ASST 14
Martial Arts in Movies and Real Life Winter 2020

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Class Details

Movies that feature martial arts action rarely win Oscars or get much critical attention. Nevertheless, the best of these films can inspire extraordinary devotion amongst fans, spark bitter feuds regarding which martial arts star would win in a fight, and are often the reason new students arrive at the door of a martial arts school and begin a journey which changes their lives forever. A case can also be made that, by providing an experience of extraordinary and cathartic violence, they help individuals and society regulate their less civilized impulses. They are also a lot more fun to watch when you know something about martial arts–and the only legitimate way to know something about martial arts is to experience them first hand, rather than only on screen. This course blends two hours of daily training with twice-weekly screenings of some of the best martial arts films ever made. The Martial Arts training (10am-Noon each weekday morning in Currier Ballroom) will mostly be in the Japanese art of Aikido, a synthesis of the Samurai arts of Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) and Jujutsu (grappling). Training will improve each student’s strength, balance, posture, and flexibility. Everyone will also learn how to throw friends twice their size across the room. 25% of training time will be devoted to sword, staff, and dagger techniques. Joining us for several sessions will be Stage Combat Instructor and fight choreographer Alexei Syssoyeva, who will oversee students choreographing their own fight sequence, using stage combat techniques (i.e. the skills required to make it look like a real fight when it isn’t). Additional relevant experiences, such as meditation practice and outdoor misogi will be woven into the course as schedules and weather permit. The films: 7 Samurai, Last Samurai, Uzumasa Limelight, Enter the Dragon, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Robin Hood (Errol Flynn version), Brotherhood of the Wolf, Kill Bill (volume 1). Adjunct Instructor Bio: Robert Kent ’84 spent 3 years in Kyoto, Japan earning his Sho Dan (first degree black belt), directly after majoring in both Philosophy and Religion at Williams. He currently holds a Yon Dan rank (Fourth degree black belt), having studied for 21 years at Aikido West in Redwood City under Frank Doran Shihan. He earned a Masters degree in Philosophy at Claremont Graduate School in 1993, writing his thesis on the Ethics of Authenticity.
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 20
Grading: pass/fail only
Requirements/Evaluation: 10-page paper
Prerequisites: same physician's approval on file as the school requires to participate on sports teams; students do not have to be especially athletic, and in Aikido women train as equals with men
Enrollment Preferences: selection via questionnaire
Materials/Lab Fee: $175

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