Discipline, strength and confidence are some of the traits taught to students participating in the four different martial arts clubs at the Student Recreation Center.

Aikido, kali escrima, kendo and shinkendo may not be the most well known clubs on campus, but they have all been mainstays for more than a decade. The Assistant Director of Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs, Shane Bennett, said the martial arts add to the already diverse selection of sports clubs students have to choose from.

“The tradition and philosophy is important for us to understand about martial arts because it is an art,” Bennett said. “It provides another opportunity for students to get involved and to grow.”

Johnathan Flowers, a doctoral student in philosophy from Oak Park, is the president of three of the four martial arts clubs at SIU: aikido, shinkendo and kali escrima.

Brigitte Bentulan, a sophomore studying biological sciences, is president of the fourth club, kendo.

A lifelong lover of martial arts, Flowers has been involved with martial arts clubs throughout his time at SIU as an undergraduate and graduate.

“I’ve been involved for about 10 years here on campus and I’ve been practicing martial arts for 22 years,” he said.

Of the three clubs Flowers leads, two of them, aikido and shinkendo, are Japanese martial arts while the third, kali escrima, is a Filipino martial art. Flowers said the techniques are not an opportunity to hurt people, but a way to prevent people from getting hurt.

Most people who practice these martial arts may never use them against another person. If the techniques are used, it should never be a situation where the martial artist provokes the conflict, Flowers said.

“What the martial arts aim to do is generate people who are reluctant to use their skills,” he said. “A general maxim in Japanese martial arts is, ‘if you have to use your martial arts, then you’ve failed already.’

You are supposed to seek other solutions before hitting somebody.”

Kayla McGillem, a junior from Belleville studying elementary education, said it is more than just an opportunity to learn valuable self-defense techniques.

“It’s been more of a disciplinary art for me because it definitely helps me with my focus,” she said.

The physical discipline she has learned practicing shinkendo has helped her with discipline in other aspects of her life, McGillem said. McGillem is an avid writer, drawer and a lover of Japanese culture. She incorporates the Japanese culture she has learned in martial arts to her classwork as well as her hobbies.

“I really like creating stories and most of my stories have to do with medieval type settings,” she said. “I really like Japanese culture so I put a lot of aspects of that into my stories so it helps a lot outside of practice.”

McGillem is a member of the shinkendo and Kali escrima clubs. Flowers said many members participate in more than one of the clubs although it is not mandatory.

He said while they all are martial arts with an emphasis on self-defense, each has differences in origin and practicability.

Kali escrima, the lone Filipino martial art, is a compilation of many different types of stick-fighting systems and is the fastest paced, Flowers said. When the Spanish invaded the Philippines and took over, kali escrima was instrumental in the natives’ fight to take their homeland back.

“Kali escrima emphasizes in ensuring that your opponent can’t fight back and keeping yourself safe by engaging fluidly and with great speed,” Flowers said. “There is a lot of rapid strikes and a lot of quick, engaging footwork.”

He even said examples of kali escrima appear in one popular movie series.

“If you’ve even seen the “Bourne Identity” trilogy of movies, the empty hand martial arts that Jason Bourne uses in the second one with the rolled up newspaper; that’s kali escrima,” Flowers said.

Shinkendo, the most modern of the martial arts clubs, was created in 1993 and incorporates a number of different Japanese sword fighting techniques.

“Its focus is the practical use of the Japanese sword,” Flowers said. “Shinkendo is all the elements of Japanese sword styles taken to their essence, then combined to make a comprehensive martial art that focuses on the practical use of the samurai sword.”

Flowers said that while there are not any formal competitions, members do indulge in tameshigiri, or test cutting, to track their improvement in the art of shinkendo.

Aikido is performed empty-handed unlike shinkendo and kali escrima, Flowers said

“Aikido is derived from Samurai martial arts, traditionally performed in armor,” he said. “Its primary emphasis is on redirection of your opponents’ momentum, joint locks, and suppression techniques.”

These would be the type of self-defense techniques that do not require a weapon. Simply using the aggression or momentum of an attacker against them could be effective. Flowers said he had an instance where aikido was effective in resolving a conflict.

Four summers ago, while in Oak Park, Flowers was at a party with some of his friends. One of the attendants at the party was drunk and he aggressively came at Flowers, grabbing his shoulder.

“There’s a basic aikido technique called ikkyo, which basically locks your arm from your wrist to your shoulder,” Flowers said. “I didn’t hurt him. [The technique] locked his arm and I held him there while we resolved whatever his conflict was.”

Flowers said this story is important to the essence of martial arts: self-preservation and self-cultivation, not violence.

“As people learn to use their bodies more effectively, they develop confidence in the different things their bodies can do and that confidence spills over into social activities, work and schoolwork,” Flowers said. “I see this most pronounced in women.”

McGillem, one of the many women who have participated in the various clubs, said her confidence has also grown since joining martial arts two years ago. She also said that joining and improving is as easy as showing up and giving it a try.

“If you don’t have any previous experience you can come in and it’s pretty basic from the beginning,” she said. “It’s fairly easy to gain more ranks; you’ve just got to show up and practice.”

Bennett said he has seen the positive effects of martial arts as well.

“Johnathan has done a phenomenal job at teaching students and teaching me about martial arts,” Bennett said. “You can see the progress in people. Martial arts can give you the confidence you need to be successful.”

Tyler Davis can be reached at [email protected], @tdavis_de or 536-3311 ext. 282.