To Boldly Throw Where No Man Has Thrown Before...

Pat, Nathan, and I somehow got on the subject of Star Trek during our last Judo/Aikido lessons. I've always been something of a Trekkie, I guess...although it's been a love/hate relationship with all things Trek. Seems like all of the episodes or movies were either so silly they were good, or they were so silly they were embarrassing. Once in a while a truly good episode would slip through, but I still consider it a guilty pleasure (I'm in the minority - DS9 was my favorite series).

Anyway, I mentioned how there was a scene in which Captain Kirk was doing some Judo training (in his red gi jacket and red...leotard...leggings, I think). It was in the episode "Charlie X" from season 1 if you're interested.

Tasha Yar from The Next Generation also had skills - I was re-watching the TNG episode "Code of Honor" (season 1) and Tasha threw a guy with a wrist lock. "That was Aikido!" I exclaimed to my wife ("Mmm-hm, that's nice" she replied). Sure enough, later in the episode, Tasha demonstrates the holodeck to a visitor by running a program called "Aikido 1". But the fight that ensues (with some ninja-looking guy) didn't keep that aiki flow, unless it's a style I'm not familiar with. Tasha was scheduled to participate in a kickboxing competition just before she died.

Hoshi Sato (from "Enterprise") was an Aikido black belt. The actress who played the Borg Queen in "Voyager" is also an aikidoka.

Other martial arts represented in Trek lore: Chakotay (from "Voyager") was a boxer, as was Boothby (the groundskeeper of Starfleet Academy). Tuvok (the Vulcan from "Voyager") studied Sumo. Will Riker's double, Thomas, practiced Tai Chi Chuan. Worf taught a mok'bara class on the Enterprise (a Klingon martial art very much like Tai Chi Chuan). Captain Picard, Captain Sisko, and Jadzia Dax were wrestlers.

Could I be a bigger geek?