Spirit Challenge 2016: A Final Report

6.1.2016 by Ryan Libel

A big, heartfelt thank you to the Thousand Waves community for your support of Spirit Challenge 2016!  This was the first year we combined our annual fundraising events for adults and children into one week-long fundraising extravaganza.  The week of physical challenges motivated us to hit the pavement and raise some serious money – a goal-smashing $115,723 and counting!

The funds raised will help to sustain our impactful Violence Prevention, Scholarship, and Adapted Seido Karate programs all year long.  As you know, Thousand Waves would be a very different place without these special programs that bring so much to so many.

Another exciting and popular outcome of Spirit Challenge is some great photos.  If you haven’t already, check out the galleries Sensei Katherine Nichols has posted on our Facebook page.  Special thanks to the photographers for the event, especially to Senpai Mark Hubert for braving our rafters and providing special lighting so we could get some decent action shots.

Finally, we were privileged to have four local businesses with very close connections to Thousand Waves as sponsors for this year’s Spirit Challenge.  Please consider supporting them as you seek the varied services they provide:

Senpai Ryan Libel is the Executive Director of Thousand Waves, and a 3rd Degree Black Belt.

Summer is about Self-Defense for Young People!

6.1.2016 by Amy Jones

We have a strong roster of self-defense offerings for young people this summer.  While some of our 12-hour intensive courses are open to adults of all ages and teens 12 and up, this summer we have several offerings just for teens.  Registration is now open for all of these courses and workshops – online at thousandwaves.org/individuals or at the front desk (TW teens registering for the June course should register at the front desk). 

Here are the details. Register now!

TW Young Teens Intensive, June 10-12

First up is our first-ever (as far as I know) self-defense 12-hour intensive just for Thousand Waves teens between the ages of 12 and 14.  We created this course for several reasons:

• This is the age when teens start to navigate environments with more independence – from taking the train by themselves to school to spending time online independently to starting to explore dating relationships – and we know that it’s important to have some solid practical self-defense skills in their back pocket, beyond the physical defense skills that young martial artists know.
• When younger teens are in a self-defense course for all ages, they sometimes find sections of it less relevant to their lives.
• Let’s face it, teens who train at Thousand Waves already know a lot of the physical skills that teens who don’t train in the martial arts don’t have.
• Taking a 12-hour self-defense intensive is a requirement for junior black belts for teens (and it’s never too early in a teen’s training career to take it!).

We wanted the opportunity to create a course tailored to both young teens’ life experiences as well as Thousand Waves training members’ physical capabilities.

Older Teens and Young Adult Intensive, July 15-17

In July, we’ll have an intensive for older teens and young adults (ages 15 to 26).  Unlike the June course, this is open to everyone whether or not they train at Thousand Waves.  Geared towards those with a little more life experience, but who are still exploring their world and deciding on (and discovering) their own personal boundaries.

Younger Teens Intensive, August 5-7

We don’t want to leave out young teens who don’t already train with us!  This will be very similar to the June course, but is open to the wider Chicago community.  Great for young teens navigating their worlds with more independence, and with physical techniques that are easy to learn and designed to work on larger, stronger attackers.  This course is open to teens of all genders between the ages of 12 and 16.

Back-to-School Workshop for Elementary and Middle Schoolers, September 10

This 90-minute workshop is for ages 8-11, and is an overview of the Five Fingers of Self-Defense: Think Yell Run Fight Tell.  It’s designed to give elementary and middle schoolers age-appropriate information to help them be safe, strong, and respected at school and everywhere else.

Questions about what course is best for your teen or young person?  Contact Amy Jones, Self-Defense and Violence Prevention Program Manager, at ajones@thousandwaves.org or by calling 773-472-7663.

Senpai Amy Jones is the Thousand Waves Violence Prevention & Self-Defense Program Manager, and a 3rd Degree Black Belt.

Training At Home: Karate

6.1.2016 by Tabitha Olson

This past April, I tested for Shodan, or first degree black belt. One does not test for black belt without quite a lot of preparation. Trying to find time for all that preparation can be challenging because life always seems to be busy. So, of course, I made goals. The first goal was for the group I was testing with: I wanted all of us to be amazing come test day, so I rounded everyone up for regular training on Sundays, and I asked Sensei Alan to train us. I’m sure my testing mates got sick of me because I was kind of a nag, but it worked because they were there every Sunday.

Read Senpai Tabitha’s tips for training in karate at home.

The goals I made for myself were pretty typical: fitness and curriculum. I’ve been a regular student in the HIIT IT Fitness program since the first day it opened, so to meet my fitness goal I maintained my regular schedule there. On days when I couldn’t go, I made up a routine for myself at home. The harder goal was trying to go over all my curriculum so that I would know it forward and backward (because sometimes we do things backwards). Getting regular classes in during the week was challenging for me because of my kids’ schedules, so I had to figure out how to train at home when I couldn’t make it to the dojo.

No one ever has enough space at home to train full-out. Even if you have a large living space somewhere, it’s still not the same as having the full training floor. But it’s still possible to train at home, even with limited space.

One way is to simply shorten or adjust your stances. This is probably the most common thing people do. It’s good because it allows you to move through the things you know, or the things you don’t know as well as you’d like, and reinforces them in your mind and body. There is one problem with this: body memory. If you practice like this often, with shortened and adjusted stances, this is how your body will remember the curriculum. Then, when you train at the dojo with the whole floor at your disposal, your body will naturally do what you did in your living room and you’ll feel like you’re learning the material all over again. It’s still good to go through your material at home; just be mindful about body memory.

This is what I do to address that issue: close your eyes and picture the curriculum in your mind. Go through each move deliberately, conjuring as vivid an image as you can. Include the depth of your stance in your mind—how it feels to both move into and out of it—because that will reinforce what you’re striving for. While you’re at it, make that stance deeper. If you imagine yourself doing karate better than your actual ability, it will make it easier to try harder the next time you’re on the training floor. If you need to move while picturing curriculum in your mind, you can also hold horse stance and do arms only.

These mental methods are especially effective because they push the mind to recall things that usually come out in body memory. This solidifies the movement that much more in your mind. If you can get through a piece of curriculum two or three times this way, it will feel more rooted the next time you do it full-out on the training floor.

Now that I’m learning new material in black belt class, I haven’t changed my training strategy. Trying to get so much new material into some semblance of order is quite challenging, and taking five to ten minutes to focus on one piece of curriculum is incredibly helpful. The hard part is setting aside the time for it. If you only do this whenever you think of it, it will never happen. If your goal is to improve or solidify your curriculum, then you need to pick a day and time, and practice. A little bit every day, or even every other day, goes a long way.

Senpai Tabitha Olson is a 1st Degree Black Belt at Thousand Waves.

6.1.2016 by Thousand Waves

Cynthia Dieden is a 4th Kyu Green Belt training member.

Kiai!:  Briefly, how did you come to train in Seido Karate at Thousand Waves?  
CD: I was having a conversation with Senpai Aileen and mentioned I was looking for something in my life to connect my mind and body.  She suggested Thousand Waves.  Six months later, I finally got up the gumption to try it out.

Kiai!:  What is one thing you’d like to change about the world?  
CD:  It may just be this election year, but I would remove divisiveness. I wouldn’t remove difference because I think difference is an essential and wonderful part of life, but divisiveness just seems to lead to so many larger problems from bullying to poverty to genocide.

Kiai!:  What is one thing you do well? 
CD:  Research. I love it and am tenacious about it.

Kiai!:  What is one thing you do not do so well? 
CD:  Sing. It doesn’t stop me from singing but my voice is really one made for the shower and my mom.

Kiai!:  Who from history do you admire, and why? 
CD:  I’ve always held a strong respect for Audrey Hepburn. People remember her as Holly Golightly and for her iconic svelte look and style, but during World War II in the Netherlands, she did what she could to help the Nazi resistance and later used her celebrity as a passionate humanitarian. She said that we have two hands “one for helping yourself, the other for helping others,” and that has stuck with me.  

Kiai!:  Other than Chicago, where have you most enjoyed spending time? 
CD:  I lived in Minnesota for three years and I loved it.  It is a beautiful place where nature and culture are really accessible. The people were generous with their time and knowledge and had a “can do” way about them.  And, it is a little cliché, but life was just a little slower, which suited me.  

Kiai!:  What quotation have you found inspiring or interesting?  
CD: I believe I was reading a book for work about libraries when I came across this gem by Israel Zangwill: “The Past: Our cradle, not our prison: there is a danger, as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition.” 

Kiai!:  What foods do you like best? 
CD:  I love Indian food and I’m a big fan of breakfast food.  I’ll take breakfast for dinner (or lunch, or midnight snack…) any day. 

Kiai!:  What is a book that has been significant to you?  
CD:  Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is the first book I remember receiving as my very own book and receiving it (on my 8th birthday, of course) made me feel grown-up and important and understood.  And now I’m a librarian and I don’t think those things are unconnected.     

Kiai!:  What are your musical favorites?   
CD:  I like a lot of music, but I always seem to return to music that has a woman with an instrument, a soulful voice and a message about life, love or the world.

“Thousand Waves Member Spotlight: Ten Questions for…” is a regular feature of Kiai!
In the next issue, Corey Potter will answer these same ten questions.

Look for Us at the Pride Parade

6.1.2016 by Thousand Waves

Sunday, June 26 is the annual Chicago Gay Pride Parade, and Thousand Waves is marching again this year. Look for us! Or join us! E-mail Sensei Eric Francque at efrancque@gmail.com with any questions.

Congratulations to our March, April and May 2016 Promotees

6.1.2016 by Thousand Waves

Our students have been busy learning their material and testing for their next belt level – it's been a busy couple of months. Congratulations to all of our dedicated students who achieved a new rank.

See everyone who was promoted recently.

To 1st Kyu
Advanced Brown Belt

Jane Kollmer

To 3rd Kyu
Advanced-Green Belt

Scott Rencher

To 4th Kyu
Green Belt

Bill Smith
Frank Trakos
Jonathan Murphy
Maria McKiever
Milton Graham

To 5th Kyu
Advanced-Yellow Belt

Mario Cruz

To 6th Kyu
Yellow Belt

Erica Eichleay
Jasmine Khamouna

To 7th Kyu
Advanced-Blue Belt

Cyrus Sethna
Emily McConnell
Jim Polson
Kyle Schatzle
Robin Billadeau
Sunil Agnani

To 8th Kyu
Blue Belt

Audrey Cosgrove
Jeff Stone
Leslie Danzing
Michael Washington
Stephanie Caverno

To 7th Kyu
Advanced Blue Belt
on May 3, 2016

Devorah Schoenfeld

To 8th Kyu
Blue Belt
on May 10, 2016

David Dror

To 6th Degree
Black Belt

Jun Shihan Martha Fourt

To 5th Degree
Black Belt

Kyoshi Martha Thompson

To 3rd Degree
Black Belt

Senpai Ryan Libel

To 2nd Degree
Black Belt

Senpai Dan Applebaum
Senpai Todd Scales

To Junior 2nd Degree
Black Belt

Senpai Malia

To Junior 1st Degree
Black Belt

Senpai Evan
Senpai Jackson
Senpai Keeli
Senpai Ainsley
Senpai Kamille
Senpai Alex

To 1st Degree
Black Belt

Senpai Tabitha Olson
Senpai Erin Epperson
Senpai Autumn Fox
Senpai KJ Hogenson
Senpai Aaron Alberg
Senpai Debra Swan
Senpai Lilit Matar
Senpai Gina Omiotek
Senpai Mark Hubert
Senpai Alenna Abbatemarco
Senpai Fay Cheng
Senpai Danielle Wash
Senpai Adam Flam
Senpai Charlie Swan