Over the past few months, we have been actively working to set that course, meeting with our training members to gather input about the way forward for the leadership of our karate program.  We have developed a vision of a shared leadership structure that will carry us beyond Sei Shihan Nancy’s tenure, which will end in September 2020.  The strong spirit of community on which Thousand Waves was built is best cultivated when a lot of people are invested in its success.  While staff teachers and coordinators will continue to lead our children’s programs, in the realm of the adult karate program and other special programs, we will rely on a mixture of staff and community leadership.

Toward that goal, back in September we created and elected a volunteer Council of Senior Leaders, charged with a variety of responsibilities from instructor development to senior rank advancement, meditation, special workshops and other programs in service of maintaining the community, culture, and values of Thousand Waves.  The Council includes representatives from color belt through senior black belt ranks.  The inaugural members are: Jun Shihan Martha Fourt, Sensei Akinwande Oyebanjo, Senpai Aileen Geary, Senpai Margarita Saona, Senpai Lauren Bushnell, and Marti Mendoza-Schommer.  We are grateful to them for their willingness to serve in this capacity.

We’ve also undertaken a teacher training initiative, which you’ll read more about in this newsletter.  In her remaining time as Head Instructor, Sei Shihan Nancy will continue to focus a lot of her attention on training the teachers that will carry us into the future.

Thank you for your ongoing support as we forge this new path.  Your commitment to Thousand Waves will keep us standing strong for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Ryan Libel
Executive Director

• Through September, we provided around $40,000 in scholarships to 12 kids in our summer camp and to around 30 members monthly in our ongoing Seido Karate program.
• Our Adapted Seido Karate program for children with disabilities continues to shine under the leadership of Senpai Sam Boyer and Kyoshi Tom West, assisted by a strong corps of volunteers.  The program is a partnership with the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab.
• Our Empowerment Self-Defense work continues with courses and workshops offered at our center to members of the community.

The artwork featured with this article was created by Thousand Waves Teen, Avery Multer.  We are thrilled to be able to offer it on notecards that Avery’s family is generously providing, as a thank you for donors who give $200 or more to the campaign.  The deer is a symbol of grace, nobility, and beauty; and here we see it facing the terrible dragon head on – no fear, just standing strong in the face of something larger and menacing.  There’s a quiet confidence and strength that emanates from the deer as it watches the sleeping monster in its cave.

Thank you in advance for your generous contributions, and for standing strong with us.

The children and I all assume our strongest Ready stances at Senpai Lucia’s, “Yoi!” and I search deep inside myself for an as-yet-untapped ability to live up to the truly inspiring and skillful teaching that I’ve had the privilege to soak up over the past several years.  There I find a treasure trove of knowledge that Sei Shihan Nancy has been diligently imparting to myself and others over so many early Sunday mornings in her Teacher Training seminars, and then again in her Kids Teacher Training Seminars.  I’ve done the homework and the real-time practice drills on the dojo floor with my much more knowledgeable senpai, sensei, kyoshi and shihan.  Thanks to Sei Shihan’s careful planning, many of my senpai and I are increasingly prepared to face these new lines of young karateka.

I understand from Sei Shihan’s classes that I need to model my very best karate, so I step back into my deepest back-leaning stance at Senpai Lucia’s cue.  I watch in wonder as ten young karateka do the same in front of me and try to match what I’m modeling.  I dare the briefest of glances over to the pillar where Sei Shihan is watching everything that’s happening on the floor.  She shares a quick smile with me, and I exhale.  “Are you sitting down on that back leg as if you were sitting on a stool?”  I hear Sei Shihan’s voice in my head, and I repeat it out loud to the children before me.  I smile at them as most drop an inch or two deeper into their stances.  As a teaching assistant, I have accepted the challenge of passing on some of Sei Shihan’s knowledge to the next generation of karateka.  Now ten young students and I begin the process of learning from each other.

The first hour was inspiring.  It was amazing to see everyone pulling for one another.  You could really feel the dojo spirit with every blow.  I think one of the things I appreciate most about Thousand Waves the most is the lack of competition.  Everyone is invested in the success of their colleagues, no matter what their rank.

We broke (he-he) into our groups and knowing that I was working with Senpai Ryanmade me comfortable.  We broke in rank order, so as a yellow belt, I got to go last.  First strike?  Downward hammer fist.  Deep breath… deep, sinking stance&hellip deep follow through… success!  Second strike?  Palm heel thrust.  I was a little more nervous on this one because I was concerned that I would not be able to bend my wrist back enough to form the correct weapon, and I didn’t have the added benefit of a sinking stance.  Again… success!  I selected front snap kick for my final break.  I feel that I have pretty strong kicks, but I have had trouble getting much snap in my front kick.  Deep breath… strong stance… good chamber… success!

I was hooked!  With the help of my breaking posse, I opted to try a set-up break using two boards with spacers. For this break, I chose a downward knifehand strike.  I think that this was my best break.  Senpai Ryan suggested that the next logical step was for me to try a punch.  To make sure that I could do this safely, Senpai asked me to drop to plank and give him a few knuckle pushups to make sure I was forming the weapon correctly.  I passed the test and lined up the board.  Tight chamber… strong stance… release… and close eyes (?!?)… unbroken board.  Pride hurt… hand hurt… no osu… no moment to refocus… new fear… sloppy, unfocused strike… strike two.

I had one more attempt. Dojo etiquette holds that the third attempt is the last attempt, no matter what the outcome.  Senpai Mattie, and Kyoshi Katherine jumped in with some advice and encouragement.  I readied myself for my final attempt…

There are times when all of us lose focus in our training.  We all know Taikyoku Kata One… yet every time we practice it during kata class, we can hear Shihan Nancy reminding us that we can always challenge ourselves to focus more on stance, chamber, weapon, and/or focus…

We all know to say “Osu” when our training doesn’t go as planned, but we don’t always take that moment to “strive with patience” and to rise above our frustration to take our mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow from the failure.

In the end, it seems like breaking down the barriers to breaking boards is harder than breaking the boards.  The path was more simple than I was making it…

…deep breath… strong stance… good chamber… focus… CRACK!!!

Osu!

Lucky for me, there was the upcoming Tameshiwari seminar, so I signed up.  I was confident going into it.  After seeing some unsuccessful breaks, I felt that I had a bit of an upper hand, so to speak.  I’m a structural engineer and a bit of a hack carpenter, so I am well aware of the material properties of pine wood.  It is a fast-growing lumber, so it is considered a softwood, which also means it is fairly weak when compared to the hardwoods.  So, it doesn’t take much to break just one pine board as long there is ample force, speed, and precision.  No need to put “mind over matter”; I didn’t have to use the mantra “I have to be stronger than the board,” I knew I was stronger than the board, I just had to hit it in the sweet spot.  This would be fun.

So… my first and second attempts at a hammer fist to the board… both complete failures.  And to help me take another step away from my brashness… the white belt after me sliced through her board like it was butter. I was so overconfident going into my first attempt at breaking that I didn’t even prepare myself for a failed outcome.

As the others in the group finished their first round of breaks, I felt pretty discouraged – like I failed a test somehow.  Then, the stinging in my hand overtook my wounded pride.  I decided to stop thinking about how I failed the last round and instead how I was going to succeed in the next.  No more inflated confidence, I had to really focus all my energy and concentration on the board – Wrong, Rewind! – I had to really focus all my energy and concentration two inches beyond the board.  And with my foot this time – a front snap kick – no more hammer fists (the stinging in my hand was turning into palpable pain by now).  With a lot more humility this time, the board broke on the first attempt.  Success! 

For my last break, I revisited the hammer fist strike.  Even though my hand really hurt and had started to swell and bruise at this point, I didn’t want it to be my board breaking albatross.  I also had a better feeling about my first attempt too, because by looking at the bruise developing on my hand and wrist, the board didn’t break not because I wasn’t totally committed or didn’t provide enough force; the board didn’t break because I simply used the wrong weapon – mostly my wrist and not my hammer fist.  This made me feel a little better in that I am a yellow belt and still have a lot to learn.  I can work on my technique and can get better at that.  I suspect, I will never try to use my wrist to break another board ever again – easy lesson, right?  My last break was a success too, as I had no other choice but to use the right weapon this time – the only part of my hand that wasn’t in pain.

In retrospect, I am glad I had those two failures as my first experience with board breaking.  It quickly checked my ego.  It was also a good reminder that more than just power is needed for breaking.  Focus, skill, technique, and precision are also necessary to break the board.  Without them the board will likely break you.

Our team of competitors, volunteers, and support included:
Sei Shihan Nancy, Jun Shihan Sarah, Kyoshi Marla, Kyoshi Wai, Sensei Erin, Senpai Richard, Senpai Aileen, Senpai Ryan, Senpai Michele, Senpai Mattie, Senpai Liliana Schommer, Senpai Ezra Danzig, Senpai Willa Marie O’Donnell, Senpai Luke McCloskey, Mario Cruz, Jeff Stone, Liam Darrah, David Doiron, Marti Mendoza-Schommer, Olivia Mulcahey, Cely Garcia, Leslie Danzig, John Sagami, & Yohei, plus many more family, friends, and previous Thousand Waves training members!

The Seido Kids showcased their kata for the large audience, and welcomed Thousand Waves Youth member Yohei into their ranks.  The Seido Program for the Blind performed kata moving in formation toward and between each other.  The Seido Veterans Group showed us what perfect turning in stance looks like with Taikyoku 1.  Finally the Seido Young Adult Institute, whose mission is to build brighter futures for people with developmental or learning disabilities, showed us their spirit and energy by cheering while performing kata towards each other in a giant circle.

The tournament atmosphere was inspiring.  There were so many people performing, practicing, and supporting each other.  At times the gym was loud with cheers, kiais, even music, and at others the entire room was silent with anticipation before breaks, during the Masters Kata rounds, and before scores were announced.

There were many impressive board breaks by Senpai Mattie and others.  Previous Thousand Waves training member Senpai Michael performed a roll into a high jumping break.  A recent Thousand Waves visitor Sensei Rudie broke a Louisville Slugger baseball bat with a roundhouse kick.

Training at Honbu was an eye opening and inspiring experience.  The space is mostly exposed wood with high ceilings that you can tell contain a lot of history.  The shinzen is tall and beautifully decorated.  I think I said OSU more often that I took breaths while I was there.  The bows before class certainly take a bit longer at Honbu, where there are so many senior members, but even more so during tournament weekend.

Getting to take class with so many Thousand Waves members under Kaicho and Nidaime was amazing after hearing about them for so long and finally getting to meet them.  There were classes where Thousand Waves might be been more than half the class at Honbu, which made everyone laugh.  We got to share our art with others and see how some things are done a little differently in New York.  The first thing I learned was you DO NOT KIAI at the end of a kata, but I think that rule only applies in New York, because the final kiai in a kata is my favorite part.

I truly enjoyed getting just this one opportunity to train at Honbu with Kaicho before it must unfortunately move from its 23rd Street location in New York.  I am sure this occasion meant so much to so many others that have spent much of their life training in that space.  You could feel the energy and history in your own karate there, and that is something I will remember.

Winners of tournament events include:

Masters Kata Women – 1st Sei Shihan Nancy, 3rd Jun Shihan Sarah
Masters Kata Men – 2nd Kyoshi Wai
Sandan Kata Women – 1st Senpai Mattie
Adv. Brown Kata Women – 1st Senpai Liliana
Adv. Brown Kata Men – 3rd Senpai Ezra
Brown Belt Kata Men – 1st David Doiron
Adv. Green Kata Women – 1st Cely Garcia

Synchronized Kata Black Belt Ranks – 2nd Sei Shihan Nancy, Jun Shihan Sarah, Kyoshi Wai, Senpai Richard, Senpai Mattie
Synchronized Kata Kyu Ranks – 3rd Senpai Liliana, Senpai Ezra, and Cely

Kyu Rank Kumite Women – 1st Senpai Liliana, 2nd Cely Garcia
Kyu Rank Kumite Men – 1st David Doiron

Previous Thousand Waves/current Honbu training member Senpai Gabby Afable won the Women’s Grand Championship in sparring by beating Jun Shihan Robin in the final match.  Senpai Gabby then went on to also score the highest point total across all events and win Women’s Sogo.

By far the hardest working people were the volunteers that helped make sure the tournament ran smoothly, of which I am positive Senpai Michele was the hardest working of them all.

All in all, the tournament and training with Kaicho at Honbu made for an incredible first trip to New York.  I will never forget how Kaicho says “Chicago” with his deep voice, or when he joked that Chicago took home all the trophies after the tournament.