day business and also serve as chairman and treasurer of the board of directors. It’s all voluntary. Instructors don’t get paid at the school. We also teach Zumba, yoga, t’ai chi and belly dancing. We’re trying to make the school into a community center.

After receiving my first- and second-degree belts in Detroit, I went to Chicago to get my chiropractic degree. Then I came to Indianapolis and worked up to my fifth-degree belt. When I turned 50, my daughter suggested I run the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon. So I did that for years, but it got boring.

Aikido, though, is always fascinating. There is always something to learn. It is a lesser-known martial art with no competition, so that changes the dynamics. You have partners — one person is the attacker; the other is the defender.

The defender does the techniques, engaging the other person physically and redirecting his energy to try to cause him to lose his balance so you can pin him. There are no kicks or punches.

We practice being in the present and aware of what is happening. The priority is not to injure the other person, but to neutralize him. Police and corrections officers or those who work with emotionally violent people can use it.

The practice is physiologically sound. The body mechanics are sound, so people don’t get injured. It emphasizes core strength, effectively using the whole body as a unit, so we can do techniques without too much effort.

You’re learning excellent ways to move your body, while you’re keeping your mind calm and being very aware of what you and the other person are doing. It is a form of moving meditation.

As told to Barb Berggoetz at barb.berggoetz@indystar.com.

Senior aikido instructor honored - Evelyn Dysarz learned Jan. 22 that she has been promoted to sixth degree black belt (rokudan) by the hombu dojo in Tokyo.
The promotion is in recognition of her 37 years studying aikido, as well as her behind-the-scenes work as Board of Directors chair, treasurer and manager of AikiConcepts, Inc. She also helped  an earlier aikido association when she lived in Michigan.

Evelyn’s spouse, Christopher Howey, arranged the presentation as a surprise. He is the other senior instructor at the school.

Many friends and her two children, one of whom flew in from Los Angeles for the occasion, celebrated with her at a party Jan. 22.

Outside of Japan, Evelyn now is one of the highest ranking women in the Yoshinkan style of aikido.