By Olivia Guastella | September 30, 2024
On a squishy matted floor surrounded by punching bags, people are somersaulting through the air.
David Hochfelder demonstrates forward-standing rolls to students.
Photo Credit: Olivia Guastella / The ASP
Flipping yourself in the air is a skill few people possess, and even fewer can do it with the same grace as history professor David Hochfelder. One of the many group exercise classes now offered in the Well, the new gym on Colonial Quad, is aikido.
Aikido is a Japanese defensive martial art where participants work to neutralize attacks by blending with and redirecting an attacker's energy. Although another main goal is to uninjure the attacker, inflicting pain can be necessary to gain compliance. Many of the techniques involve throwing and joint locks.
The aikido class is instructed by history professor David Hochfelder, who started practicing aikido back in 2003 when a neighbor introduced him to it.
Hochfelder has been a faculty member for 17 years, but he started teaching aikido here at the University at Albany in 2018. The pandemic halted the class, but it resumed back in 2022.
Hochfelder has his students warm up, stretch, and practice forward and backward rolls. Then, the class moves on to practice aikido techniques with switching partners. Because this type of class requires practicing technique on another person, community is heavily emphasized.
“I enjoy practicing with people and helping each other to improve our techniques,” Hochfelder said. “I consider the people who have been practicing with me for the last year as colleagues and friends.”
Neither students nor staff are required to attend every class; usually there is a core group of about five people, but a person can come as frequently or infrequently as they want resulting in a space filled with new and old faces.
“Once you are in the aikido practice space, [the] context for what you do for your job or what year college student you are disappears and we are all just aikido practitioners and we help each other improve our practice,” Hochfelder said. “Getting to know someone in a totally different context than the classroom or on campus.”
Senior Chika Ndukwe is a frequent attendant of group exercise classes and enjoys not only the aikido classes but numerous cardio-related classes and cycling classes.
Ndukwe expressed how much she enjoyed the community that is created in Professor Hochfelder’s aikido classes, saying “When I’m not there for a day or a week, people notice, Dave will say ‘hey, nice to see you,’ and he knows my name and my face and it is really nice and it feels like there is a home here.”
Find more information about this class and others at the Well here.
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