5 years for aikido class at Westside Community Center
Bob Mendiola (far right) teaches his class
recently inside the Westside Community Center.
Westside Pioneer photo
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Teacher Bob Mendiola hails from the Hawaiian Islands, moving to this area in 1995. In 1996, he retired from a career in security with the Department of Defense. He's worked the past four years as a line cook at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
But during that time (and going back 40 years in all), he has studied aikido, a non-aggressive form of jujitsu that emphasizes averting attack. "It's a low-impact exercise,” Mendiola said. “That's why all ages can participate.”
And he enjoys teaching the subject. “I have a passion to work with it,” he said.
Meeting two evenings a week, two hours each time, his program is called the Isla Aikido Self-Defense Class. He said he prefers to have 6 to 10 students.
There is a fee. As in martial arts classes taught elsewhere in the city, participants can earn belts by mastering levels of discipline.
For more information on the Westside Community Center classes, call Mendiola at 930-8059, or call the center at 385-7920 x100.
Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 12/13/15;
Community:
Westside Community Center)
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