TW Peacemaker Award to Matthew Barrett & Amélie Liebhaber

8.31.2018 by Jun Shihan Sarah Ludden

Nothing can be more rewarding to us than seeing our students carry the skills of peaceful conflict resolution that they have honed at Thousand Waves out into their world. Since 2008, we have presented, with deep gratitude and respect, the Thousand Waves Peacemaker Award to individuals – students, teachers, members of our community – who contribute to the peace, stop a violent encounter, or nurture understanding among conflicted parties.

From 6-year-olds doing their best to stop a fight in the school bathroom, to directors of TW Violence Prevention Programs, we have been honored to celebrate the courage and commitment of peacemakers. Please congratulate when you next see them training at the dojo, two more young peacemakers, junior black belt Senpai Matthew Barrett and 1st kyu advanced brown belt teen student Amélie Liebhaber, who received their awards at the July 28 Youth & Teen promotion exam.

Matthew and Amélie both used creative strategies to stop verbal and physical fighting in the playgrounds at their schools. With strong stances and loud voices projecting a confident attitude, they each interrupted fights and facilitated reconciliation and forgiveness. They assessed the situations, the risks they might be taking, and summoned the courage to intervene. Great work!

Peacemaking is what our training is all about – cultivating the courage to speak up, the skills to intervene in a tense situation and the commitment to care about others. Thousand Waves teachers and staff thank Amélie and Matthew for their brave examples of intervention and violence prevention. Congratulations!

Jun Shihan Sarah Ludden is Thousand Waves’ Co-Director of Karate Programs.

A Report on Super Saturday from our Executive Director

8.31.2018 by Ryan Libel

Dear Kiai Readers,

We had an exciting summer at Thousand Waves – from the Pride Parade to Camp Kokoro to our Beach Trainings (not to mention our ongoing karate and self-defense classes!), we’ve been keeping busy and having lots of fun.  With this letter, I want to let you know about one especially exciting experience that many of us had back in July – the opportunity to participate in the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation’s annual Special Training Camp held at North Central College in Naperville. 

Read more about Special Training Super Saturday.

The NWMAF and its annual Special Training Camp and Self-Defense Instructor’s Conference has been a meaningful part of the training path of Thousand Waves women for decades.  Our members and leaders have faithfully attended the annual camp, taught classes there, and held NWMAF leadership positions.  Several Thousand Waves self-defense instructors hold instructor certification from the organization, the only nationally recognized accrediting body for Empowerment Self-Defense instructors.

This year I wanted everyone on staff to have the opportunity I’ve had in past years – to attend the camp’s Super Saturday event.  So we closed the dojo on Saturday, July 21 and those of us not already attending the full camp made the trek out to Naperville to join in.  Super Saturday offers a one-day mini-camp experience for people of any gender who are allied with the NWMAF’s mission: Empowering women and girls to achieve personal and collective strength, safety and well-being through martial arts, healing arts and self-defense education.

Over the course of the day, we participated in training opportunities and workshops from a wide variety of martial arts, healing arts, and empowerment self-defense.  Personally, I was able to learn a shield and sword form from Sensei Jaye Spiro, who leads Mejishi Martial Arts in Detroit.  I also participated in an intro to Jeet Kune Do (the martial art created by Bruce Lee) led by Los Angeles area instructor Janet O’Shea.  In the realm of Empowerment Self-Defense, I sat in on a panel discussion of the ways intersectional identities impact the self-defense classroom.  I also participated in a session that presented the state of academic research into Empowerment Self-Defense, co-chaired by Thousand Waves’ own Kyoshi Martha Thompson, professor emeritus of sociology and director of IMPACT Chicago, a sister empowerment self-defense organization to Thousand Waves.

Much of the fun to be had at these kinds of events happens off the training floor/outside of the classroom.  It was a special treat for me to be able to meet Brieanne Beaujolais, the researcher from Ohio State University with whom Thousand Waves has contracted to evaluate our own self-defense program.  She and I were able to share lunch and spend some time getting to know each other – our previous interactions have all been via Skype!  Several TW teachers and members also ducked into Five Guys for burgers as we waited to catch a train back to the city.

For more information about the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation, check out their website – nwmaf.org.

Best regards,

Ryan Libel
Executive Director

TW Tournament Team Returning to New York

8.31.2018 by Sei Shihan Nancy Lanoue

On Saturday October 20th, a group of Thousand Waves members will travel to New York City to attend the 42nd anniversary Seido tournament for adult and teen students from honbu- (Seido headquarters) affiliated dojos. The tournament will be held at John Jay College in the west Chelsea area of Manhattan.

Events offered include kata (forms) for students of all ranks, kumite (sparring) for green, brown and black belts, and tameshiwari (breaking) for black belts. There are separate divisions for men and women, and light, middle and heavy weight divisions for black belt kumite and tameshiwari. New this year will be a synchronized kata competition for teams of three to five people.

Read more about the tournament and preparatory workshops.

Jun Shihan Sarah and I have attended this friendly, community-building event every year since 1988, and we encourage students of all ranks to participate. For those of you who are new to competition but wish to explore it, we are providing support this year with preparatory special workshops (see below for details) and onsite coaching at the event itself.

At last year’s event, the Thousand Waves group made us all so proud. Several TW students ended up as top finishers, including Senpai Mattie, the women’s grand champion in kumite and Sensei Alan, the Sogo Champion, best all-around in all three events combined.

If you don’t wish to compete but also don’t want to miss out on the fun, there are a wide variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the day including helping with set-up, merchandise sales, timekeeping, scorekeeping, and for black belts – judging.

While in New York, we’ll also enjoy taking classes at honbu, the beautiful dojo where I trained from 1979 to 1984, before moving to Chicago. Classes will be offered there on Friday at lunchtime and in the late afternoon, and also on Sunday in the early afternoon, so you can train before heading back home.

Please let me or Sensei Alan know if you are interested in attending. We’re starting to make travel arrangements and work on accommodations, and we’d love to share this karate adventure with you.

Sei Shihan Nancy Lanoue is Thousand Waves’ Co-Director of Karate Programs.

Prepare for the Tournament with This Special Workshop

Our board breaking workshop for senior students is the final of three we’ve offered in support of tournament attendees. The workshop will be useful to experienced breakers, whether or not you intend to compete in the tournament. Register here.

Power and Grace: Creative Board Breaking for Performance or Competition
When: Sat September 29th, 4 to 5:30 pm
Taught by: Sei Shihan Nancy Lanoue, Jun Shihan Sarah Ludden, Sensei Alan Miller
Open to: Adults (brown belt & up) and Junior Black Belts

Registration Fee:
$25; $10 for those on Scholarship
Fee includes 3 boards. Additional boards may be purchased for $2 each.
Spirit Challenge Fundraiser Reward Gift Certificates may be used for this workshop.

Back-to-School Safety Workshops Sept 8 & Sept 29

8.31.2018 by Thousand Waves

These community workshops teach kids about the Five Fingers of Self-Defense: Think, Yell, Run, Fight and Tell. Through interactive and fun exercises, kids learn age-appropriate ways to increase their own personal safety and how to identify and enlist the help of safe adults. The September 8 workshop is for ages 8-11, and the September 29 workshop is for ages 6 & 7. Register your child here.

Empowerment Self-Defense in the News

8.31.2018 by Amy Jones

A big part of my job at Thousand Waves is explaining to folks – whether in class, over email, or on the phone – what Empowerment Self-Defense is, and how it might be different than their preconceptions.  So I was incredibly pleased to read two articles about the subject that were published over the summer.

Read more about Empowerment Self-Defense.

One article was in the New York Times, and the other was in the publication Quartz at Work.  The New York Times article focuses on a program called Flip the Script.  Flip the Script is based on Dr. Charlene Senn’s research (the most rigorous study to date), published in 2015 (see this blog entry for a description).  Flip the Script has been implemented in at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Iowa, which is offering it for credit!

The Quartz at Work article also mentions Senn’s work, but additionally, it reads like a Who’s Who of Empowerment Self-Defense instructors nationwide, including Thousand Waves training member Kyoshi Martha Thompson.

It’s great to see Empowerment Self-Defense starting to get more mainstream recognition – here’s hoping the trend continues!

Senpai Amy Jones is TW’s Violence Prevention & Self-Defense Program Manager, and a 3rd Degree Black Belt.

Best Photos of Summer 2018

8.31.2018 by Katherine Nichols

Our exciting summer at Thousand Waves kept our dojo photographers busy too. We have many good photos from the Pride Parade, Camp Kokoro, the July promotion tests, and Beach Training. We would like to take this opportunity to show you some of our best photos.

Pride Parade

View more photos of Summer 2018.

Camp Kokoro

Promotion Tests

Adult Beach Training

Kids Beach Training

See more photos on the TW Facebook album page.

8.31.2018 by Thousand Waves

Scott Rencher is an Advanced Brown Belt Belt training member, and also a TW parent. He will be testing for 1st degree black belt in October.

Briefly, how did you come to train in Seido Karate at Thousand Waves?

I wrestled in high school and college; when I came to Chicago after graduation, I looked for an exercise regimen similar to wrestling. I found Shidokan and trained in it for a number of years. When we lived abroad, I took a break. When we returned, my oldest son, Rory, wanted to try karate. He began training at Thousand Waves and I started a couple of weeks later. The rest is history!

What is one thing you’d like to change about the world?

I’d like to give every person the chance to travel to and experience another culture. It helps build empathy and see the world differently. I feel lucky to have been born in the US but it’s not the only place you can experience a high quality of life. When I returned to the US, I experienced reverse culture shock. The amount of marketing and number of choices at the grocery store was overwhelming at first. The news, media and constant violence took me over a year to adjust.

What is one thing you do well? 

I love learning about, trying and experiencing new things.

What is one thing you do not do so well? 

Math and singing. You asked for one thing, right?  

Who from history do you admire, and why? 

Oddly, this is one question for which I’ve never had a good answer to. After a little thought I came up with two that embody a lifestyle I admire… I’ve always enjoyed Ansel Adams’ photographs and his ability to capture arresting landscapes. I also admire Yvon Chouinard, environmental philanthropist and founder of Patagonia. In addition to preserving park lands, he runs Patagonia, prioritizing family and fun over work.

Other than Chicago, where have you most enjoyed spending time? 

I love traveling to new places, exploring new cultures and ways of living. Among my favorite places have been Spain, Chile, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. Spain aside, the southern hemisphere has my number!

What quotation have you found inspiring or interesting?  

“There are two kinds of people in the world, those who think the world is out to get them and those who are out to get the world.”

“If you’re not going to be part of the solution, don’t be part of the problem.”

What foods do you like best?

Flavorful and spicy foods: Mexican, Peruvian, Indian, Thai

What is a book that has been significant to you?

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Robert Pirsig juxtaposes his cross-country road trip with a philosophical road trip, losing himself in the elusive pursuit of quality.

What are your musical favorites?   

Among my favorite artists are U2, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Rusted Root, and  Gypsy Kings; as well as a few of my kids’ favorites that have jumped in the mix, including Fun and Imagine Dragons!

Plus anything Unplugged… I love the classic guitar.

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