Bernie Mulligan
Imagina el desafío de tu primer examen de cinturón negro en artes marciales: los años de práctica, los nervios, y las preguntas acerca de las habilidades de tu oponente. Ahora, imagina ponerte una venda antes de la prueba.
Tal fue el desafío que enfrentó Serguei Vassiliev, 43, de Lynn. Vassiliev es ciego y, recientemente, aprobó su examen de cinturón negro en el arte marcial japonés del aikido.
La prueba se llevó a cabo en el Dojo Shodokan de Beverly, un centro de artes marciales con facilidades de entrenamiento. Tres instructores altamente calificados, en calidad de jueces, They sat on the mat next to the other students of aikido watching. Students were prepared to act as “weekly”(the attackers) to test skills Vassiliev.
To start, the instructor Bernie Mulligan selected Vassiliev's main rival: John Murphy, Derry, N.H. Murphy measures 6 pies 3 and weighs 230 libras, and Vassiliev measures 5 pies 10 and weighs 150 libras. Both have more than 15 years of training in Aikido. When the judges gave the order to start, Murphy launched attacks against Vassiliev, Vassiliev and each time he stood with wrist grips, proyecciones, or control arm.
They went on to a series of attacks with Murphy wielding weapons : a knife, a sword and a wooden stick. Each attack ended with Murphy disarmed and controlled. A continuación, two other students simultaneously attacked Vassiliev. He turned and projected both.
“Serguei Vassiliev has a great awareness of movement around him”, Murphy said. “Normalmente, students practice with their opponents for months. But we have never practiced together, so their skills are real and extraordinary. He has incredible strength in his body and mind”.
How Vassiliev defends sightless?
“It's not magic”, Vassiliev said. “It is work and practice movements. The attack must start and then I respond. In the movies, perhaps a blind seems to know when and how the enemy attacks. It's extraordinary, but not because they are blind. It is because they are great teachers. Cualquier persona, blind or, you can repeat the movements, but for mastery of aikido, you must believe in his philosophy.”
Aikido is a Japanese martial art created by Morihei Ueshiba in the early 1900. Ueshiba's philosophy focuses on peaceful resolution of conflicts. Aikido students learn to neutralize and redirect the energy of an opponent without causing serious injury. The desired result is harmony between peaceful and hostile energies.
According to the US Aikido Federation. en Nueva York, there are no statistics on the number of blind students who have achieved aikido black belt. “In my more than 40 years of experience in martial arts, I've never trained another blind person”, Mulligan said. “I call it rare”.
Mulligan, of 83 years old, recently he reached the rank of Shihan, or master teacher, the Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo. He has trained Vassiliev since 2002.
I am happy to say that Serguei Vassiliev passed his black belt test and demonstrated his skills superbly ', Mulligan said. “Vassiliev is a teacher among students, It has faced many of the challenges of life with peace”.
Vassiliev's challenges started when he lost his sight when he was a child in his native Armenia.
“I have consumed a bottle 150 vitamins when had 4 years old”, Vassiliev said. “My grandmother noticed a red rash on my face and ran with me to the hospital thinking that could have measles. A doctor gave me a measles vaccine, and I had a severe allergic reaction, which damaged my vision”.
Vassiliev then suffered from severe headaches, nosebleeds, and decreased vision. The treatments did nothing but worsen your condition and left him blind. Vassiliev's family traveled to Moscow frantic for better health care, where he was admitted to a hospital for six months. in Moscow, doctors were able to restore only the visual impairment in the left eye Vassiliev.
Despite their vision problems, the young Vassiliev had a desire to learn English and a thirst for knowledge about life outside the Soviet Union. En ese momento, Armenia was a Soviet republic and the government censored alternative reading materials.
“Growing up in the Soviet Union, we could learn martial arts even yoga”, Vassiliev said. “But I went to a Russian school and some of my friends' parents were senior military officers. They had books on advanced military struggle and when he was 8 years old, one of them gave me a book called “This Is Karate”por Masutatsu Oyama. From this book and others, I only learned English and began my training in martial arts.”
Vassiliev completed high school in Armenia and moved to Russia to take advanced courses. “When Gorbachev was in power at the end of 1980, censorship was diminished”, Vassiliev said. “I openly attended martial arts schools and met my first great masters of martial arts.”
In 1988, a devastating earthquake struck Armenia,and the family home was destroyed Vassiliev. Vassiliev's family soon joined him in Russia. But even when personal freedoms were improving in the early 1980, the economies of Russia and Armenia were unstable, and, finalmente, the deVassiliev family emigrated to America in 2002. They moved without the father Vassiliev, who died in Russia.
Shortly after settling in Lynn, Vassiliev underwent surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, in Boston. The surgery improves vision in his left eye in a 10 a 15 por ciento.
“It was good to see better with my left eye, but the improvement only lasted a couple of years”, Vassiliev said. “For a short time I enjoyed nature and see my loved ones, but now I'm completely blind in both eyes. I must say, that blindness is a drawback, but I am grateful to my friends who help me with the inconveniences”.
Vassiliev now lives a scholarship funded by the State. His circle of friends includes fellow aikido, members of the Russian and Armenian community in Lynn, and fellow musicians.
“People often ask me how I spend my time”, Vassiliev said. “When I'm not practicing aikido, I'm listening to audio books and learning to play the drums, piano and guitar. I want to record my own music because music brings harmony and joy to my life, like aikido.”
Given that successfully passed the examination of black belt, Vassiliev smiled.
“Of course I'm glad that I passed the test”, dijo. “But I do not congratulate me. Every day I face challenges not seen. Through aikido learn to bring harmony to what comes next in life.”
Fuente: articles.Boston.com
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