ClubSportsWeekly Skiers tight in slalom, take third 'M' racers fall to Notre Dame, Spartans It's been all uphill for the Michigan ski club as of late. At Searchmont Mountain in Sault St. Marie last weekend, the women's squad notched third place. Sophomore Liz Hill tore up the slopes, leading the team with two third-place finishes in the slalom and giant slalom. The Wolverines finished right behind arch rivals Notre Dame and Michigan State who came in first and second place, respectively. "We had a tight meet versus State and lost 17-18," Michigan junior captain Bridget Puchalsky said. "Liz had an outstanding performance and raised the level of performances of our other skiers." Despite losing to their big rivals, Michigan scorched Western Michigan and Grand Valley State, who were probably content just making it up the chair lift. In men's competition, junior David Whipp led the rest of the pack. He whipped it good, taking seventh place in individual competition. The teams have three more meets left in the season. Next weekend, the Wolverines will head to Schuss Mountain in Bel Aire, Michigan. The final two meets will be at Crystal Mountain and Marquette Mountain where the competition shouldn't be too steep. "We're going to tear up the slopes," Puchalsky said. "With Liz and Dave, there's no stopping us." -David Roth Ninjitsu: Not just ninjas in masks Martial arts teach mental preparation The ninjitsu club may not be what you think. "We're not a bunch of ninjas wearing black masks in some underground organization that goes around killing people," senior club president and first degree black belt Sean Stephenson said. "The University just gave us a weird name." They are, however, a group that learns realistic types of techniques to attack or defend opponents. Stephenson notes that club members are both physically and mentally prepared to handle any realistic violent situation. "What you see on television is not what martial arts really prepare people for," Stephenson said. The martial art that the club practices is bujinkan budo taijutso. Within this martial art, there are nine separate divisions, one of which teaches ninjitsu, the others which teach samurai. Each art focuses on five separate attacking and defense mechanisms. The different categories include leaping, tumbling and attack evading in the first category, grappling, throwing, joint-locking in the second, weaponry, stick blades and cord projectiles in the third, striking, kicking and muscle attacking in the fourth. Warrior meditation is the fifth category. The class is taught by Mike Asuncion, a ninth-degree black belt, and Isaac Herman, a fourth-degree black belt. Both learned from the Japanese grand master of the art, or soké, Hatsumi Masaaki, so the instruction club members receive is very professional. - David Roth Originally on page 2B in the 1-31-2000 issue of the Daily.