GREENFIELD — Dave Stier started the new year with notice from Japan that he had been promoted to a seventh-degree black belt in aikido, a traditional Japanese martial art stressing balance, positioning and leverage instead of strength and force.

Co-owner of Green River Aikido at 9 Dickinson St. in Greenfield, Stier learned from the Aikikai Foundation of Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo that he had achieved the rank of nanadan, or seventh dan, after 40 years in the discipline.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” he said last week. “Most Americans don’t get any higher than seventh dan.”

Stier, 70, explained aikido essentially means to harmonize one’s energy.

“It utilizes the opponent’s energy,” he said. “So you try to neutralize that, take advantage of their moment of imbalance and then continue that. The closest thing some people might relate it to is judo, but that’s actually a sport.”

The dan, pronounced “dahn,” is a ranking system in many Japanese martial arts to indicate the level of a person’s ability.

Student Brian Keaney said he wasn’t surprised to hear his sensei, or teacher, had been promoted to seventh dan.

“He’s earned it. He’s been doing this for 50 years,” he said. “He knows where to find the places to push to get you to grow.”

Keaney said he got involved in aikido after seeing a poster about it.

“Like most martial arts, it just forces you to change from the inside to reflect the outside,” he said.

Kathy Stier, Dave’s wife and co-owner of Green River Aikido, noted aikido is beneficial to aging bodies.

“You’re constantly learning. It’s a very creative martial art, and it’s very good for women, too,” she said, “because it’s not based on strength. It’s based on being able to mobilize your partner, joint-mobilization techniques.”

Dave Stier got started while studying at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he signed up for a physical education course specializing in the martial art and eventually joined the university’s aikido club. Kathy, a sixth dan, took up the martial art after meeting her future husband when they were graduate students studying fisheries and wildlife biology.

“I was a little intrigued by what he was doing, because it sounded kind of interesting,” she said.

The Stiers, who live in Deerfield, opened their dojo 20 years ago. They said business is picking up again after three lean years during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they resorted to holding classes outside.

More information about the Stiers and about Green River Aikido is available at greenriveraikido.com.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.