Letter from Our Executive Director

Dear Thousand Waves Community,

It’s a challenging time for many – paychecks are not keeping up with prices, housing costs are high, and young people are finding it tough to get going with meaningful careers. Terrible conflicts abound around the globe, and political divisions in the US have landed us in a place where all sides rage and progress feels impossible.

Recently, Shuseki Shihan Nancy and I led a 3-hour Empowerment Self-Defense workshop for a neighborhood association here in Chicago – the organizer came to us after a terrible sexual assault rattled the community. Our workshops always balance placing blame for violence with the person doing the harm with an understanding that broader forces are at work when violence happens. The challenging culture and environment in which we are engulfed is bound to produce people who don’t act in pro-social ways. While we must cultivate an ability to respond in the moment to bad situations, we should also work to alleviate some of the broader forces that cause people to head down destructive roads.

Our karate training is a tool that can help provide a foundation for treating others with respect. As I watch Sensei Lucia working with our littlest ones, I’m reminded that we have to give them the scripts on which to base positive treatment of others – how we interact is learned behavior. When she tells the kids lined up for an obstacle course to stop to help those who fall, and to wait their turn for an activity, she’s building the foundation of a character that will grow to be a positive force in the world.

Thousand Waves works to foster fitness, healing, empowerment, and peacemaking – our recent fundraiser demonstrated again how many people want to help us build a more peaceful world. Thank you so much for doing your part to help us raise over $100,000 to further our work.

The work of building a better world is a generational project. And when the big picture looks bleak, it can be useful to look at the smaller picture – what we do day to day and the ways in which we interact with others matter a great deal.

Thank you for all you do for Thousand Waves!

With gratitude,

Sensei Ryan
Executive Director

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

I’ve never been an athlete, but I wanted to start martial arts as an adult for the exercise and the discipline. I had promoted one belt in shotokan and was looking for somewhere friendlier to beginners, and I found Thousand Waves through a Google search.

I scheduled a trial class, but I had to cancel because I was sick with mono, which is a pretty funny thing to have as an adult. When I called the office, the person on the other end of the phone – who I now know for sure was Senpai Jeff – was trying to keep it together but managed to squeak, “Isn’t that the kissing disease??” to which I squeaked back, “Yes!!” We giggled over the phone until I was nearly in tears. That was all the convincing I needed that this is a good place, and I made that trial class eventually.

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

I used to value ambition, but now I value contentment. I would like the world to value having and sharing enough more than seeking more.

What is one thing you do well?

Go down Internet rabbit holes.

What is one thing you do not do so well?

Text back in a timely manner.

Who from history do you admire, and why?

Anyone who has put their life on the line to rescue someone or stand for peace and justice.

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

Philly has my heart. I went to Drexel and then started a kombucha brewery near Kensington and Allegheny after college before I moved to Chicago in May 2021. I adore its history and DIY punk spirit.

What quotation have you found inspiring or interesting?

How we spend our days is how we spend our lives. – Annie Dillard

What is a book that has been significant to you?

“The World-Ending Fire” by Wendell Berry, who is a writer, farmer, and environmentalist from Kentucky. The book is a compilation of his essays.

The audiobook is read by Nick Offerman, which is very fitting: Offerman worked on Berry’s farm for a time, and Berry himself definitely has some curmudgeonly Ron Swanson-like writing. One of his essays is “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer,” for example.

What talent would you most like to have?

Sewing. I’ve been trying to sew my clothes for years, and I improve only marginally with each piece I make.

What is your most treasured possession?

My engagement ring! My fiancé, Jack, and I worked on it together, and I spent months agonizing about how expensive and unnecessary a ring was to represent our love and was terrified about the drama that comes with picking something you’re going to wear forever. We ended up custom designing it, and I’m so happy we did: it’s absolutely beautiful, and it reminds me of him.

“Thousand Waves Member Spotlight: Ten Questions for…” is a regular feature of Kiai!

The next person to answer Ten Questions: Mary Foley

Reflections on martial arts practice in retirement and our next steps as martial artists and citizens of the world

by Sei Shihan Sarah Ludden, Director and Head Instructor Emeritus of Thousand Waves

We all know that our martial arts practice brings us countless gifts and opportunities. It is a mind, body, spirit practice for our health and empowerment, a source of community support and guidance, a connection to international history and culture, and a fun time with our training buddies. But what I didn’t realize until I retired from teaching and directing at Thousand Waves was that the skills I gained over decades of training would allow me to take on new challenges and serve community in a new way, activities that have expanded my vision and understanding of today’s crazy world, and for which I am deeply grateful.

The first challenge as I approached retirement was studying Spanish, in my 60’s…! I wanted to learn Spanish in order to volunteer in my community and communicate with my Spanish speaking neighbors, access the rich literature, and learn more about the history and culture of our neighbors to the south. My training gave me the patience with myself that I needed, the focus on enjoying the process of learning, and the discipline to keep going when I got frustrated with my halting progress. Thank you to everyone at TW who patiently converse with me in Spanish!

I soon realized that I would never be fluent. After 8 years, I still struggle to carry on a simple conversation. But my martial arts discipline reminds me of the purpose of my study, and does not judge my performance. It helps me set realistic expectations of myself at age 73, and to cherish what I can do, how I can communicate, not how I can’t. And of course, it tells me to keep going, and not give up!

When I retired, I had the good fortune to have good health and sufficient personal resources to consider international volunteering. Off I went to Costa Rica for 6 weeks, volunteering in a pre-school, to Peru for 5 weeks, tutoring English to school teachers in a program run by the Peruvian Department of Education, to Palestine on a peace delegation, and most recently, with Shihan Nancy to Guatemala for 5 weeks to develop a martial arts program for elementary school girls.

On these trips I was grateful every day for my training, for the skills and qualities I honed as a student and a teacher. Martial arts teach us to be present, flexible, assertive, aware, calm, patient, respectful, brave. Being able to cope with physical discomfort, being physically strong, having strong self-defense fighting skills, knowing how to de-escalate and calm others, focusing on the positive---these martial arts gifts also reassured me and kept me going during some difficult times.

The volunteer project that Nancy and I did in Guatemala earlier this year was another great opportunity to continue our practice as retired teachers. We traveled to Santa Lucia Milpas Altas, a village outside of Antigua, to create a martial arts program for Hope Academy school for girls. The school, sponsored by the not-for-profit organization Tree4Hope, serves 130 girls from preschool through 6th grade, many of whom are the first in their family to complete 6th grade.

This beautiful trilingual (Spanish, Kaqchikel and English) school, and the sponsoring organizationTree4Hope, are the accomplishment, and immense labor of love, of Jennifer and David Hope-Tringali, in collaboration with local educators and social service providers. Jennifer and David are lifelong martial artists and current students of our dear friends Jaye Spiro and Su Ferrari, of Mejishi Martial Arts. They believe deeply in the capacity of martial arts and empowerment self-defense to boost confidence and self-esteem, enhance educational outcomes, and help prepare their girls for the challenges life presents after their graduation from Hope Academy.

Knowing we are interested in international volunteering, especially in Spanish speaking countries, Jaye and Su connected us with David and Jennifer. Our offer to volunteer at the school evolved into a proposal to collaborate with the current physical education teacher, Olga Escobar, to develop a comprehensive, skill-building, values-based martial arts program. So off we went, with 130 white belts in our suitcase, love in our hearts, and only a very vague idea of how to accomplish this request.

Our month’s stay was a challenging, heartwarming and ultimately successful experience. The principal challenge we faced was creating a comprehensive martial arts program specifically suited for the school, envisioning what could be taught in the 6-year, one class a week program, and outlining a ranking/reward system that Sensei Olga could manage on her own.

We taught classes with Sensei Olga, and worked with her to flesh out a karate curriculum for 7 belt levels, with basics, block and counter one-steps, sparring exercises, kata and a code of ethics for each rank. Once we outlined the entire curriculum, we wrote a manual (in Spanish) detailing all the material, and recorded videos of everything, also in Spanish, for Sensei Olga to use to master the material after we left.

Our last week was busy collaborating with the school principal, Glenda Duarte, to create a mobile spirit center/altar for the new dojo space (the sports patio for all outside school activities) with special objects relevant to the school’s mission, and the culture and history of Guatemala. We sized and named each girls’ white belt, and in our last class together, with great joy and ceremony, awarded each student their belt and welcomed them to Hope Academy Martial Arts.

In addition to teaching karate and developing the program, we discussed with Glenda and the school social worker the possibility of providing empowerment self-defense workshops to the older girls. They thought our 5 Fingers of Self-Defense and Rights and Responsibilities of a Self-defender content, and our trauma-informed teaching method, were appropriate and relevant to the safety issues faced by the girls.

Nancy then outlined three 45-minute workshops, while I worked with my Spanish teacher online to fine tune the translation. In our last week we taught empowerment self-defense to the 4th, 5th and 6th graders and their teachers.

For our last week in Guatemala, we met up with a NYC Seido karate colleague, Dr. Joan Boccino, in Panajachel, a town on Lake Atitlán, west of Antigua. Joan is a Chinese medical doctor who has been running clinics in the villages of Lake Atitlán, twice a year for 15 years. Her team of US doctors and local practitioners donate needed supplies and medications, and host day-long clinics serving the primarily Mayan community in the area. Local clinics also have been established and receive ongoing support and training from Dr. Boccino.

Nancy and I volunteered in the clinics, helping with registration and pre-treatment measuring of vital signs, and met many wonderful people. From these personal connections, we were able to schedule two empowerment self-defense programs for the women from the clinics. What an amazing experience!

I am deeply grateful for these opportunities to volunteer in a variety of communities, from Palestine to my local food pantry, and I see our martial art and ESD training as fundamental to my ability to pursue them. Thank you to all my teachers, students and our wonderful extended training community!

If you would like to learn more about Tree4Hope, Hope Academy Guatemala, or Joan Boccino’s organization Integrative Health Project, please contact me. My email is sarahmludden@gmail.com.

Weaving Strength Chicgo

by Sensei Pat Broughton

An unprecedented opportunity awaits martial artists and Empowerment Self-Defense practitioners – or anyone interested in exploring the worlds of martial arts and healing arts as well as the practice of Empowerment Self-Defense. We hope you’ll take advantage of it!

The weekend of July 24-26, Thousand Waves will be hosting Weaving Strength Chicago, a Regional Training of the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation (NWMAF), featuring 21 of the country’s leading women, non-binary and trans martial artists, healing artists and ESD instructors.

Martial arts classes feature Aikido, Capoeira, Jujitsu, Kajukenbo, Karate, Qi Gong, Taikwondo, T’ai Chi, and traditional weapons (bo staff, jo vs sword, knife defenses, nunchaku). Empowerment Self-Defense classes cover all aspects of verbal and physical self-defense, trauma-informed teaching, and critical social issues. You can see the full schedule here.

The full conference is open to all genders and is centered around building active allyship across the many lines that traditionally divide us. Friday night’s panel, moderated by Thousand Waves founder and head instructor emerita Nancy Lanoue, featuring Carmen Alonso, Diane Rosenfeld, Meg Stone and Wasentha Young, will challenge all of us to think deeply about why we train and how to use the skills we have gained to help create a better world.

The multi-art conference is deliberately designed to offer something to any and everyone interested in the martial arts, healing arts and Empowerment Self-Defense, regardless of experience or skill level.

If you’re interested in (re)connecting with the Thousand Waves community and making valuable connections beyond Thousand Waves, there’s no better time or way to do that than by coming to the conference! We’ll begin with an optional dinner at 5:30 Friday evening, followed by the panel, and then five classes on Saturday and two on Sunday morning. All classes are at Thousand Waves (1220 W. Belmont, Chicago) or within walking distance of TW.

Register today! Scholarships are available if the cost is prohibitive. Questions? Email info@ThousandWaves.org

Upcoming Events and Useful Links

Printable 2026 Events calendar

Printable 2026 Class Schedule

Thousand Waves 2026 Annual Meeting Volunteer Interest Indicator

2026 Member Meeting Slideshow