Students Relax on Field Trip
March 20, 2003

Dean Sluyter’s Literature of Enlightenment class took a trip to the Aikido School in Roselle Park for a day of meditation, yoga, and learning the basics to Aikido martial arts. The morning began as the students removed their shoes and positioned themselves on a gently padded mat to begin the mind and body cleansing exercises of meditation and yoga. Breathing deeply, the students were quietly talked through the meditation by Mr. Sluyter as they let go of all unnecessary thoughts. As they cleansed their minds, the students let their bodies relax to prepare for the stretching involved in the yoga exercises. Explaining each position, Mr. Sluyter led the class through several contortions, each one having a specific purpose to release stress and relax the body. While some of the positions looked difficult Mr. Sluyter concentrated on the correct placement of body parts to make sure the stretch was done appropriately without causing injury or pain. While there were a few grunts and groans, the whole class began to move fluidly through the positions. The class was treated to an Aikido demonstration by the owner and chief instructor, Rick Stickles. The basis for this form of martial arts is an integration of mind, body, and spirit in order to defend oneself without causing undue injury to the opponent. Mr. Stickles showed the class that by using a flowing movement, he could flip his attackers onto the mat without using any violent motions. The practice of Aikido encourages spiritual and mental development as well as defensive techniques. © 2003 The Pingry School