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BOISE BICYCLE PROJECT OPEN SHOP—Donate unwanted bicycles or equipment and receive a tax write-off. The shop is open for volunteers interested in working on bicycles for children of low-income families, refugees and Boise’s homeless population. During open shop time on Saturdays, use tools and stands to work on your own bike or bikes for the community. No experience is necessary. Volunteer orientations are on the first and third Saturdays of the month at 11 a.m. For more information, email boisebicycleproject@gmail.com. Wednesdays-Saturdays, Noon-6 p.m. FREE. Boise Bicycle Project, 1027 Lusk St., Boise, 208-4296520, boisebicycleproject.org. CONTEMPORARY-MODERN— Develop creativity and diversity with this dance form. Wednesday classes are for ages 10-14, Saturday classes are for adults. Wednesdays, 6:45-7:45 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10-11:30 a.m. $15. Ballet Idaho, 501 S. Eighth St., Boise, 208-343-0556, balletidaho.org. DROP-IN ADULT BASKETBALL—The gymnasium is open for drop-in use from 11 a.m.2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. $4. Fort Boise Community Center, 700 Robbins Road, Boise, 208-384-4486, cityofboise.org/ parks. LUNCHTIME YOGA CLASS— Take a break from the grind and get in a yoga class on your lunch hour. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, noon. 10 classes for $70. Sage Yoga and Wellness, 242 N. Eighth St., Ste. 200, Boise, 208-338-5430, sageyogaboise.com.
Events & Workshops CASCADE ICE FISHING DERBY—Cash prizes for biggest fish, door prizes for participants, and a $5 raffle for big ticket items. All on Cascade Lake. Proceeds benefit Idaho Youth Outdoors annual Idaho Youth Ice Fishing Day. Saturday, Jan. 26, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. $10 youth, $25 adult. Cascade American Legion, 105 E. Mill St., Cascade, 208-382-3694, cascadeicefishingderby.com. FREE BEGINNER KARATE CLASSES—Take advantage of FREE karate classes for beginners, ages 6 through adults, all month of January. Through Thursday, Jan. 31, 5-7 p.m. Idaho Martial Arts, 515 S. Fitness, Eagle, 208-863-3673, idahomartialarts.com.
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BELAY CERTIFICATION CLASSES—Participants learn basic safety principles and proper belay technique during this one-hour course. Upon completion, students receive a certification card that enables them to “skip” introduction prior to each climbing wall session at the YMCA. This card is required to belay at the Downtown YMCA. Saturdays, Noon-1 p.m. $5. YMCA, 1050 W. State St., Boise, 208-3445501, ymcaboise.org.
Sensei Kimball Anderson takes them down, aikido style.
AIKIDO An evening at Komyozan Aikido begins with beatings. The class—dressed in uniforms called keiko-gi—breaks into groups of three. The members take turns lying on the padded canvas floor while the other members knock at their backs, arms, legs and feet with closed fists. After the thrashings, Sensei Kimball Anderson explained the evening’s lesson, which was on the strength and balance that can be derived from the human pinky. Aikido is a martial art synthesized in the 1920s from older martial arts, notably jujitsu. In the Komyozan dojo, the highceilinged structure Anderson built himself using traditional methods and materials, the emphasis is on training the body and mind, and living a philosophy, rather than self-defense, lessons students pay roughly $100 a month to learn. “What’s in better shape: a heart that beats once to get blood to your pinky or a heart that beats 20 times to get blood to your pinky,” Anderson asked the class, which sat on its shins in a row before him. KOMYOZAN AIKIDO In aikido, physical fitness 208-407-7590 has more to do with balance komyozan@gmail.com, than brute strength. In this komyozan.org. lesson, students broke off into pairs, one partner throwing his or her weight against the other’s forearms projecting from the waist. The grappler was repelled with minimal effort, since the defender was redirecting the grappler’s force into the ground. Underlying the philosophy is the blurring of the distinction between the mind and body. If a practitioner understands the laws of motion and his or her body, difficult or seemingly impossible feats become feasible. The same applies to the practitioner’s spirit, and Anderson said that much of the value his students derive from aikido is that they can take many of the lessons they learn out of the classroom and into the world. “It is a way to connect with your infinite potential,” Anderson said after the class. “If you only did this here, it would be completely useless.” Aikido’s practitioners aspire to free their minds from false categories and their bodies from false limitations, but do so in an environment carefully structured by ritual and etiquette. Students entering the dojo bow to Anderson, and classes are bookended by deep bows and clapping. Even the folding of the keiko-gi is an elaborate ritual not easily mastered. Anderson explained that the structure of his classes makes his students feel comfortable. Donning the keiko-gi makes people feel at ease in a group setting in which they’re interacting physically and intellectually. “People who come here love to be challenged without aggression,” Anderson said. —Harrison Berry WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M