from the February, 2015 issue of Kiai!

Adventures at Heiwa Terrace (or, You Just Never Know)

By Senpai Amy Jones
2nd Degree Black Belt and TW Violence Prevention & Self-Defense Program Manager

Several months ago, I got an inquiry from a young woman named Nicole who wanted to bring self-defense training to Heiwa Terrace.  I didn’t know much about it, but I knew where it was.  That in itself is exciting for me.  I’ve been in Chicago a year-and-a-half, and in that time I’ve learned to navigate my way with confidence from my apartment to the dojo.  There are a few other places I know how to get to (the grocery store, for example), but I still rely pretty heavily on Google Maps for many, many trips. 


Senpai Amy and Senpai Margarita teach the "Fight" finger of
self-defense to a group at Heiwa Terrace.
I eventually learned that Heiwa Terrace is a retirement community for Asian Americans, and that several years ago, youth members at Thousand Waves would do a karate performance for them as part of Camp Kokoro; so we had some ties there.  I also learned that the budget for this particular program was quite limited.  Happily, we were able to offer them a scholarship, and we set the date for February 7th to do a one-hour program.  A couple of weeks ahead of time, I checked in with Nicole.  I confirmed that we were coming, and double-checked that our students would be able to understand English.  She assured me they would.

February 7th came, and my trusty assistant Senpai Margarita and I headed over. I enjoyed the sensation of knowing exactly where I was going.  We arrived in plenty of time, got the room arranged, and waited for our students to arrive.  As these things often go, at first we had just one or two, but gradually the room filled.  In the end, we had 12 students.  I got us started, introducing myself and Margarita, and giving the assembled students a short history of Seido.  That’s not part of my usual spiel, but given that several of the students were of Japanese descent, and that they were all at least 55, I thought that our Japanese art currently led by its 70-something founder might be of interest.  I didn’t get much reaction, and surmised that part of the problem was that I should be speaking louder.   I increased my volume and continued on, talking about the five fingers of self-defense.  It was during the second finger, “Yell”, when I asked the students to repeat some boundary-setting statements after me, that one of the women spoke up.  She didn’t repeat after me, though – what she said was “Need translator!   Japanese.”  That’s when I realized that several of the students spoke only very limited English. 

Margarita pointed out that this was a great example of boundary-setting, which I enthusiastically agreed with, though the woman being praised likely didn’t realize it.  I continued on, going through the rest of the verbal exercises (after all, some of the students spoke English and were able to participate).  Then I moved into the more physical parts of the workshop, and things got easier.  First, I was able to demonstrate what I wanted them to do, and everyone could mimic the movements, even if they didn’t understand the instructions.  Second – well, I actually know the Japanese for the techniques and body parts I was referencing!  Plus I counted in Japanese, which may have not been strictly necessary, but the students seemed to enjoy it. 

Overall, I’d say it was a pretty good workshop, even if it held some surprises.  They always do.