April 2010

In This Issue:

Feature Articles

Upcoming Events: Save the Dates

Community Outreach

Member News

Feature Articles

Rising to the Challenge - the Spirit Challenge - on
the Occasion of Thousand Waves' 25th Anniversary

By Patricia Broughton

One extra degree. What difference does it make? At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. Boiling water produces stream, and steam is powerful enough to move a locomotive. One extra degree can move a locomotive.*

What difference might one extra degree of effort make in your life? Spirit Challenge, Thousand Waves' annual fundraising event, is a chance to find out. Spirit Challenge participants take on up to eight challenges - seven physical and one fiscal -that may be difficult or even distasteful. These challenges ask us to face our doubts, our fears, our pride, our ego and our self-imposed limitations. In return, they offer the possibility of the satisfaction of accomplishment, and an expanded perspective on our own potential.

What challenge might you undertake in this year's Spirit Challenge? Improve your cardiovascular endurance by training for and completing a three, six or nine mile run; this event is open to all, non-members as well as members. Face your fears and enter the sparring event for the first time; check out this year's two sparring divisions. Polish your martial art for a performance piece, or prepare a new board break; all belt levels can participate in these two events. Or sign on for the ultimate challenge - all eight events - making you eligible for the Sogo (best all around) award. Whatever you decide to do, make that one extra degree of effort - and see what triumphs result.

This is your call to action: Sign up for Spirit Challenge on Thousand Waves' website beginning April 5th! Set your fundraising goal! And let the training begin!

* Special thanks to Mac Anderson (www.simpletruths.com) for this analogy.

Be an Informed Martial Arts and Self-Defense Consumer!

Moving and looking for a good martial arts school? Know someone shopping for a self-defense program? Not sure what exactly is the difference between martial arts and self-defense? Check out Thousand Waves' easy-to-understand guidelines that are resources for people near and far. The downloadable PDFs will be among the many public resources soon to appear on our expanded website.

Differences between Martial Arts and Self-Defense

Often the terms self-defense and martial arts are used interchangeably, but they are not really the same. Traditional martial arts, such as the Seido karate taught at Thousand Waves are - as the name implies - primarily art forms with the broad goal of making their practitioners stronger, calmer, and ultimately more gentle and compassionate people.

Self-defense, on the other hand, is a term used to describe a set of beliefs, attitudes, and verbal and physical skills that contribute to an individual's ability to stay safe in dangerous situations. Self-defense's physical techniques derive from various martial arts including karate, but the curriculum of a self-defense course will also include other topics having to do with the patterns and motivations of violent offenders.

What to look for in a Self-Defense Program

What to look for in a Martial Arts School

Violence Prevention Training: A Family Affair

Meet Lucia, Margarita, and Jeff. A family of Thousand Waves karateka who share personal stories about how they applied the principles of self-defense in real-world conflicts. On the verge of her Junior Black Belt test, 7th grader Lucia thoughtfully writes about using verbal Boundary Setting to interrupt harassment at her school. Margarita, Lucia's mom, tells us how she applied the advanced self-defense skill of Intervention at her workplace: a skill she learned and taught as an Assistant Instructor in Thousand Waves' Violence Prevention programs. Jeff, Margarita's husband and Lucia's step-dad, explores the complexities of De-escalating himself and others in order to create peace at his workplace and after a fender bender. Read their stories, learn from their example, recognize the waves they set in motion through their actions. Notice that each of them makes a strong case for using one's voice-the "Yell" finger of Self-Defense-as a first step in a conflict. We hope you'll be as inspired as we were to read these stories. We won't be surprised if you decide to register yourself or someone you love for a "Five Fingers of Self-Defense" Course after learning the benefits of this program for teens and adults.

Read Lucia, Margarita, and Jeff's stories.

Parent Pitch: Thousand Waves is a "Great Place to Grow a Human Being"

By Nancy Lanoue

The parent on the phone inquiring about classes for her kids was not pleased with the schedule options I laid out for her 4, 7, 11 and 15 year olds to study karate at Thousand Waves. "Why can't they all just be in the same class," she asked with annoyance. Ironically, at almost any other dojo they WOULD all be in the same class.

It's a big investment of resources for Thousand Waves to provide four separate age-limited children's programs. We do it because it's important to us to create an optimal learning environment for each of our 275 students under the age of 18.

Read more about our Age Appropriate Goals and Methods.

Upcoming Events: Save the Dates

Spirit Challenge

Monday, April 5th
Spirit Challenge launch! Look for an email from Thousand Waves about Spirit Challenge 2010. Our annual spring fundraising event, offers Thousand Waves members and fitness enthusiasts the opportunity to take on both physical and "fiscal" challenges in support of Thousand Waves. Participants sign on for athletic and martial challenges and set a fundraising goal for themselves. They train for the events they will be entering and solicit pledges from family, friends, and colleagues.  Funds raised - the 2010 goal is $60,000 - support Thousand Waves' scholarship fund, Adapted Seido Karate and Violence Prevention programs.

Sunday, May 30th
Bike the Drive event.

Saturday, June 5th
3/6/9 Mile Run-Walk, Soul Survivor Muscle Endurance martial arts and fitness events. 

Sunday, June 6th
Sparring, Shugyo Kihon, Kata, Art with Heart Performance, and Board Breaking martial arts events.

Download a flier.

Special Training Courses & Workshops

Self-Defense Course for Women and Teen Girls
Learn verbal assertiveness, peaceful conflict resolution, escapes from holds, physical defense techniques, and how to respond to harassment.
Runs four Tuesdays, April 6th - 27th, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Open to: Adults and Teens, including non-members
Instructors: Marie and Susan
Cost: $140

Download a flier.

Defense Against Guns
Saturday, April 10th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Open to: Brown and Black Belts
Instructor: Sensei Jonathan
Cost: $40 (scholarship assistance available)

Download a flier.

Self Defense Basics Workshop for Adults and Teens
Tuesday, May 4th, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Open to: Adults and Teens, including non-members
Instructor: Susan & Triston
Cost: $40 (scholarship assistance available)

Download a flier.

Rolling and Falling Skills
Saturday, May 8th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Open to: Adults and Teens (12 and up), yellow belt and above
Instructor: Sensei Triston
Cost: $25

Download a flier.

Workshops for Teachers and Future Teachers

Building Children's Skills for Boundary Setting AND Active Peacemaking 
Wednesday, April 14th, 7:40-9:00 pm
Geared For: Teachers of Children
Instructors: Jun Shihan Nancy & Kyoshi Sarah

Teaching Self-Defense When a Weapon is Involved: Framework, Options; Skills and Drills
Wednesday, April 28th, 7:40-9:00 pm
Geared For: Self-Defense Teachers
Instructor: Senpai Marie

Incorporating Skills and Drills from the Five Fingers Syllabus into General Classes
Wednesday, May 12th, 7:40-9:00 pm
Geared For: Teachers of Children
Instructor: Sensei Triston

Meditation Programs

Rights and Responsibilities within Training Partnerships and their Application Outside the Dojo
Wednesday, April 7th, 7:30 - 8:45 pm
Presenters: Jun Shihan Nancy and Kyoshi Sarah

It's Supposed to be Hard: Learning to Embrace Challenges
Wednesday, May 5th, 7:30 - 8:45 pm
Presenter: Kyoshi Sarah

The Meaning and Value of Ritual and Etiquette in our Practice
Wednesday, June 2nd, 7:30 - 8:45 pm
Presenter: Jun Shihan Nancy

Promotions and Graduations

Saturday, April 24th
Junior Black Belt Test, 9:00 am to noon

Attention! Receive one class credit by observing this test. Prepare for your own black belt test by watching your peers experience this inspiring challenge.

Wednesday, May 19th
Adult Color Belt Test, 6:30 to 9:30pm

Saturday, May 15th
Little Kicks and Juniors Color Belt Test from 9:00-10:00am and Youth and Teen from 4:00 to 6:00pm

Sunday, May 23rd
3:00 to 4:00 pm, Graduation Ceremony and Parent Meeting for children "flying up" from the Little Kick to Juniors program and from the Juniors to Youth program.

Closings / Class Cancellations

Community Outreach

Kata of Forgiveness - A Poem

Rev. Jacki Belile, CEC, ELI-MP, is a spiritual life coach and American Baptist minister.  In January, she led a Meditations on Activism program on Forgiveness and was awarded Thousand Waves' Peacemaker Award for her work of bridge-building advocacy for LGBTQ people within faith communities.  A long-time family member of TW, Jacki is the founder and director of Living Well Ministries, one of our newest community partners.  Visit www.livingwellministries.net for more information about spiritual life coaching and events supporting forgiveness, leadership, sustainable activism, and spiritual integration.

"Forgiveness is taking into full account the extent of the harm done, and choosing to will the well-being of all the victims and all the violators."  --Marjorie Suchocki

Kata of Forgiveness

Ki haku
Truth unfolding opening
Grief constricting focusing
Pain emerging releasing

Shapes endless
Countless
One
Face:

Betrayal
Attack
Abandonment
Blocks
Vertigo

Ren ma
Grounding trust:  worth
Claiming space: joy
Mastering anger:  now

Rhythms unite
Offense
Defense
Practice:
Insight
Connection
Boundaries
Peace


 

Shuchu Ryoku
Surging peace work
Striking opponents true
Returning center free
 
No mind
Relaxes
Responds
Sei:

Compassion
Integrity
Reconciliation
Letting Go

Kata
Truth advancing
Breath guiding
Form containing
Power

Forgiving
Ki haku
Ren ma
Shuchu Ryoku
Osu!

Charlie Laszuk Honored with Peacemaker Award

By Sarah Ludden

The newest and youngest recipient of the Thousand Waves Peacemaker Award is Charlie Laszuk, age five. He received the award on March 20th at the morning belt promotion ceremony. What can a boy in kindergarten can do to stop violence you might wonder? As it turns out - plenty!


Click here to read more.

TW Selected to Teach Daisy Scouts about Courage

An unusual opportunity for community outreach presented itself recently when Thousand Waves was contacted by a Daisy Troop leader from St. Clements School. She wanted her troop members to earn a "Courage Badge," and found us through an internet search. We assured her she'd come to the right place. We could definitely teach her girls about courage and inspire them to meet challenges head-on with strong and persevering spirit.

Read more about the class the Daisies got to take.

Member News

TW Welcomes Ryan Libel as New Director of Operations

You may have noticed an old/new face behind the front desk over the past couple of weeks - on March 16th, Senpai Ryan Libel began as Thousand Waves' new Director of Operations. Thousand Waves' Board of Directors has been considering the creation of this position for some time as the wonderful growth of our Center has created an ever-increasing administrative workload for the Executive Directors. In his new role, Ryan will be the first line of support for the staff regarding the day to day activities of the Center, with the goal, over time, of allowing Executive Directors Jun Shihan Nancy and Kyoshi Sarah to pull back from many of their more administrative activities so they can focus on our core mission - providing quality programming for our students and the community. Ryan comes to us from Albany Park Community Center, where he ran a Citizenship Preparation program for a low-literacy, immigrant service population. He brings considerable operational expertise to our organization, gained over the course of his career in the educational, corporate and not-for-profit sectors. He also holds a Masters degree in Linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University, and is fluent in Spanish.

Please join us in welcoming Ryan to the Thousand Waves team!

2010 Membership Directory Now Available!

If you have not yet picked up our Special 25th Anniversary Membership Directory, please do so. Use the Directory to look up your class schedule, contact training partners, and learn when promotion tests and special workshops will be held in 2010. The Directory also lists Thousand Waves' Community Partners, whom we ask our members to support when possible. This special issue is chock full of interesting photos spanning the life of our organization.

Please pick up a copy next time you train!

Correction

In the Member News section in the last issue of Kiai, Marisela Melendez was incorrectly identified as an orange belt, but she is an advanced blue belt. We regret the error.

Congratulations to March Promotees

Little Kicks
Jack Hampton - 6th Kyu
Ryan Hardiman - 8th Kyu
Luca Rizzo - 8th Kyu
Danny Conlon - 8th Kyu
Sam Litwinski - 8th Kyu

Juniors
Johnny Hollowed - 5th Kyu
Jake Caruso - 5th Kyu
Charlie Mazzeo - 6th Kyu
Elias Furst - 6th Kyu
David Furst - 6th Kyu
Bryce Wolf - 6th Kyu
Gabrielle Wolf - 6th Kyu
Stella Nicole Ljung - 6th Kyu
Jeremy Margolin - 7th Kyu
Charlie Brennan - 7th Kyu
Andre Nandi - 7th Kyu
Kimo Jackson Smith - 7th Kyu
Angel Machuca - 7th Kyu
Sophia Steck - 7th Kyu
Liam Linnen - 8th Kyu
Colin Linnen - 8th Kyu
Kaius Dane Floyd - 8th Kyu
Elizabeth Adrienne Collins-Ward - 8th Kyu
Isaac Daniel Collins-Ward - 8th Kyu
Julian Meadows - 8th Kyu
Keeli Ryan - 8th Kyu
Auden Litke - 8th Kyu
Dyson Kona Smith - 8th Kyu
Kamille Hamilton - 8th Kyu
Miguel Schuster - 8th Kyu
Diego R. Medina - 8th Kyu

Youth
Parker Allen Ljung - 2nd Kyu
Charlie Swan - 2nd Kyu
Sophie Elizabeth Ljung - 3rd Kyu
Roi Norber - 3rd Kyu
Gianna Trimarco - 3rd Kyu
Jason Dulberg - 3rd Kyu
Anna Questel - 4th Kyu
Lazar Sestovic - 4th Kyu
George Day - 4th Kyu
Brianna O' Malley - 5th Kyu
Samuel Daly - 5th Kyu
Joshua Bustos - 6th Kyu
Isidora Jovanovic - 7th Kyu
Joshua Palles - 7th Kyu
Kylie Palles - 7th Kyu
Isaiah Meadows - 8th Kyu
Rusty Grondy - 8th Kyu
George Andrews - 8th Kyu
Eric Hu- 8th Kyu

Teens
Gabrielle Afable - 1st Kyu
Gabe Muenzer - 6th Kyu
Henry Moskal - 6th Kyu
Diego Jauregui - 7th Kyu
Jozef Ravelingeen - 8th Kyu

Adults
Kate Nadolski - 8th Kyu
Victor Cruz - 8th Kyu
Jen Brown - 8th Kyu
Gina Omiotek - 7th Kyu
Debra Swan - 7th Kyu
Patrick Coicou - 7th Kyu
Julie Curtis - 6th Kyu
Ayse Sahin - 6th Kyu
Wendy Lehman - 6th Kyu
Rachel Meriwether - 5th Kyu
Mark Hubert - 5th Kyu
Thomas Culverhouse - 3rd Kyu
Becky Kidd - 2nd Kyu
Sophie Michals - 1st Kyu