Karate College Clubs Summer Magazine 2023

MAGAZINE

ALTRUISM ALTRUISM asaLifestyle asaLifestyle

C O N T E N T S T A B L E O F

EDITORIAL

Throughoutthemagazine, wefeatureseveralofthe altruisminaction activitiesthatour studentscompleted.We featureactivitiesinwhich ourstudentsdedicated combinationsoftime, money,andskillson

AltruismasaLifestyle

Many people want to wait until they are very rich before considering donating, but actually you can have an impact in your local community even if you are notextremelywealthy.Similarly,peoplewanttowaituntiltheyareretiredwhen they will have an abundance of time to be able to help out, but you can have animpactbycontributingevenalittlebiteachweek.Thereisapositivefeeling that results from making a donation, whether it is money or time, and feeling that you are having a positive impact on something you care about. One simple way of achieving this is considering a ‘10% rule’, meaning that you donate10%ofyourincomeorsavingstosomethingyoucarefor,oryoudonate 10% of your time such as a Saturday afternoon, volunteering your time for a cause. This enables you to have altruism be a part of your life on a consistent basis, rather than waiting until you are retired and rich before you begin to makeanimpactonthethingsyoucarefor.

Whenyoulivewiththisaltruisticapproachtolife,itwillalsochangethewayyou see opportunities in life. You will look for ways you can help others and not just waysinwhichyoucanbenefitfromsomething.Youwillbemoreappreciativeof things that luckily go in your favor, and more willing to share and empower friends and even strangers around you to help make the world a better place. We encourage all of our students to consider altruism as a lifestyle and a methodoflivingtheyshouldincorporateintotheirlivesbecauseitwillnotonly improvetheirownlivesandincreasetheirhappiness,butitwillmakethemfeel aspartofacommunity,whetheritbejustatthelocallevelorevenbroaderat theinternationallevel.

JKAAFNewOrleansCampand NewBlackBelts

From June 8 to 11, several of our Boston area college Karateka attended the JKA AF camp in NewOrleans,LA.ThecampthisyearfeaturedOguraSensei(8thDanJKAViceChiefInstructor), who gave many seminars focused on kihon fundamentals, technical points on kumite distancing (maai) and timing, and several kata seminars. Our students were able to review HeianGodan,TekkiShodan,TekkiNidan,BassaiDai,Empi,Jion,aswellaslearnGojushihoSho asanadvancedkata.Itwasawonderfulopportunitytolearnfromsuchahighlevelinstructor who was able to communicate Karate knowledge in a way that everyone could understand, aswellaswithimpressivedemonstrationstoshowcasehispoints.

In addition to the various training seminars, the JKA AF camp offered official JKA Dan examinations. Many of our students achieved new ranks within the JKA! Congratulations to Hiro Fujii (Boston University, Shodan with ISKF) for achieving Shodan with the JKA, Nikita Patil (BostonUniversity&U.TexasAustin,ShodanwithJUKF)forachievingShodanwiththeJKA,and Lorraine Sin (Boston University & Lesley University, Nidan with HDKI, Nidan with JUKF, Shodan with ISKF, Shodan with Tabata Sensei) for achieving Nidan with the JKA! Thank you to Vazrik Senseiforallofhishardworkinteachingandpreparingthestudentstolearn,understand,and implementthenecessarycapabilitiesinkihon,kata,andkumite.

TrainingandLunchwithOguraSensei

Weareproudofallofourstudents’effortsbothintheirexaminationsaswellas their trainings throughout the camp. We are looking forward to more collaborationswithourJKAAFfriends,especiallyinhelpinggrowthenumberof collegiate karateka within the organization. We would like to thank Mikami Sensei (9th Dan JKA) for all his efforts in growing the JKA in the US. He is an inspirationashecontinuestoteachandtrainevenashereaches90yearsold.

WealsowouldliketothankJerryKattawarSensei(7thDanJKA)forhishospitalityandforall of the work he puts in behind the scenes to organize a large camp and offer learning opportunitiestothenextgenerationofKarateka.AlsoabigthankstoVeyandHannahforall oftheirhelpinthelogisticsofthecampandfortheirkindnessandhospitality.

GojushihoShoKataSeminar

On Sunday, June 18, 2023 we had a Karate seminar in the MIT T-Club Lounge. The goal of the classwastoteachthechoreographyoftheadvancedkata,GojushihoSho(54steps),toallof the students, from beginner level in skill to advanced. After Vazrik Sensei went through warm up and the usual sonoba kihon, ido kihon, and kumite drills that students have been working on over the summer, he moved onto teaching the kata. Gojushiho Sho is one of the longest kataintheShotokanKaratesystem,with65movements.Ithasallofthebasicstancesoffront stance, back stance, horse stance, and cat stance in the kata. One of the most beautiful aspectsofthekata,andalsowhatmakesitachallengingkatatomaster,isitslargecontrast inspeed.Therearemovesthatmustbeperformedwithgreatspeedandpower,andthereare slowmovesthatmustbeperformedwithincrediblecontrol,precision,andgrace.Theabilityto master both fast and slow techniques is what makes the kata an exciting one to train. In addition,itisagreattestofmemory.VazrikSenseitaughtthekatabrokendownintosections, which makes the 65 movements of the kata seem much fewer when viewed as several chapters to an overarching story. Many of our karateka, including Vazrik Sensei, have used GojushihoShotosuccessfullytestforadvancedblackbeltrankslikeNidanandSandan,which is why many of the beginner and intermediate level students were excited to learn the movementsofthiskataandbegintoappreciateallthatithastooffertothosewhopracticeit.

ALTRUISM INACTION

Karate is not just about punching and kicking. It is about developing a resilient mind, one that can achieve success both inside the dojo but also in one’s academic and professional career. One of the lessons we try to impart to our students is the power of altruism. Altruism is about paying it forward. It is about giving opportunities to people who otherwise would not have access to it. Throughout the magazine, we highlight a few examples of altruism in action that our students demonstrated around the world. We consider 3 ways in which people can offer help to others in the world:

In the pages ahead, you will see examples of each one, but sometimes cases where a combination of time, money, and skills were offered to help people. The most important is that our students find a way to give back to their communities, and to empower people to pay it forward themselves to help the next generation and help make the world a better place one act of kindness at a time.

VOLUNTEERINGASAJUDGEATTHE STOCKHOLMJUNIORWATERPRIZE

For6yearsinarow,Cassianohasservedasavolunteerjudgeinthemostprestigiouswater prizeintheworld,theStockholmJuniorWaterPrize.KidsallaroundtheUS,representingall50 states and Puerto Rico, submit projects related to providing clean water around the world. Thestudentsprovidedifferentinnovativetechnologysolutionsforcreatingcleanwaterfrom saltyoceanwater,orotherwaystocleanriversorotherbodiesofwateraroundtheworldfor a better universe. Some projects propose new chemical techniques, some propose drones, but all are unique and innovative and the water prize aims to bring together these unique createideastocreatepossiblesolutionsforthefuture.Cassiano,asrepresentativeoftheMIT WaterClub,traveledtoGolden,Coloradotohelpjudgethecompetitionandencouragethe studentstokeepdreamingbigandpursuingtheirprojectideasevenafterthecompetitionis done.

BRADLOVETT(NATIONALMANAGER),ISAIASMEDINA(FORMER UNAMBASSADOR),JEANETTEBROWN(HEADJUDGE)

OutdoorMITKaratePractice

On Sunday 06/25/2023, we had our first outdoor practice of the summer! With the warmer weather, we were able to enjoy our viewoftheriverandBostonskylineduringour training outdoors at MIT. Vazrik Sensei taught a class with his usual breakdown of kihon, kumite,andkata.Forkihon,hereviewedsome drills covering hip rotation and vibration as wellassomedrillstodeveloproundhousekick (mawashi geri). For kumite, he worked on sparringstanceandfocusedonfootwork,and then taught how to apply stepping punch (oi zuki)withitsfullrangewithapartner.Forkata, hetaughtGojushihoShotostudentsseeingit for the first time, and reviewed some of the hip mechanics that were covered during the kihonportionofclasstoaidintheteachingof the kata. We are excited for a summer full of fun training and lots of great learning opportunities!

ArmenianFilmEvent

On Sunday 06/25/2023, the Karate team had the pleasure of joining an Armenian Film Documentary Screening in Watertown Our instructor, Vazrik Sensei, is very involved in the Armenian community in Watertown Beyond offering his time to teach Karate, he has been working hard in the past couple months to organize a film screening of the documentary "BlessingoftheMountain",whichtalkedaboutthe history of the Armenians from Musa Ler and their migration to Anjar, Lebanon Many of our Karate students attended and learned about the struggles faced by the Armenian people in the early 20th century to establish life in Anjar, and how to keep their culture alive, particularly their language, music, dance, and traditions. This eventwasagreatexampleofhowwetrytoteach More Than Karate, so that students learn about other aspects of life thanks to being part of a greaterdiversecommunitytogether.

SochinKataSeminar

On Sunday, July 9, 2023 we had a Karate seminar in the MIT T-Club Lounge. The goal of the class was to teach the kata Sochin (translated often as "Strength and Calm" or "Energetic Calm"). This is a truly powerful kata, as it utilizes predominantly fudo dachi and has the signature muso kamae position in the kata. Fudo dachi was Tabata Sensei’s favorite stance, as it was a stance that developed strong leg muscles, and a stance that he felt helped studentstransitiontojiyukamaeandfreesparringmoreeasily.Aswithallkata,VazrikSensei brokedownthe41movementsofthiskataintoseveralsections,andwentthroughsectionby section to facilitate the transfer of knowledge of the kata choreography to students of all levels. This kata also requires the the ability to demonstrate power and speed with fast movementsvsstabilityandcontrolwithslowmovements.

more than

karate

Our students do “More Than Karate”! Shotokan Karate is a deep passion for many of our students, but as many new beginners ask us when they join our Karate group, you can have multiple passions! Many of our students do multiple activities in addition to Karate. Throughout the magazine, we will highlight some of our members and you will haveachancetogettoknowmoreaboutthem.

GankakuKataSeminar

OnSunday,July16,2023,wetaught the3rdadvancedkataofthe summer,Gankaku(Craneona Rock)intheMITT-ClubLounge.In thepastseveralweeks,students hadtheopportunitytolearn GojushihoShoaswellasSochinas advancedblackbeltlevelkata. Thesekataemphasizedspeedand poweraswellasstabilityand control Gankakuwasthe3rd advancedkataVazrikSensei focusedon,whichemphasizedin particularbalance The characteristictsurudachi(crane stance),fromwhichthesidekicks areperformed,providesthe opportunityforstudentstoworkon theirbalanceandstrengthenthe musclesthataidwithstability

HokusaiMFAArtExhibit SocialEvent

OneofthesocialactivitieswehadduringthesummerwasaJapaneseartexhibitbyHokusai attheMuseumofFineArts(MFA).Thetitleoftheexhibitwas“InspirationandInfluence”.After KaratepracticeonSunday,July9,weheadedtothemuseumtogotothisspecialartexhibit. HokusaiwasaJapaneseartistwhowasfamousforhisworknotonlyinJapan,butaroundthe world.HeinspiredmanyartistsoutsideofJapanwithhispaintings.Hismostfamouspainting, “TheWave”,hasbeenrecreatedinmanydifferentformats,evenasaLegorecreationthatwas ondisplayintheexhibit.

Garen,Vazrik,Varant,Alejandro BirthdayCelebration

07/22/2023

On Saturday, July 22, 2023, we had the fun opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of Garen, Vazrik,Varant,andAlejandroattheKendallWatermark.RicardoHarripaulwaskindenoughto help us book the facility for the party and host everyone, and we were grateful to have the helpofCassiano,Lucas,Claudio,AnaLuiza,Natalia,Mariana,Gustavo,Nikita,Amandine,andIB help organize the food and logistics for the party to make it a fun opportunity for all the attendees.

For his birthday, Vazrik Sensei taught a kata seminar focused on the kata Wankan (King’s Crown).Thisisashortkataofonly24moves,buthasaninterestingsetofhipmechanicsinits movements that can benefit both beginner as well as advanced students. We enjoyed the rooftop view while learning the choreography of the kata as well as the rhythm and flow. The studentswerekindenoughtohaveprepareddifferentdishesfordinneraswellasdessertand to have music to dance and enjoy the summer evening with. Thank you to everyone who helpedandcamebytowishHappyBirthdaytoGaren,Vazrik,Varant,andAlejandro!

Gustavo’sBirthdayPoemGift

In honor of Vazrik Sensei’s birthday, Gustavo shared a poem that he was inspired to write He recited the beautiful poem to all of us at the birthday party, and he sent the poem text to Vazriktohaveasafuturememory BelowisthepoemthatGustavowaskindenoughtowrite andsharewithallofus:

Aurora

ItisaJulynightandraindrops fall,fall,andeverywheredriplike unevenverticalsilverstrips bathedbythenorthernlights, Whichmoldsmagneticfields intowatersplashingonthegrass Karatekasearlierexercised releasingsweatoverKatasteps.

Sharpjabsandswiftmovesmixed andmashedtwodistinctevents mutuallyboundbyrepeatedsplashes.

Whetherit'sthesunshootingatearth orourfeetpoundingfirmongrass, wewereallatthemercyofgracefultwilight.

-GustavoPereiraJr.

VAZRIK'S34THBIRTHDAYKARATE ALTRUISMFUNDRAISER

InJuly,VazrikSenseicelebratedhis34thbirthday!He expressed the specific desire to do an altruistic fundraiserrelatedtoKarate.Assuch,hesetagoalto raise funds to donate Karate uniforms around the world to students who otherwise cannot afford them ontheirown.AsweusuallypurchaseAdidasuniforms valued approximately $30 each, the goal was to see how many uniforms we could raise as a Karate community together. Of course, Vazrik Sensei likes to not only talk about altruism, but act and live by it, so he promised to match the number of donations that his students raised up to a total of 34 uniforms (a donationvalueof$1020).Wesetadeadlineof5days to see what uniforms could be raised to match, and 46 students came together to donate 73 uniforms! Vazrik Sensei kept his promise and personally donated34uniformshimself,resultinginatotalof107 uniforms($3,210raised)withthisaltruismfundraiser.

Inthecomingweeks,VazrikSenseiandCassianowillbeplanningonplacingtheorderforthe uniforms and also begin to organize making donations of uniforms to schools around the worldinthecomingyear.Severalexamplesthathavebeensuggestedbyourstudentsinclude schoolsinBenin,Senegal,Brazil,aswellaslocalopportunitiestodonateinthegreaterBoston area. We are proud of the efforts of our students to rise to the occasion that Vazrik Sensei initiated and to be able to take a step in providing opportunities for those that cannot afford them themselves. Stay tuned in our follow up magazines for the results of the donations we willmakeofthemorethan100uniformsweraisedfundsfor.

Belowarethenamesofthe46studentswhodonatedtoVazrik’sbirthdayfundraiser.

AnselmoCassianoAlves

MarianaAndrade

AyushaAriana

IyitBenusia

JackBouhanna

AnaLuizaCasalli

AngelChan

StevenChen

GarenChiloyan

VarantChiloyan

ChiaraChung-Halpern

KevinCoady

RosabelliCoelho

RenataCosta

SuzanaCosta

CarolinaCuesta

JakubCzuchnowski

JoseDelgado

MarcodePaula

RoukayaElHouda

AmandineFromont

RicardoHarripaul

BruceHou

MaximJeffs

OlgaLattarulo

AmyLiu

QiuYuHongLu

NikitaPatil

Sophia(Soap)Peña

OliviaPostel

GustavoPereira

KishanShah

LorraineSin

EwaSitarska

ZengWingTan

ArataUchida

ErikoUchida

UtaUchida

EshaanVakil

JuliaVan

SavannahWu

YiYang

AshleyYuan

AlinaZheng

AthenaZheng

EmileGiovannieZounon

RENATADONATESBLOODTO BRAZILIANREDCROSS

Thissummer,Renatawasinspired to do a new altruism task. She wanted to donate blood to the Brazilian Red Cross. She knows that these donations can help save a lot of lives, so she decided to donate and become a regular donor. Every blood donation can save 4 lives. We are proud of Renata’s selfless actions and her considerationforothers.

THROUGHTIME

THROUGHMONEY

THROUGHSKILLS

AugustMoonlightSailingKarate SocialActivity

OnTuesday,August1,2023,wekickedoffthestartofAugust and the last month of summer with an outdoor Karate trainingatMITacrossfromtheMITSailingPavilion,followed by moonlight sailing as a social activity! Vazrik Sensei taughtaclassfocusedonreviewingthefundamentalkihon andkumitedrillsstudentshavebeenworkingoninthepast several weeks. We went through kicking drills focused on developing balance, hip rotation drills focused on increasing hand-hip connection, and then kumite shifting drills to learn how to connect the drive of the back leg into kizami zuki. Then, each student practiced their promotion kata before performing in front of the group and getting feedbackontheirtop3bottleneckstoworkon.

Afterthetraining,wegotpizzadinnertogetherandenjoyed aneveningofmusicandsailingattheMITSailingPavilion.It wasafullmoon,andinparticularitwasasupermoonsothe moonwasparticularlybeautifulandappearedlargerinthe sky. It was a fun opportunity to enjoy a social activity togetheroutsideofKaratetraining.

08/01/2023

KyuExamPreparationSimulation

OnThursday,August3,2023,Vazrik Sensei led a focused class that simulated the JKA kyu exam process for students. As we have Summer 2023 kyu exams coming up at the end of the month, he used this opportunity to run through the kihon, kata, and kumite requirements. As an example, he ran through the 6th kyu sequence as a beginner / intermediateexam,andthe1stkyu sequence.

For kihon, we covered the basic punching, blocking, and kicking techniques for the beginner and advanced levels, and the importance of stance depth and stability. For kumite, Vazrik Sensei reviewed the importance of shifting (tai sabaki) in semi-free sparring(jiyuipponkumite).Finally for kata, each student got an opportunitytoperformtheirkatain front of the group and receive up to 3 bottlenecks to focus on in order to improve their kata most efficientlybeforethenexttraining.

TabataSenseiLegacyAdvanced KicksSeminar

08/06/2023

OnSundayafternoon,August6,2023,wehadaKarateseminardedicatedtoTabataSensei’s legacy. Vazrik Sensei taught a class that focused on kicking combinations as Tabata Sensei used to teach many advanced kicks and also kick combinations even to beginner students. Thegoalwastodeveloplegstrength,flexibility,andbalancebylearninghowtokickinvarious directionsandwithbothlinearandrotationalpower.VazrikSenseireviewedthemechanicsof single kicks such as front kick, side kick, back kick, and roundhouse kick. Then he taught hook kick, which is an example of a kick that uses reverse rotation (gyaku kaiten) to generate power. After practicing hook kick, we learned spinning hick kick, which was a new one for studentsasitrequiredalotmorebalanceandcontrolthantheotherbasickicks.

Then we moved onto some of Tabata Sensei’s favorite kick combos: wheel kick (roundhouse kick + spinning hook kick + roundhouse kick), front kick + back kick, and also side kick + back kick. Vazrik Sensei emphasized the important points of making sure to look at your target before kicking at it in order to help you balance during the kick, and to think about flowing betweenthekickstogenerateasmoothcombination.

SenseiBobJacobsMITSeminaron Sochin+BassaiDaiandBunkai

08/13/2023

We were grateful to have the opportunity to host Sensei Bob Jacobs (7th Dan JKA) at one of our indoor MIT Karate practices on Sunday, August 13, 2023. Sensei Jacobs accepted our invitation to come give a class focused on kata bunkai, and he focused on Bassai Dai and Sochinastwokatafortheday.Witheachkata,heshowedhowtoexecutethemovementsof the kata with the proper Karate mechanics, and then showed why the proper mechanics are effectiveinselfdefense.

WithBassaiDai,studentsgottolearnaboutthehandplacementforthescoopingblock(sukui uke) in the 6th movement and how it matters for defending against a kick. Sensei Jacobs showcased how to use the heels to move for the unique uchi uke techniques in the 11th and 13th moves in order to dodge off of the centerline, and also demonstrated how the grappling technique of tsukami uke in the 18th movement works and had students try it out with partners.Lastly,heshowedwhythemoroteageukeofthe22ndmoveisdoneupwardinorder to facilitate the rib strike that follows it, and showed the importance of inner thigh tension for thefinalshutoukeofBassaiDaiwhichrequiresashufflestep.

WithSochin,SenseiJacobsexplainedtheinvertedpunchtechniqueinthefirstkiaiofthekata, and how to use one hand to slide a punch out of the way while the other hand attacks the opponent, and had us try this with partners. He ended with showing the muso kamae move that is indicative of the kata, and he showed how to movement applies to either defense against mae geri or defense against jodan zuki. We were very grateful to have had Sensei JacobswithusatMITandtolearnthesubtletechnicaldetailshewasexcitedtosharewithall ofthestudents.

On Sunday, August 20, 2023, we had a fun in-house Karate tournament. We wanted to give students an opportunity to practice competing and performing in front of a crowd. We had bothkataandkumiteforstudentsatthebeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlevels.

BEGINNER KATA

GustavoPereira

INTERMEDIATE KATA

MunawwarAbdullah-HeianGodan

EmileZounon-HeianYondan

AnaLuizaCasalli-HeianYondan

HEIAN SHODAN DIVISION

JuliaVan

AshleyYuan

BruceHou

TEKKI SHODAN DIVISION

NikitaPatil

JuliaVan

BruceHou

SENTEI KATA DIVISION

JuliaVan-Jion

NikitaPatil-Jion

AthenaZheng-Jion

INTERMEDIATE KUMITE

MunawwarAbdullah

EmileZounon

AnaLuizaCasalli

ADVANCED KUMITE

NikitaPatil

JuliaVan

MaximJeffs

OnSunday,August27,2023,weheldthekyubeltexamsforstudentswhohavebeentraining overthesummerwithus.Thestudentshavebeentraininghardtolearntheirnextkataand developingtheirfundamentalstodemonstrateintheirkihonandkumite.Wehad11students who tested and reached their next level in the JKA and HDKI. We are proud of the students andthehardworktheyputinthissummertoimprovetheirskillinShotokanKarate.

JKA PROMOTION RESULTS

Alex Pamnani 7th kyu

Gustavo Pereira 7th kyu

Carolina Cuesta 6th kyu

Emile Giovannie Zounon 4th kyu

Ana Luiza Casalli 4th kyu

Munawwar Abdulla 3rd kyu

Ewa Sitarska 2nd kyu

Renata Costa 1st kyu

Bruce Hou 1st kyu

HDKI PROMOTION RESULTS HOMBUDOJO

Ana Luiza Casalli 5th kyu

Renata Costa 2nd kyu

Bruce Hou 2nd kyu

Athena Zheng 1st kyu

Julia Van 1st kyu

KARATEKASSAILORSSUMMER2023

Just like last year, Cassiano offered free sailing lessons and opportunities to the Karatekas who were training in Boston over the summer Over the weekend, typically after Karate practices, Cassiano would help the interested Karatekas learn how to sail and take steps to being able to achieve their sailing license He teaches the students how to tie the necessary knots, how to rig the boat, how to leave and re-enter the dock, and of course the necessary skillsonthewater Forthestudentswhoalreadylearnedtheseskillslastyear,Cassianotaught themhowtousethemoreadvancedboats(the420andtheLynxCatboat)andlearnhowto balancetheseboatswhichhaveadifferentfeelonthewater.

AMANDINESPECIAL$600ALTRUISM FUNDRAISER

This summer, one of our Karate instructors, Amandine Fromont (Nidan JKA), was inspired to contributeintwodifferentways.First,aswedowithallofourfall,spring,andsummerKarate CollegeClubsMagazines,wepostthemonlineonissuu.com.Aswehavereachedlargerand larger publishing quantities over the years, we now required a subscription in order to maintain this online catalog of all of our Karate activities in the past several years. Rather than charging readers a subscription fee to access the magazines, Amandine has donated $300toprovidefreeaccessforafullyearforeveryone.

Second,Amandinewantedtoalsooffer$300personallytowardsanaltruismproject.Shewas grateful to be part of the team that went to Japan from Boston in November 2023. She wanted to find a way to pay back all of the generosity that she received in Japan, so she decided to pay it forward to the Japanese Karate students who will be visiting Boston in September. With her kind gift, we bought the Japanese students tickets to be able to go to theMuseumofScienceasaspecialexperiencewhentheyarehereinBoston.

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