JULY 14, 2021
KARATE COLLEGE CLUBS
NEWSLETTER
Attendees
7 3 Page 2
Seminars
4
Tournaments
Practices (Spring 2021)
50
Promotions New Ranks Achieved
RESILIENCE & POSITIVITY As we continue to find ways to overcome one of the most difficult years in our history, we wanted to reflect how our students demonstrated incredible resilience and positivity. As uncertainty and chaos set in, one thing remained steadfast - our team. As you will see in the following pages, our team was able to accomplish many things and we are excited to share their achievements and share information from our events.
HIGHLIGHTS PG. 4
TABATA SENSEI'S LEGACY
PG. 8
HIGHLIGHTING OUR MEMBERS
PG. 11
TOURNAMENTS
PG. 15
SEMINARS
PG. 18
JKA PROMOTIONS
PG. 20
HDKI OUTREACH Page 3
TABATA SENSEI'S LEGACY
1943-2020 It was with profound sadness that we all learned the news of Tabata Sensei passing away. A larger than life character, Tabata Sensei played a pivotal role in the Karate journey of college students in the Boston area, inculcating not only the foundations of Shotokan Karate but also a drive to give back to the Karate community. He instilled in his students an awareness that Karate is not just about punching and kicking, but also about developing a resilient mind, one that can be successful both in and out of the dojo.
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Upon his arrival from Japan in the 1960s, Tabata Sensei dedicated his time and energy to developing Karate at the college level. As Sensei Vazrik shared during Tabata Sensei’s memorial, “Tabata Sensei taught us that one had to have a passion for Karate, and one had to devote themselves to give back to others the same teachings that Tabata Sensei gave to us.” His commitment to teaching at over a dozen clubs pushed hundreds of students from white to black belt, inspiring generations of new instructors and karateka to pursue and spread Karate. Cassiano, who also recalled fond memories of Sensei during the memorial, stated, “I was inspired by Tabata Sensei’s vision to spread Karate at the college level, and to use Karate as a way of diplomacy to connect people across countries and cultures”.
We are proud to be Tabata Sensei’s students, and proud to keep his memory alive. As Sensei Vazrik said, “While Tabata Sensei may not be with us today, his legacy can live on by working on this vision: spreading Karate to college students everywhere in the world. It is in this way that we can keep the memory of Tabata Sensei alive for generations to come”.
Open your camera app, scan the code, and open the link that pops up Page 5
TABATA SENSEI TRIBUTE: ARCHIVING TABATA SENSEI’S KATA In honor of Tabata Sensei’s legacy, Vazrik spent part of the summer of 2020 recording 12 of Tabata Sensei’s 15 kata on video so future students might get the opportunity to learn his kata system. Indeed, Tabata Sensei had a unique approach to the kata he used in training students up through black belt. Any karateka who learned from him noticed his specific style of movements, combined with the power of kumite techniques that he incorporated into kata. The strength of this drive particularly came to light through Tabata Sensei’s heavy emphasis on fudo dachi, his favorite stance. He included fudo dachi even in the Heian kata as a way to encourage beginner students’ development of a kumite-oriented stance. While Tabata Sensei is no longer with us physically, his legacy lives on.
WEEKLY PRACTICES VIA When the pandemic changed our lives, we knew that Karate could become the everyday constant that gave us stability. Practicing at home was certainly a first for many of us, but the opportunity to connect with our Karateka friends through training drills and common effort brought some sense of normalcy into our lives. By setting training goals for each student, we focused our energy on the positive things, pushing ourselves to be stronger and faster than ever before. Once we met in person again, we knew we would be proud of our resilience throughout confinement.
Karate, Karate, Karate!!!
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What did we do during the pandemic?
SUMMER 2020 KARATE CHALLENGE The coronavirus having disrupted the world’s sense of normalcy, we created a Karate Challenge to keep students motivated and training over the summer of 2020. Going beyond in-person training, this virtual challenge allowed our students to adapt to pursuing Karate during a pandemic. As such, Vazrik offered one challenge a week over the span of 10 weeks in the summer. These alternatively involved learning kata, developing unique kihon combinations, and practicing kumite drills. For every challenge, students had the week to record themselves and share their videos with Vazrik, after which their participation was recorded and they received personalized feedback on their video to help take their Karate to the next level. Over 20 students participated, with several completing all 10 challenges!
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HIGHLIGHTING OUR MEMBERS
1,000+ We are excited to announce that our Karate activities for the spring zoom semester of 2021 exceeded 1,000 attendees! This remarkable number is a testament not only to the number of exciting events organized, including seminars, tournaments and promotions, but also to the consistent training of Karate students from the various Boston area colleges. Throughout the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic, Karate training provided an outlet for our students to maintain their exercise habits and remain connected with their fellow Karateka.
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ATTENDEES FOR THE SEMESTER!
NEW HARVARD CLUB CO-PRESIDENT JAMIE MENHALL Over the past year, Ben LaFond and Xialene Chang have served as co-presidents of the Harvard Karate club; yet, after years of
AWARDING THE “TRIPLE CROWN”
dedication to the club, Ben has stepped down to focus on his graduate school applications. We are sad to see him go: the Harvard Karate club has come so far under Ben’s copresidency, as he successfully helped organize club promotions and events while himself leading others through his exemplary attitude. However, we are delighted to share that Jamie Menhall has taken up Ben’s mantle as the new co-president this spring,
We wish to congratulate Amandine Fromont for her “Triple Crown'' performance at our three biggest tournaments this spring. Amandine, a 1st
and together with Xialene is
kyu alumna of Wellesley College and
headspearing the leadership
instructor of the Wellesley Shotokan
board of the Harvard Karate
Karate club, placed first in the advanced
Club. Jamie has already begun
division for Kata for, successively, the
supporting efforts on the
Heian Kata Tournament (January), the
newly-formed club Instagram
Sentei Kata Tournament (February), and
page, and has helped organize
the International Heian Kata Tournament
a Karate seminar hosting Sensei
(March). Facing strong competitors in the
Chinzo Machida
advanced division each time, she
this semester.
demonstrated Karate skills honed through
We are excited
months of focused training. We commend
to see what new
her efforts in her performance, as well as
activities will be organized in the Fall of 2021!
her dedication to teaching the Wellesley Club students, all of whom also distinguished themselves at each tournament.
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NEW GRADUATES Not only do our Karate friends and students train hard in Karate, they also pursue academic excellence through a diversity of degrees and fields at university. With the end of the spring semester, we are thrilled to congratulate many of our Karateka for graduating, and wish them the best of luck in their future graduate studies or professional careers.
Congratulations to Garen for his PhD in Mathematics, from UConn; Angel and Iyit for their MAs in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Dance and Movement Therapy, from Lesley University; Cassiano for his Harvard International Arbitration Fellowship, from Harvard University; Arisa for her BA in Linguistics, from Boston University; Steven for his BS in Business Administration, from Boston University; Julia for her BA in Philosophy with a minor in Visual Arts and Art History, from Boston University; Qiu for her dual BA in Psychology and BFA in Painting, from Boston University; Hanamei for her BA with Honors in Biology with a minor in Psychology, from Wellesley College; and, Mona for her BA in Philosophy with a minor in Psychology, from Wellesley College.
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TOURNAMENTS HEIAN KATA TOURNAMENT On January 30th, we organized a
JANUARY 30, 2021
Zoom-based Heian Kata tournament among Boston area students to encourage friendly competition and motivate students to perfect their basic kata. The format of the tournament was similar to the structure we have seen in our tournaments abroad in Japan with the Technical Collegiate Karate Federation (TCKF): two competitors faced each other at a time, and the kata of each match was randomly selected among the five Heian kata. Each competitor then showcased their best version of that chosen Heian kata, and a panel of judges voted for the best performance.
BEGINNER DIVISION: 1st Place - Corrine Giordani (Harvard) 2nd Place - Sophia Igarashi (BU) 3rd Place - Alina Zheng (Wellesley)
INTERMEDIATE DIVISION: 1st Place - Ayusha Ariana (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Amy Liu (Wellesley) 3rd Place - Arisa Matsuo (BU)
ADVANCED DIVISION: 1st Place - Amandine Fromont (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Julia Van (BU) 3rd Place - Qiu Yu Hong Lu (BU) Page 11
SENTEI KATA TOURNAMENT
FEBRUARY 27, 2021
Given the success of the January Heian Kata Tournament, we planned for a similarly-formatted Sentei Kata Tournament on February 27th to motivate students to train their Sentei Kata. Having trained Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Jion, and Empi throughout the month of February, the students picked their favorite Sentei kata for the tournament. Competitors faced off against each other one on one over Zoom, each competitor performing their favorite Sentei kata, and a panel of judges determined the winning kata for each match.
BEGINNER’S BRACKET: 1st Place - Alina Zheng [Bassai Dai] (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Sophia Igarashi [Jion] (BU) 3rd Place - Corrine Giordani [Jion] (Harvard)
INTERMEDIATE BRACKET: 1st Place - Amy Liu [Jion] (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Arisa Matsuo [Bassai Dai] (BU) 3rd Place - Ayusha Ariana [Bassai Dai] (Wellesley)
ADVANCED BRACKET: 1st Place - Amandine Fromont [Empi] (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Hanamei Shao [Empi] (Wellesley) 3rd Place - Zeng Wing Tan [Bassai Dai] (BU)
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INTERNATIONAL HEIAN K A T A T O U R N A M E N TMARCH 27, 2021 Meeting with such success in the two first tournaments of the spring semester, we opened up our activities to our friends abroad by hosting an International Heian Kata Tournament on March 27th. Karateka representing over 10 universities joined from 3 different continents, distinguishing themselves with their focus and technical prowess. Our panel of judges also included special guests: Sensei Hiro from the Technical Collegiate Karate Federation of Japan (TCKF), and Wilhelmina Toivo (2nd Dan) from Finland, who trained with us when doing her PhD at BU. Using the same random selection of Heian kata as in our first Heian Kata Tournament in January, we offered students the chance to demonstrate their progress through international, friendly competition.
HEIAN SHODAN BRACKET: 1st Place - Angel Chan (Lesley) 2nd Place - Iyit Benusia
(Lesley)
3rd Place - Viviane Andrade (Cambridge College)
BEGINNER’S BRACKET: 1st Place - Alina Zheng (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Bryan Lu (Cornell) 3rd Place - Sophia Peña (Wellesley)
INTERMEDIATE BRACKET: 1st Place - Ayusha Ariana (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Michael Halasnik (BU) 3rd Place - Ann Xu (Wellesley)
ADVANCED BRACKET: 1st Place - Amandine Fromont (Wellesley) 2nd Place - Yi Yang (Harvard) 3rd Place - Hanamei Shao (Wellesley)
BLACK BELT BRACKET: 1st Place - George Jayson (Oxford) 2nd Place - Angus Gibby (Oxford) 3rd Place - Luke Knight (Oxford)
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TEKKI KATA TOURNAMENT
MAY 22, 2021
To wrap up the Zoom era, we hosted one final tournament on May 22, this time themed on Tekki Kata. Indeed, having already organized two Heian Kata Tournaments and a Sentei Kata Tournament focusing on Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Jion and Empi, we wanted to give students a chance to focus on these lesser-known kata. While many students don’t see Tekki Nidan and Tekki Sandan until well after receiving their black belt, Tabata Sensei historically taught the three Tekki kata as students trained for Shodan. In honor of his legacy, Sensei Vazrik thus taught the three Tekki kata to intermediate and advanced students in preparation for the tournament. It was a unique way of encouraging students to train their Tekki kata through the fun opportunity of a competition.
INTERMEDIATE DIVISION (TEKKI SHODAN): 1st place - Geisa Rezende (Brazil) 2nd place - Sophia Igarashi (BU) 3rd place - Alina Zheng (Wellesley)
ADVANCED DIVISION (TEKKI SHODAN): 1st place - Lorraine Sin (BU) 2nd place - Zeng Wing Tan (BU) 3rd place - Hanamei Shao (Wellesley)
ADVANCED DIVISION (TEKKI NIDAN): 1st place - Hanamei Shao (Wellesley) 2nd place - Lorraine Sin (BU) 3rd place - Zeng Wing Tan (BU)
TRIPLE TEKKI CHALLENGE (OPEN DIVISION): 1st place - Lorraine Sin (BU) 2nd place - Hanamei Shao (Wellesley) 3rd place Page 14
Zeng Wing Tan (BU)
SEMINARS VAZRIK HEIAN KATA SEMINAR WITH CORNELL
MARCH 13, 2021
In preparation for the International Heian Kata Tournament at the end of March, Sensei Vazrik provided a Heian Sandan and Heian Godan Kata Seminar for Cornell students. Indeed, many of the students had either not yet seen this kata, or only learned their Pinan system equivalent from Shito Ryu. The seminar focused on teaching the kata in waves: first, focusing on the choreography; second, highlighting technique details and power generation; and third, introducing the kata rhythm. Showcasing these two Heian kata exposed the Cornell students to the Shotokan Ryu style and encouraged them to later participate in the Heian Kata Tournament.
JAMES LEE SEMINAR
MARCH 16, 2021
We hosted James Lee for a seminar at the Harvard Karate Club on March 13th, focusing on Heian Nidan. James was previously a professor at Harvard, and has been training with us since the beginning of 2021. James has a 3rd dan in Shotokan Karate from both the Japan Karate Association (JKA) and the International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF). We were grateful to have him share his knowledge on one of his favorite Heian kata in preparation for the Heian Kata tournament at the end of the month.
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S WEEK CELEBRATION MARCH 8-10, 2021 In honor of International Women’s Day and of the inspiring Karateka who train with us, we hosted seminars over the week of March 8th with several of our advanced female Karateka. On Monday, March 8th, Amandine Fromont, an instructor of the Wellesley Karate club, taught a seminar focused on Heian Nidan. The next evening, Katie Jordan, former instructor at the Harvard Karate club, taught a seminar introducing a unique kata, not well known among Shotokan practitioners, and taught kihon relevant to that kata. Finally, Lorraine Sin, an instructor of the Boston University Karate club, taught a seminar focused on Heian Yondan on Wednesday, March 10th. These three Karateka are shining examples of hard work and dedication to the Karate community, fostering growth in younger students. Through their excellence in training and motivation, they have demonstrated that Karate truly is an activity for all.
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SENSEI CHINZO MACHIDA SEMINAR
APRIL 23, 2021
This semester, the Harvard Karate Club hosted a Karate seminar with worldfamous Sensei Chinzo Machida. Machida Sensei has a background in traditional Shotokan Karate, and has adapted this skillset to succeed in the world of MMA. He, along with his brother Lyoto Machida, has demonstrated that the fundamentals of Shotokan Karate can be applied successfully in combat. During the seminar, Machida Sensei taught a wide audience of Boston area Karateka, including students from Harvard, BU, Wellesley, and Cornell, as well as Karateka joining from around the world. He taught several kumite drills focused on body shifting and alignment with the opponent when throwing punching techniques. We particularly want to thank Darwin Jurado, Xialene Chang, Jamie Menhall and Vazrik Chiloyan for this exciting seminar. We look forward to seeing Machida Sensei in future events together!
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JKA PROMOTIONS DECEMBER 5, 2020 At the end of this unprecedented year, we were able to offer 15 students the opportunity to promote with Sensei Wauriman Borges. This marked our fourth promotion in the JKA system, continuing on our path to create bridges between Karate organizations and groups throughout the world. Promotions provided students with a goal to aim for in these unique times, and they worked hard to reach their new respective ranks. COVID impacted everyone in different and unexpected ways, but returning to some normalcy by practicing Karate by Zoom fostered the community we all know and love. Wauriman Sensei particularly noted his joy at seeing so many people training in, and continuing to spread, the art of Shotokan Karate.
MAY 15-16, 2021 This spring, we hosted promotions with Sensei Wauriman. This promotion included 21 students ranging from the beginner level all the way up through 1st kyu and preparation for Shodan, and was marked by the unprecedented number of students reaching brown belt or above. We are grateful to Wauriman Sensei not only because he tests, examines, and encourages our students to train hard, but because of his individualized feedback. For each student, he takes the time to highlight details that they are doing well, and which the other students should emulate, as well as points that the student can focus on to keep improving their skill. We are looking forward to the next promotions, where we can demonstrate students’ progress based on this promotion’s feedback!
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RESULTS HARVARD
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Renata Costa - 7th kyu
Sophia Igarashi - 5th kyu
Corrine Giordani - 5th kyu
Arisa Matsuo Matsuo - 3rd kyu
Yi Yang
Michael Halasnik - 3rd kyu
- Approval to test
for Shodan
MIT
Steven Chen - 3rd kyu Zeng Wing Tan - 1st kyu Julia Van - 1st kyu, Approval
Jack Bouhanna - 7th kyu
to test for Shodan
CAMBRIDGE COLLEGE
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
Viviane Fontes - 7th kyu
Alina Zheng - 5th kyu
U. TEXAS AT AUSTIN Nikita Patil - 3rd kyu
LESLEY UNIVERSITY
Sophia Peña - 5th kyu Ann Xu - 3rd kyu Amy Liu - 3rd kyu Ayusha Ariana - 3rd kyu Hanamei Shao - 1st kyu
Iyit Benusia - 7th kyu Angel Chan - 7th kyu
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HDKI OUTREACH HDKI MA DEVELOPMENT While working on a seminar with Sensei Simon Bligh, 5th dan and HDKI Great Britain Technical Director, we had the pleasure of meeting Sensei Scott Langley, 7th dan and Chief Technical Director of the HDKI. We were delighted to find that we share a common vision of spreading Karate throughout the world, not only with kindness, respect and altruism, but also with a dream of motivating people to impact their communities through the confidence and character built in Karate training. This was the birth of HDKI Massachusetts. This new chapter will serve Karateka who wish to be a part of the HDKI, and act as a hub to welcome HDKI instructors for in-person seminars in the coming year. We are particularly excited to host Scott Sensei himself in the fall, giving students the opportunity to learn from someone who has studied and taught Karate for decades.
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SEMINAR WITH SENSEI SIMON BLIGH AND SENSEI STUART AMOS MAY 1, 2021
On May 1st, we hosted our first HDKI seminar for Boston area students with Sensei Simon Bligh, 5th dan and HDKI Great Britain Technical Director, and Sensei Stuart Amos, 4th dan. Sensei Simon dedicated the first half of the seminar to kihon details, emphasizing heels, hip movement, and the proper weighting of stances. In the second half of the seminar, Sensei Stuart taught front leg kicks (mae ashi keri) and kick combinations, and reviewed Heian Sandan. In hosting this event, the BU and Wellesley executive boards not only trained hard but also helped advertise so well that we recorded participants from over 10 universities and 4 different time zones! All of us resonated with Sensei Simon’s humble teaching style, his altruism, and his wonderful sense of humor. We look forward to more events together in the future with the HDKI team.
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HDKI PROMOTIONS MAY 8, 2021 After creating HDKI MA, we were proud to host a promotion that would grant Boston area students rank under the HDKI! Sensei Simon Bligh and Sensei Vazrik ran the promotions in May, under approval from Sensei Scott Langley. In total, 17 students gained rank in the HDKI. This step furthers our vision of offering students the chance to pursue their Karate through multiple organizations. In this way, no matter where they end up after graduating, they can continue growing and learning Karate.
RESULTS HARVARD
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Renata Costa - 8th kyu
Steven Chen - 3rd kyu
Corrine Giordani - 5th kyu
Zeng Wing Tan - 1st kyu
MIT
Lorraine Sin
-
Approval to test for Shodan
Jack Bouhanna - 7th kyu
CAMBRIDGE COLLEGE
WELLESLEY COLLEGE Alina Zheng - 5th kyu
Viviane Fontes - 7th kyu
U. TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Sophia Peña - 5th kyu Ann Xu - 3rd kyu Amy Liu - 3rd kyu
Nikita Patil - 3rd kyu
LESLEY UNIVERSITY Iyit Benusia - 7th kyu Angel Chan - 7th kyu
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Ayusha Ariana - 3rd kyu Hanamei Shao - 1st kyu Amandine Fromont Approval to test for Shodan
CONNECT WITH US Vazrik Chiloyan vazrik@mit.edu
Anselmo Cassiano Alves anselmoc@mit.edu
Amandine Fromont afromont@wellesley.edu
Lorraine Sin lsin@bu.edu
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THANK YOU! KEEP FOLLOWING OUR KARATE ADVENTURES IN 2021.