While he was in the Marine Corps, Tom Huffman needed to find a way to defend himself from the other soldiers.
He looked to karate but wanted a more peaceful approach. Instead, he chose aikido and decided to spread his knowledge to Gainesville residents.
“Aikido is more defense than offense,” Huffman said. “You don’t really want to hurt the person, but you want them to think that you’re not a person they want to mess with.”
Huffman, a 59-year-old fourth-degree black belt in aikido, teaches the martial art for the Aikido Defense of Gainesville at the Unified Training Center, 809 W. University Ave.
Starting this year, Huffman said he will offer free defense and anti-bullying classes Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the center.
Before he got involved in his 27-year career in aikido, Huffman served in the Marines and later transferred to the Navy.
Wanting to learn Iwama-style aikido, Huffman took classes at Sunset Cliffs Aikido in 1986 while stationed in San Diego, Calif. He later asked for a transfer to Japan, so he could learn more defense art techniques.
He later retired from the Navy and moved to Gainesville to go to college, which he didn’t do after he graduated from high school.
He said college wasn’t for him at the time.
“I barely passed senior year,” he said.
Growing up, Huffman said he loved playing in his school band, and when the time came for him to go back to school, he knew he wanted go to a college that had a good band. He chose UF.
“Some of my friends came here to play in the band,” he said. “Moving to Gainesville was my fool-around year.”
However, UF did not accept his military credits, which led him to spend two years at Santa Fe College, pursuing his associate degree in business.
In 1998, he started the Aikido Club at SFC, which he still teaches for during the week to this day — when he is not at the Unified Training Center.
Huffman was eventually accepted into UF, where he taught at the UF Aikido Club. He later graduated in 2001 with a degree in finance.
After graduating, Huffman continued teaching classes, and he was approached by a woman who asked him if he needed teaching space.
Huffman eventually found space at the Unified Training Center and opened Aikido Defense of Gainesville in 2002.
Future plans for Huffman and his aikido defense program include more public demonstrations, seminars and creating DVDs and videos of him teaching high-power aikido techniques, he said.
Because his classes take place within Innovation Square, he said there is a chance that the Unified Training Center building may be bought out in the next year or so.
At that point, Huffman said he and his team will look for another, cheaper location to continue their classes.
“Aikido is a way of living,” he said. “We interact and learn how to work together, rather than against each other.”
Sensei Tom Huffman, a fourth-degree black belt in Iwama and Nishio styles of aikido, practices iaido at the Unified Training Center on Thursday. Iaido is the art of drawing and manipulating the Japanese sword. Adult classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Free classes are held each Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
