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Contact: Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
Milifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

Fighting Fit: Balancing act

» Aikido Yoshinkai offers best instructors worldwide

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

I; seems there are two distinct
interpretations of Aikido as

a martial art in popular culture
today. While one half of the
population thinks of airy-fairy
tuck-and-roll acrobatics on
padded mats, the other half
thinks of perennial “action cop”
Steven Seagal wrist-twisting and
and hip-throwing incompetently
choreographed bad guys through
plate-glass windows.

Strangely, there’s truth in
both of these ideas: according to
the modern masters, “real” Aikido
should “look fake.” What the heck
does that mean? Step into Aikido
Yoshinkai in Burnaby and find
out.

Yoshinkai is a modest
establishment, but don’t let its
sequestered facade fool you.
Sensei Robert Mustard calls this

dojo home. Why should you care? :
If you've ever wanted to learn from !
: pin through circular movement.
: Each of the six basic forms can be
: broken down into similar lunge

an internationally recognized
seventh Dan (rank) black belt

: who's trained with the Tokyo
: Riot Police, then you should care
: immensely.

There are very few instructors

: in the Aikido community

: who've gained Mustard’s level of

: notoriety, and I personally believe
: that residents of Burnaby are

: incredibly fortunate to have him

: in the neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, Mustard isn’t

always available—he travels a

: lot, since his tutelage is in high

: demand. However, his second-

: in-command, Farshad Ardestani,
: is usually available in Mustard’s

: place. Ardestani earned his black
: belt in two years flat, and he also
: teaches Iaido (a form of quick-

: draw swordsmanship) Thursdays
: at 6p.m.

Aikido was originally

: conceived asa method for

: disarmed samurai to defend

: against katana-wielding enemies
: by intercepting aggressive strikes

and hauling the opponent off
their centre of balance into a

: and pivot motions. They aren't

: difficult to do—it’s the timing

: and positioning that makes these
: techniques difficult to apply in the : |
: moment. This is one of Aikido’s —:
: downsides; it takes a long time to
: become any good.

So why does “real” Aikido

: “look fake”? Because when it’s

: done well, it appears effortless.

: When you pin or lock an

> opponent, you are not inflicting
: pain on them. You are merely

: immobilizing them through

: leverage. Case in point, Rob—an
: old, out-of-shape aikidoka (one

: who practices Aikido)—was able
: to pin me down using a single

: finger. Yes, you read that right. I

: couldn't reach to kick him, roll

: over, or get up through force.

: Why? He had all the leverage and
: he was in just the right place.

: This kind of pseudo-superhuman
: stuff may seem ridiculous, but

: I will swear to its veracity. It

: can be done. Over time, you

: will find that practicing Aikido

: improves your sense of balance,

: as well as your ability to break

: a fall. Imperceptibly, Aikido

This issue:

(¥ Plaid to the bone
(Y Delicious Cutlets

(¥ The Intrepid Gastronomer: Flats on point on Main

And more!

: cultivates physical change in

: the practitioner, useful in both

: combat and day-to-day life. And
: there’s no one better to guide

Image via aikidoyoshinkan.info

: you through these changes than

: Robert Mustard. Find him at 7671
: Edmonds Street if you want some
: balance in your life.

#HelloPluto

» NASA engages the public through its innovative use of social media

Brittney MacDonald

meet Life & Style Editor
aM lifeandstyle

| @theotherpress.ca

O: of all the government
agencies, none have
embraced the popularity of

social media quite like the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, otherwise known
as NASA (bet you didn’t know it
stood for that did you?).

NASA's initial brush with
social media fame happened in
2012, during the Mars Curiosity
landing. Images of systems
engineer Bobak Ferdowsi—
henceforth known as “Mohawk
Guy” due to his unusual hairstyle
and excitement over the Curiosity
rover’s first broadcasted images—
went viral. The “Mohawk Guy”
meme became so far-reaching so
quickly, United States President
Barack Obama even commented
on it when he called the team to
congratulate them on a successful
mission.

The media attention

: obviously inspired NASA to

: engage more with Internet

: culture and social media, as they
: have since worked hard to build
: themselves up as a social media

: brand.

Recently, NASA celebrated yet

: another successful mission—this
: one consisting of a spacecraft
doing a 20-hour long pass of

: Pluto. The mission, labelled New
: Horizons, was more than nine

: years in the making; its intent,

: to photograph Pluto at the tail-

: end of our solar system. When

: the images finally did come,

: NASA didn’t bother releasing

: them to media and news outlets

: around the world, where they

: would play second fiddle to more
: sensationalized stories. Instead,

: the government agency released

: the pictures immediately to their
Instagram, adding the description
: “Gorgeous Pluto! The dwarf planet
: has sent a love note back to Earth
: via our New Horizons spacecraft,
: which has travelled more than

: nine years and three-plus-billion
: miles...”

The description goes on

: to relay some interesting facts

: about Pluto as well as the New

: Horizons mission itself. Clearly,
: the overall purpose for NASA’s

: new social media strategy is to :
: educate as well as feed the public’s :
: fascination with space—maybe :
: even inspire a few young minds
: to consider a career in rocket

: science?

As if releasing the images of

: Pluto to Instagram wasn't enough, :
: the New Horizons team then :
: proceeded to conduct an AMA
: (Ask Me Anything) over Reddit:
: and Twitter which was available to :
: anyone, of any country.

There has been criticism,

: however: social media companies
: like Instagram are privately

: owned—in this case, by

: networking giant Facebook. Asa
government agency, it is against
: the law for NASA to display

: favouritism to any privately

: owned company. Releasing the

: images to Instagram, rather

: than its competitors Snapchat or
: Tumblr, means NASA is walking
: avery thin line. Their loophole

: is that content on social media is
: available to the public regardless
: of whether an individual has an

: account with the website or not.

: With Instagram, anyone can view
: the images posted there as long

: as the account that submits the

: image is not set to private.

The Instagram image release

: preceded any news coverage by

: four hours, in part due to a delay

: in releasing the official images

: from the spacecraft via NASA’s

: website. Unfortunately for news

: outlets, Instagram’s format

: prevented them from simply

: taking the initial image and

: blowing it up, so they could report

Image via reslep.scsstatic.ch

: on the New Horizons mission
> earlier.

Due to the escalating conflict

: between independent media

: (online news, blogs, social media,
: and the like), and more traditional
: news outlets, I suspect the

: criticism towards NASA's ethics

: is simply an attempt to force the

: agency to remain archaic in their

: press release process.

I, however, applaud NASA for

the innovative new approach, and
: will definitely follow them across
: all our common platforms.