April 2011

In This Issue

Feature Articles

Upcoming Events

Community Outreach

Member News

Feature Articles

Technique Shiai and Sparring Tournament
For TW Youth & Teens – All Ranks

By Jun Shihan Nancy Lanoue
Co-Executive Director

Saturday, May 7th, 4:30 to 6:30 pm

Building on the success of our kata tournament in February, Thousand Waves is hosting another friendly and supportive competition for youth and teens on Saturday May 7th. The event offers TW kids of all ranks the opportunity to have fun and challenge themselves while demonstrating their skill and strong spirit for black belt judges and adoring parents.

Divisions will be created by age and rank. Size will also be considered in making initial sparring pairings. We will have prizes for all participants and trophies for the top finishers. The registration fee is $25. Students on scholarship are eligible for special reduced fees; ask at the front desk for details. You must pre-register by Thursday, May 5th in order to participate.

White through advanced yellow belts, plus young green & advanced green belts who are still in pre-sparring, will compete in an event called Technique Shiai. One at a time, they will be called into the ring to demonstrate a creative flow of punches, kicks, blocks and footwork for a timed period. Scoring will be based on variety of moves, power, clean, crisp technique, guard and stance, loud kiai and spirit.

Older green belts, plus all brown belts and junior black belts, will compete in Point System Kumite. Four corner judges and a center referee will award points to each competitor who delivers a controlled, legal technique to an allowed target area on their partner if it is not blocked. Winners of each initial match will advance to spar each other, until the final pairing, which will determine our 1st and 2nd place finishers.

In case you are wondering why Thousand Waves is having tournaments if we are a non-competitive school?

Please encourage your youth or teen to participate, and turn out to cheer them all on.

Gear up for Spirit Challenge 2011!

By Senpai Pat Broughton
Board Chair

Last summer some friends and I from Thousand Waves spent a week canoeing in the Boundary Waters – the lakes and rivers separating Minnesota and Canada. Our adventure included not only long days of canoeing, but also carrying our canoes and packs (weighing as much as 70 pounds each) across long land portages (one almost half a mile). Often the “trails” between the lakes were muddy, rutted, overgrown and steep.

On our final night, as we were reflecting back on the trip, our two guides remarked on how unusual our group was, particularly in regard to portages.  Most groups, they said, responded to the challenge of portages with groans and bitter gripes.  Our group, they noted in amazement, had undertaken them without complaint and, even, with good cheer.  The difference in attitude, they concluded, could only be attributed to our martial arts training.  It seems the spirit as well as the body can be trained.

Now it’s your turn to take on some challenges and test your spirit. In just two weeks Thousand Waves will launch its annual Spirit Challenge fundraiser. This year’s events run a full week, between Monday, June 13 and Sunday, June 19. They offer adults and teens a full range of physical challenges along with the fiscal challenge of raising $200 or more to support Thousand Waves’ outreach activities.

All the events except the final run take place at Thousand Waves during regularly scheduled evening and Saturday classes.  Check out the schedule and decide what new challenge you’re going to undertake. There’s something for every level adult and teen.  Brace yourself for Monday’s “Boot Camp.” Test your endurance in Tuesday’s kata challenges. Be the last one standing in Wednesday’s Soul Survivor.  Tough it out at Thursday’s sparring. Perform with panache on Friday.  Endure more kata on Saturday. Then top it all off with a 5K or 10K run at Sunday’s “Race Against Hate.”  Take on every event open to you (including the $1,000 fundraising challenge), and you’ll be named Sogo (best all around).

The funds raised by Spirit Challenge – our goal is $60,000 – are vital to support our

Take the challenge. Train your body. Test your spirit.  Together we can triumph.

Upcoming Events

April

May

June

See more events here.

Community Outreach

Art Inside and Out! Community Partner Spotlights

Greenlawn Landscaping is dedicated to adapting your homes’ outdoor space to your lifestyle and enjoyment through the use of thoughtful design, beautiful plants and hardscaping, combined with responsible stewardship.  Greenlawn Landscaping offers a wide range of landscape design and maintenance services.  The business is owned and operated by Thousand Waves’ own Sensei Marla Cohen and her partner Dee Busch.

Contact:
Marla Cohen
Greenlawn Landscaping
3915 W. Devon Ave.
773-463-0445
www.greenlawnchicago.com

Flourish Studios emphasizes Positive change through Education, Art, and Resources. It combines the talents and expertise of professional therapists along with special events, classes, art exhibits, and merchandise to enrich the lives of children, teenagers, and adults. Its nurturing environment and items are designed to help people flourish.  Some of you will remember Flourish’s hosting an art opening event benefiting Thousand Waves back in November.  Flourish offers a unique blend of retail, professional office, and gallery space – truly something for everyone.

Contact:
Dr. Julia Rahn
Flourish Studios
3020 N. Lincoln Ave.
773-281-8140
www.icanflourish.com

The Suzuki Music School of Lincoln Park has provided quality music instruction since 1978. For the youngest children (18 months to 5 years), the School offers Kindermusik® classes. For children ages four and one half years and older, it offers Suzuki instruction on cello, piano, violin and recorder. The Suzuki Music School of Lincoln Park encourages a positive, non-competitive environment in which student, parent and teacher may work together and enjoy the wonders of music.

Contact:
Jan Janz
Suzuki Music School of Lincoln Park
1753 N. Fern Ct.
312-266-9587
www.suzukimusiclp.com

JUST ASK: TW Teen Creates ASK Workshop in her School

By Senpai Gabby Afable

Last semester, a biology project of my friend and mine turned into an Adapted Seido Karate workshop that took place at my school, Whitney Young High School, on February 18th of this year.

Earlier in the year, I had a great opportunity to work with the Special Services Program at my school, which provides education to students with physical and mental disabilities. We were given multiple options as to what we were able to do for our main biology project: a traditional science fair project, a unique invention, or a community outreach project. I decided to partner with my friend Alexis and do a community outreach project.

Alexis and I decided to help the Special Services Program by raising awareness for the program and increasing volunteers to help it. We also routinely visited the classrooms to get to know the students and quickly made new friends. Throughout the project, we worked with Ms. Jozwiak, a teacher in the program, who taught us much about the students and what their time at school was like.

One important thing we learned was that the students did not have a set schedule for physical activity. After we turned our project in with research on different disabilities and data we collected, we wanted to continue working with the program. After asking the kids and realizing they wanted a different kind of physical activity, I contacted Senpai Rebecca Angevine and organized an Adapted Seido Karate workshop for the students. We were able to reserve one of the gyms in our school and set a date where Senpai Rebecca, Senpai Max, and Senpai Carmiña could come in and work with the kids.

About 40 kids with different disabilities participated in the workshop, along with help from their teachers and other volunteers, included my friend Alexis. It was a great experience to work with the students and share Seido karate with them. They showcased strong spirit and courage and were very excited and eager to learn. The students learned self-defense skills and different karate techniques.

Senpai Rebecca, Senpai Max, and Senpai Carmiña were very thoughtful in volunteering for this workshop and deserve much recognition. I was very fortunate to have been able to witness such strong spirit and had much fun, as did all of the participants. Alexis and I continue to get to know our friends in the Special Services Program and look forward to providing more opportunities or workshops for them in the future.

Note from Co-Executive Director and Senior Instructor Nancy Lanoue: This is the kind of teen leadership we try to foster at Thousand Waves.  If you are a teen or a parent of a teen, and have interest, consider incorporating Thousand Waves into your school work or community volunteer efforts.

Member News

Just This: TW Congratulates Sensei Sally Wigginton!

By Senpai Ryan Libel

On April 7, 2011 Thousand Waves members and friends gathered to celebrate the promotion of Sally Wigginton, one of our charter members, to the rank of Yondan, fourth degree black belt, which carries the title of Sensei in Seido Karate.  Sensei Sally traveled to New York to test with Kaicho and Nidaime over the weekend of April 1-3, with the bulk of the test held during the Saturday to Sunday overnight hours.  She was among 18 people from the world over invited to participate in the annual opportunity Kaicho provides those testing for 4th-6th degree black belts.

Senpai Susan Barney accompanied her on the trip, providing invaluable moral and logistical support, and Sensei Wai Kwong-Kwok, who these days splits his time between NYC and Chicago, was on hand for much of the weekend’s test too.  Along with the many friends Sensei Sally has made over the years in visits to New York, she was thrilled to be re-acquainted with Senpai Dee Kulacz, a former Thousand Waves Seido Karateka now living in Los Angeles and training at the Hollywood dojo.

One of the most meaningful moments in tests for advanced rank with Kaicho and Nidaime comes as the candidates present their personal essays.  Sensei Sally shared that one man spoke about the recent loss of his brother, and she could especially relate to the several who shared that they had returned to training after an extended break.  Sensei Sally’s own extended break ended when she returned to her Seido training at Thousand Waves in 2003 after a nearly 9 year absence.

Toward the end of the celebration, Senpai Matt Birnholz, TW Board Member, asked what it was that brought Sensei Sally back to training after such an extended absence.  Her response was really two-fold.  First, she received an invitation to our Art with Heart Performance and Fundraising event in 2003.  She related her memory of being in that audience by answering, “It’s something that’s in you, the power, the community.”  Seeing her art so beautifully presented on stage drew her back in.  But it was also clear as she answered that she was encouraged and supported in her decision to return by her partner of 17 years, Mary Cross.  Training really does have an impact on a family – none of us could do it without them – and it was clear throughout Sensei Sally’s report that Mary has been stalwart.

If you have never attended a celebration for candidates returning from advanced rank testing in New York then you can’t know the ways in which these occasions become opportunities for reflection on your own art and for gaining a greater appreciation of the multi-faceted student/teacher training relationships which develop over decades of training in Seido Karate.  The “parties” often become events helping students and teachers alike to maintain the history and the community of Thousand Waves.  Sensei Sally was one of the first four black belts Jun Shihan Nancy ever sent to Kaicho, making Sally’s test for Yondan especially meaningful for her and for our entire community.

Sensei Sally is a public school teacher, and in her promotion essay – entitled “Just This” – she deals openly with some challenges she has faced.  It was especially meaningful to her when Nidaime Akira Nakamura, a gifted karate teacher and Kaicho’s son, spoke to her during her essay presentation about how much he could relate to many of the things she writes about in her essay from a teacher’s perspective.  Intergenerational teaching and learning, mediated by Seido Karate, is one of the most inspirational and unique characteristics of the Thousand Waves and Seido communities.  Osu Sensei Sally!  We are all so proud of you!

Congratulations to Recent Promotees

Pearl from Promotion Essay

A bully was targeting me and my friend with cruel words in gym class, insulting us whenever we a made a mistake, no matter how small. It was starting to get more personal, and I started getting really angry. I felt really frustrated and truthfully, I just wanted to punch him. But as I learned in karate, a non-violent way can be much more effective to solve a problem like this than a violent one. After one insult, I confronted him and said to him, “Hey, I don’t like that you call me those names. Do you mind not calling me those things anymore?” He then proceeded to tell me that calling others names is okay, and that I wasn’t a man because I couldn’t take it. Again, I calmed myself and said, “It has never been normal to me to insult people, and I don’t care if you think I am a real man of not. I just do not feel comfortable with you calling me names.” He scoffed at me and walked off laughing and told his friend what happened. His friend was on my side, and talked to him. And he never insulted me or my friend since.
– Senpai Thomas Keene

Yondan who tested on 4/1 & 4/2 at Honbu
Sally Wigginton

Shodan who tested on 4/9
Margarita Saona
Sophie Michals
Thomas Keene

Junior Black Belts who tested on 4/2
Ben Chesler, Nidan
Gabby Afable, Shodan

Juniors who tested on 3/19
Aaron Shafer – 5th Kyu
Alex Boyle – 7th Kyu
Angel Machuca – 4th Kyu
Bennett Patterson – 7th Kyu
Brock Richards – 7th Kyu
Bryce Wolf – 4th Kyu
Caroline Rosen – 7th Kyu
Charles Laszuk – 4th Kyu
Charlie Mazzeo – 4th Kyu
Colin Linnen – 6th Kyu
Daisy Coleman – 8th Kyu
Danny Horowitz – 6th Kyu
Elizabeth Collins–Ward – 4th Kyu
Gabrielle Wolf – 4th Kyu
Isaac Collins–Ward – 4th Kyu
Isaac Simon – 8th Kyu
Jack Hampton – 4th Kyu
Jack Moran – 7th Kyu
Jack Mulvaney – 7th Kyu
Jack Savoie – 4th Kyu
Joe Karnick – 7th Kyu
Joshua Arias – 5th Kyu
Julian Meadows – 4th Kyu
Kaius Floyd – 5th Kyu
Liam Linnen – 6th Kyu
Lily Montalvo – 7th Kyu
Lucas Frisancho – 6th Kyu
Nate Savoie – 7th Kyu
Nicholas Omiotek – 7th Kyu
Nick Iyer – 7th Kyu
Noah Ross – 7th Kyu
Oliver Vigerust – 7th Kyu
Reese Hoffman – 8th Kyu
Sammy Herzog – 8th Kyu
Stuart Nicholas – 8th Kyu
Sui Yee Tam – 7th Kyu
Thomas Hollowed – 8th Kyu
Tommy Cosgrove – 6th Kyu
Yonatan Norber – 5th Kyu
Zak Shearn – 8th Kyu

Youth who tested on 3/19
Aaron Alberg – 4th Kyu
Ainslie Evans – 7th Kyu
Alec Paredes – 8th Kyu
Allison Elkins – 7th Kyu
Ana Gore – 2nd Kyu
Auden Litke – 5th Kyu
Ava Swan – 2nd Kyu
Ben Hartman – 6th Kyu
Brody Schwartz – 7th Kyu
Evan Burleigh – 2nd Kyu
Franklin Brady – 8th Kyu
Grace McCarthy – 6th Kyu
Isabella Cartagena – 5th Kyu
Joe Friedman – 2nd Kyu
John Rittereiser – 1st Kyu
Johnny Hollowed – 3rd Kyu
Josh Palles – 4th Kyu
Keaton Schwartz – 7th Kyu
Kole Deighan – 1st Kyu
Laura Katunas – 7th Kyu
Malia Washington – 3rd Kyu
Margo Levitan – 8th Kyu
Olivia Perris – 6th Kyu
Payton Shearn – 5th Kyu
Sam Daly – 4th Kyu – ASK/TW
Teddy Bahu – 5th Kyu
Thomas Jankowski – 8th Kyu – ASK

Teens who tested on 3/19
Henry Moskal – 4th Kyu
Otto Steinbrecher – 8th Kyu

Adults who tested on 3/16
Amy Richmond – 8th Kyu
Arturo Jauregui – 4th Kyu
Autumn Fox – 8th Kyu
Dan Applebaum – 2nd Kyu
Deirdre Colgan – 8th Kyu
Denise Zaccardi – 2nd Kyu
Ellen Gibbon – 7th Kyu
Erin Epperson – 7th Kyu
Fay Cheng – 8th Kyu
Isabel DePaul – 6th Kyu
June Kirk – 8th Kyu
Luis Rodriguez – 8th Kyu
Meg Evans – 7th Kyu
Nika Dujmovic – 8th Kyu
Robert Welch – 8th Kyu