By Dakharai Murray

Origami

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding and requires precision and patience to accurately create each paper craft to produce the desired result. Certain origami, such as the origami crane, have a symbolic relationship within Japanese culture and represent something positive, such as good luck and peace. A yakko-san is a samurai’s manservant who performed different tasks for their samurai master. At the origami station, we were taught how to make origami cranes & yakko-sans. I found that both crafts had many steps and would be hard to memorize and complete without instructions, especially the crane. Overall, origami is a very unique art style that is interesting and entertaining for its participants, and the many different crafts can keep you occupied for a long time.

Karate

Karate is a system of unarmed combat, using the hands and feet to deliver and block attacks, but it’s widely practiced as a sport, worldwide. Karate students are ranked by belt colors, with white being the beginner level and black being the master level. During the Kakehashi visit one of the students hosted the station and she taught us a basic pattern of moves from one of the beginner belts. She also demonstrated how to properly deliver a front kick. I found the demonstration to be informative and interesting because it requires more speed, agility, flexibility, and quick reflexes to become a successful karate student.