Karate College Clubs Spring Magazine 2023

MAGAZINE

SPRING 2023

ALTRUISM ALTRUISM

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

Throughoutthe magazine,wefeature severalofourKarateka andtheactivities/ passionstheyhave beyondKarateonpages 14,23,31,and39.

Throughoutthe magazine,youwillfind featuredarticlesonthe Karatejourneyofvarious instructorsthatwehave metandconnectedwith onpages28-30.

Throughoutthemagazine, wefeatureseveralofthe altruisminaction activitiesthatour studentscompleted.We featureactivitiesinwhich ourstudentsdedicated combinationsoftime, money,andskillson pages9,10,17,35,and38.

Altruism is often misunderstood and viewed as a group of selfless people offeringopportunitiesofwhichotherscantakeadvantageforfree.However,to reachtrue,continuousaltruism,thosebenefitingfromwhatselflesspeopleoffer must consider ways to pay it forward. They must work to create opportunities forthenextgenerationsothatthey,too,canbenefitfromtheopportunitiesthat thecurrentoneenjoys.

Our friends in the Japan University Karatedo Federation (JUKF) and Technical Colleges Karate Federation (TCKF) shared this idea with us when we visited Japan. Many of the senior members explained that, while they were university students training Karate, often the senior club members and instructors would takethemouttoeataftertraining,payfortheirfood,offerencouragement,and share life advice. The students might have wanted to repay them, but they knew that they did not have the money and resources to do so at the time. Instead, our friends explained their group’s wisdom: the best way to pay back what they received was to pay it forward. This is the true goal of altruism: to offeropportunitiestostudentswhootherwisewouldnothaveaccesstoit,while also inspire these students to continue paying it forward with the next generation. If people receive benefits without paying anything forward, the cyclestops,andfuturegenerationsdon’treceivethesamehelpandsupportto reach success. Adopting our friends’ philosophy, our goal is to develop a community in which students receive as much support as they need to succeedwhilelearningtopayitforwardfortheirfutureteammates.

JionKataSeminar

On Sunday, January 8, 2023, we got to start the new year with our first indoor joint Karate training at MIT Vazrik Sensei taught a Jion kata seminar to students ranging from beginner all through black belt ranks The goal was to get students at all levels to be able to learn the full choreography of the kata, and to then appreciate the beauty that this powerful kata offers to its practitioner Using his well-adapted technique, Vazrik Sensei broke down the kata into distinct sections. In this case, the katawasbrokendowninto5parts, andeachpartwastaughtinsteps: first Vazrik Sensei demonstrated slowlysostudentscouldseeallthe stances and moves used in the section, and then students practiced the sequence until the moves of that single section were ingrained. Then, by stringing the sections together, Vazrik Sensei delivered the entire choreography ofthekatainunderhalfanhour.

Inaddition,topreparestudentsfor the kata’s exciting movements, Vazrik taught the differences between the various types of hip movement, particularly jun kaiten (forward hip rotation), gyaku kaiten (reverse hip rotation), and shindo kaiten (hip vibration). With various kihon drills focused on honing these skills and a unique drill to combine all three rotations, VazrikSenseihelpedstudentsbuild uptheirskillandincorporatethese mechanicsintothekataitself.

HeianNidanandTekkiNidan Seminar

01/15/23

On Sunday, January 15, 2023, we continued our special January kata seminar month with a seminarintheT-ClubLoungeofMIT.VazrikSenseitaughtHeianNidanasabeginnerkatafor students who just learned Heian Shodan this past month, as well as Tekki Nidan as an advanced kata to train kiba dachi and hip rotation. With each kata, students learned the techniques in sections / chapters, and built up their memory of the movements until they learned the full kata choreography in under half an hour. Then, the kata rhythm would be introducedsothatstudentscouldseehowthemovementscoupletogether.

WithHeianNidan,VazrikSenseiemphasizedtheimportanceofgyakuhanmihipposture,and howtotimethehandsandhipstogeneratepowerwithuchiukeinthistechniqueofthekata. With Tekki Nidan, students developed their kiba dachi stance and hip rotation capabilities as wellashipvibrationbypracticingkagizuki.

We were also excited to have a special guest join us today! Yi Yang came to Boston for the weekendfromDCandjoinedourkataseminaractivity.#BostonKarateHub

TabataSenseiLegacy TekkiSandanSeminar 01/22/23

InhonorofTabataSensei’slegacy,thissemesterwetaughtTekkiSandanonSunday,January 22, 2023 in the T-Club Lounge of MIT. While many students only learn Tekki Shodan prior to reaching black belt, and the 2nd and 3rd Tekki kata after reaching black belt, Tabata Sensei used to teach all three Tekki kata as one of the requirements to reach black belt. He also believed in teaching advanced kata to students even at beginner ranks to open their minds andhelpthembegintounderstandmorecomplexmovementsearlieron.

Vazrik Sensei taught Tekki Sandan in sections, building on the knowledge from the previous Tekki Shodan and Tekki Nidan teachings. From there, students learned how to connect the movements in the proper rhythm of the kata. In addition to teaching Tekki Sandan, we reviewed Heian Nidan for the beginners and helped them incorporate proper hip mechanics intothekatatogeneratemorepowerandspeedwiththemoves.

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.

RENATACOSTAVOLUNTEERINGTOHELPORGANIZE REGIONALKARATETOURNAMENTFORPUBLIC SCHOOLSINMATOGROSSODOSULINBRAZIL

Last April, Renata Costa, one of our brown belt Karateka from Brazil, helped Sensei Luciano Lumaga organize the regional tournament for publicschoolsinMatoGrossodoSul.Renatawas very excited to help warm up the students, checking the students in for the tournament registration, explain the podium protocols, and uniform requirements. This year, more than 120 kids from various elementary schools joined the Regionaltournament.Forseveralofthestudents, it was their first opportunity to compete in a Karatetournament!

TekkiShodanandGankakuKatas SeminaratMIT

01/29/2023

On Sunday January 29, 2023 we had our 4th kata seminar series of the month of January in theMITT-ClubLounge.VazrikSenseitaughtthechoreographyofTekkiShodantothebeginner studentsandintermediatestudents,aswellasGankakutotheadvancedstudents.WithTekki Shodan,thegoalwastointroducestudentstotheTekkikataseries,andspecificallytraintheir kibadachiinordertodevelopmorelegpower,totrainhipmechanicsusinghiprotationand vibrationthroughoutthekata,andtotrainwheretodirecttheireyesforgeneratingpowerwith themoves.AfterlearningthekatasectionbysectionfromVazrikSensei,studentsgottotrain thesethreeprinciplesinthekataandreviewthechoreographywithGaren.

ForGankaku,VazrikSenseiemphasizedsomeuniquedetails,suchashowtomaintainbalance in tsuru dachi, and how to generate both a big posture with manji kamae on one foot while maintaining a compressed posture before yoko geri keage. In addition, this kata emphasizes forward rotation on the ball of the foot in addition to the typical rotation on the heel and requires mastery for both. The elegance of this kata appealed to many of the students who nowclaimthisasoneoftheirfavoritekata!

BlackBeltTestKihonSimulation f i

02/12/23

ManyofourstudentsarecurrentlytrainingtotaketheirJKAblackbelttest(bothShodanand Nidan levels) this upcoming June 2023 in New Orleans at the JKA AF HQ, To help students prepareforthetest,weorganizedakihonfocusedseminaronSundayFebruary12,2023inthe MIT T-Club Lounge. Vazrik Sensei led a class that went through the full kihon syllabus for the ShodantestandthenfortheNidantest.Studentsfrombeginnerlevelthroughadvancedlevel joinedandwentthroughthesyllabus.Whileadvancedstudentswerepreparingandpolishing their technique on the sequences they have been practicing already for months, the beginners and intermediate students got exposed to the kihon combinations necessary for theblackbelttest.Thisisalltohelpthembegintoadapttowhatitwilltakewhentheyreach theirownblackbelttest.

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 have a chance to get to know more about them.

OxfordKarateZoomJointTraining

Since before the COVID pandemic, we had built relationswiththeOxfordKarateClubthroughour dear friend Catherine Fan! Catherine had done her Bachelor’s degree at MIT with Vazrik Sensei, andthencompletedherPhDatOxfordUniversity where she joined the Oxford Karate Club, served as a president of the club for some time, and earnedherShodan!Catherinehelpedcreatethe initial bond between Oxford and our Karate students in Boston which resulted in a trip to Boston in October 2019. Over the pandemic years, we maintained a bond through zoom by hosting joint seminars and zoom tournaments whichOxfordKaratekajoinedaswell.

For the 1st time since the pandemic, we began restrengthening the bond with Oxford by first meeting the Oxford Karate Club eboard and then organizing this international zoom Karate seminar. The seminar was held physically at Oxford and organized by Lorenzo Tranchedone (Oxford Karate Club president) as well as physically in Boston at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard thanks to the organizational efforts of Ricardo Harripaul. We also had participants joining via zoom from Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, New York City, Washington DC, andIthaca!

Spiros Sensei (5th Dan JKA, Oxford Karate Club instructor) led the 1st hour of the seminar, focused on kihon fundamentals. He reviewed punching, blocking, and kicking techniques with a focus on proper hip mechanics utilization and correct timing of the techniques. He taught students from beginner through black belt how to focus on hip vibration in oi zuki and timing of the footwork with the hands. Spiros Sensei gave very useful feedback on how to generate power insidethrustkick(yokogerikekomi)bycorrectly lifting the knee into an ideal position before thrustingoutwards.Hebuiltupthecomplexityof thedrillsinstepssothatevenstudentswithlittle Karate experience could understand and build uptheirskillsinthesedrills.

Vazrik Sensei led the 2nd hour focused on kumite. The focus was on how to adapt gyaku zuki that we practice often in kihon into a form used in free sparring (jiyu kumite) and some footwork to enable using gyaku zuki properly in kumite. We emphasized the importance of maintaining the power and structural stability that you learn in kihon as you adapt the punch for longer range for kumite. We also worked on some footwork to increase agility in kumite, and introduced a fun variant of a partner kumite drill that allows students even at the white belt level to be able to train distancing (maai), footwork, and timing with a black belt. Thegoalofthedrillistobeable to touch the target on the opponent’s gi as fast as possible and to avoid getting hit yourself, and so students learn to understand the range oftheirtechniqueinadynamic environment.

A huge thank you to Spiros Sensei and Vazrik Sensei for actualizing a dream that we havebeenimaginingforyears!

Aspecialthankyouforallkinds of behind the scenes work by Lorenzo Tranchedone from Oxford and Ricardo Harripaul from the Broad Institute. It seemed that everyone especially enjoyed Spiros Sensei’s special mae geri and kekomi kicks, and Vazrik Sensei’s fun kumite drills and arelookingforwardtomorefun activitiestogetheragainsoon!

Thisisjustthebeginning!

We’ll see you all again soonhopefullyinpersonnexttime!

AMYLIUTEACHINGKIDSKARATE ATADOJOINBELLEVUE/WA

Vazrik has been an importantrolemodelforme! As a teacher, he is very willing to share knowledge that he has distilled over the courseofhiskaratepractice. It helped me see how there are many layers of knowledge to be discovered in the martial art. It is also what helped me continue withkarateespeciallyduring thepandemic.

When I’m teaching and practicingkaratenow,Ithink back to ideas he has talked about. One of them is the bottleneck. What is something to focus on back stance depth, the direction the feet are pointing that would lead to the biggest improvement in one’s overall karate? I try to get students to focus on bottlenecks by picking segmentsofkatatoworkon.

Related to the idea of bottlenecks is individualized feedback because everyone’s bottleneck is different. I remember Vazrik holdinghishandoutforusto punch during kihon practice. The sound of the impact gives immediate feedback. I try to make sure all of the students have opportunities to hit a target and receive correctionstofocuson.

ThelastideafromVazrikIthinkaboutoftenisencouragement. I noticed it’s unusual for students to receive compliments duringpractice.

BlackBeltTestKataSimulationfor JKAinNewOrleans

02/26/23

InoursecondinstallmentofpreparingourstudentswhowillbetakingtheirShodanandNidan testsinJune2023inNewOrleansattheJKAAFHQ,wehadaseminaronSundayFebruary26, 2023 in the MIT T-Club Lounge, this time focused on the kata portion of the test. Students testingforShodanareexpectedtoprepareoneoftheSenteikata(BassaiDai,KankuDai,Empi, Jion), while students testing for Nidan are expected to demonstrate their Tokui kata. Many of our students are preparing katas such as Gojushiho Sho, Sochin, Kanku Sho, Gankaku. In the seminar,wehadstudentsrunthroughtheirindividualkatatowarmupandprepare,andthen demonstrate in front of the group to get individualized feedback from Vazrik Sensei. After gaining the feedback, students worked on their kata individually to fix these bottlenecks, and thenwedidanotherroundoffeedbacktocheckonthecorrectionofthesebottlenecksbefore moving on to new corrections to incorporate. The most common themes students are focusingonincludethealignmentoftheanklesandkneedepthinstances,aswellasproper hand-foottimingoftechniquestogeneratefullbodypower.

MITIndoorKumiteSeminar

OnSundayMarch26,2023,wehadanindoorKarateseminaratMIT,thistimefocusedmoreon kumite. Vazrik Sensei warmed the students up by doing a review of the kihon syllabus requirements for the 8th kyu, 5th kyu, Shodan, and Nidan tests to show students the progressioninexpectationsandalsototeachthewidevarietyoflevelsofstudentswehadin attendance. Then, we worked on some footwork in sparring stance as well as some kumite speedgamesaimedatdevelopingagilityandabetterunderstandingofkumitedistancingto studentsfrombeginnertoadvancedlevels.Forfun,wehadaminitournamenttoseewhohad thefastestandbesttimedgyakuzukiwithseveralsingleeliminationbracketssothatstudents couldhavefunwhilesharpeningtheirkumiteskills.

HarvardKarateClub

SenseiJohnSeifertSeminar

On Sunday April 2, 2023, Sensei John Seifert came to teach a Karate seminar fortheHarvardKarateClub.SenseiJohn is a 5th Dan in the JKA, and has trained with Sensei Bob Jacobs. He has competed in Japan and has had a successfulcompetitioncareerinkumite. His class was focused fundamentals, andhowtobeawareofwhereyourhips and head are when moving so that the bodymovesuniformlybothforwardand backward. With these fundamentals, he thentaughtseveralkumitedrillsfocused on covering distance on an opponent and making sure to understand where thebodyneedstobetodelivereffective power. Lastly, he gave students the opportunitytopracticetheircurrentkata andgavefeedbackbasedonthedetails fromthekihonportionofhisclass.

On Sunday April 9, 2023, Lorraine Sin taught a seminar indoors at MIT focused on kata review. With kyu exams coming up for the college and alumstudentsaswellas Danpromotionsoverthe summer, Lorraine did a kata review to help students. Each student focused on their current kata and went through many rounds in the trainingsession.Lorraine gave feedback to each student, and then let students incorporate that feedback before looking at their kata again to give the next stageoffeedback.There were Heian kata, Tekki kata, Sentei kata, and other advanced black belt kata all practiced together in the Karate trainingatMIT.

MITIndoorKyuandDanExam PreparationSeminar

04/23/2023

On Sunday April 23, 2023, we had another Karate seminar indoors at MIT to prepare students forkyuexamscomingupinlateAprilandearlyMay,aswellastopreparestudentswhowillbe taking their dan exams in the coming months. Vazrik Sensei reviewed the JKA promotion sequence at the 8th kyu, 6th kyu, 1st kyu, Shodan, and Nidan levels to help the students in attendance prepare for their respective exams. He also led kumite drills focused on developingmoreconfidenceinfreesparringbyincorporatingpadworkwithgyakuzuki,kizami zuki,andoizuki.Studentslearnedhowtoconnectthedriveoftheirbacklegtogeneratepower andgotfeedbacktrainingwithapad.

Inaddition,weranthroughakatareviewforeachstudent,goingthroughHeianShodan,Heian Nidan, Tekki Shodan, Empi, Jion, Kanku Sho, and Gojushiho Sho. We are excited to have the students take their kyu exams soon, and to see the new group of 1st kyu students achieve blackbeltoverthesummer!

KyuExamPreparation SeminaratMIT

05/14/2023

On Sunday May 14, 2023, Vazrik Sensei led a seminar in the MIT T-Club Lounge focused on preparing students for the upcoming kyu belt exams for alum students. While many of the college students already had their kyu exams at their respective universities, the time had come for the alum students to test for their new spring 2023 rank. Vazrik Sensei reviewed the kihon requirements at the beginner, intermediate, brown belt, and then also Shodan and Nidan levels for students present who are soon to test for black belt over the summer. From there, everyone reviewed gohon kumite (5-step sparring), kihon ippon kumite (1-step sparring), and jiyu ippon kumite (semi-free sparring) to make sure they knew all of the fundamental attacks, blocks, and how to incorporate tai sabaki (body shifting) at the advancedlevels.

Finally, Vazrik Sensei gave individualized feedback to students for each of their promotion kata. There were students who performed Heian Shodan, Heian Yondan, Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan, Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Sochin. With each kata, Vazrik Sensei gave the top 2 or 3 bottlenecks that students needed to focus on in order to make the biggest improvement in theirrespectivekata.WeareexcitedforeveryonetopromotethisupcomingSunday!

OxfordKarateTripSpring2023

VazrikSenseiandSpirosSenseiGave3KarateSeminars

For the first time since October 2019, we visited Oxford, England to strengthen our relations with the Karate club there. In February, a few months ago, we had connected with the Oxford Karate clubpresidentatthetime,Lorenzo,andorganized ajointzoomtraining.SpirosSensei(5thDanJKA) taught on behalf of the Oxford Karateka, while VazrikSenseitaughtonbehalfoftheBostonarea Karateka. After the zoom event, we promised to visit in person, so the dream had been formed, a plan was made, and then we took action! From May3toMay8,wevisitedOxfordandtookpartin 3 Karate seminars. On Friday May 5, 2023, Spiros led class, focusing on body weight connection in punchesandkicksforkihon.Forkata,hereviewed Bassai Dai for the advanced students, he reviewedHeianSandanasthiswasthenextkata for kyu exams for several of the intermediate students,andhealsotaughtGojushihoDaiasan advancedkata.

OnSaturdayMay6,2023,VazrikSenseiwasgiven the unique privilege to teach a seminar to the Oxford Karate club. The attendees this evening included undergraduates, graduate students, andalumnioftheOxfordKarateclub.Buildingon the points that Spiros Sensei covered the day before, Vazrik taught some of his favorite drills that focus on emphasizing proper hand-foot timing so that body weight power can be delivered in the punch. He went through how to generatepowerwithgyakuzukibyusingfirstonly the shoulder joint’s expansion, then the back hip rotation as well as shoulder joint expansion, and then finally the back knee’s compressionexpansion to drive the hip rotation and shoulder joint expansion. For kata, Vazrik taught Wankan (King’s Crown). This was a unique day as it was King Charles’ Coronation day, so the kata was uniquely fitting. Students from beginner to advanced levels (including JKA England squad members) learned Wankan together. From there, Vazrik also taught his favorite Sentei kata: Empi (flying swallow), to emphasize some of the drills fromkihon.

On Sunday May 7, 2023, the Oxford Karate club had one more seminar before the Boston visiting Karateka left. Johanna, the current Oxford Karate club president, had a special request of Jion. On this final seminar day, Vazrik Sensei reviewed Wankan and Empi from the day before to make sure that the kata choreography had been solidified in students’ memories, and then taught Jion to the club. It was an exciting weekend filled with a combined total of 6 different katapracticed:HeianSandan, Bassai Dai, Empi, Jion, Wankan,andGojushihoDai.

We were very happy to see yet again that Karate and altruism creates bridges across age generations, cultures, and life experiences. In the reception party after the Karate seminars, many of the students showed interest in doing graduate school in theUS.

We are looking forward to seeing our Oxford Karate friendsinBostonsoon!

bui l d ing

bridges

Our Karate community builds bridges with Karate instructors and organizations around the world. This gives our students the opportunity to learn different approaches to Karate and create bonds with Karateka across the globe. We connect with highlevel instructors who view Karate not just as a physical activity, but also as a way of developing humble character, confidence, leadership skills in Karate ‘diplomats’ who make the world a better place in their local, regional, and global communities. Throughout the magazine, we feature a few of the instructors who represent this approach to Karate and with whom we have developed a bond.

Sensei Takayuki Mikami, a native of Japan, is a graduate from the first class of the Instructor Training Program of the Japan Karate Association (JKA),thelargestandmost influential karate organization in the world He became the first certified instructor sent overseas by the JKA when he moved to New Orleans in 1965 to promote Shotokan karate training in theUnitedStates.

Sensei Mikami was a formidable competitor, winningtheAll-JapanChampionshipsmultiple times in both kumite (free sparring) kata (forms) After this success, he focused his efforts on instruction and training his students tobethebest

SenseiMikamidevelopedkaratetraininginthe Southern region by creating the All South Karate Association in 1965 and hosting the annual All South Tournament in New Orleans, now the longest running traditional karate tournament in the United States. In 2008, he formed the Japan Karate Association/American Federation (JKA/AF) to better serve his members and to connect directlywiththeJKAWorldFederationinJapan.

He was promoted to 9th degree black belt in 2011 and is the highest ranked JKA master in the United States. He serves as the Senior Technical Advisor to the JKA Headquarters in Tokyo, the second highest technical position aftertheJKAWorldFederationChiefInstructor.

DuringtheMayOxfordKaratetrip,wehadthe pleasure of having our dear friend, Hiro Komine(InternationalRelations,JUKF),joinus. Heflew15hoursfromTokyotoLondontobea part of this unique trip. Actually, Komine san was part of the original October 2019 trip where we first connected in person with the Oxford Karate club. Years have passed, yet the goal has remained the same: to offer opportunities to the young generation through the power of Karate diplomacy. Komine san’s goal was to invite the Oxford KaratekatoonedayjoinVazrikandCassiano on their yearly trip to Japan. Vazrik and Cassiano explained to the Oxford Karate club what the Japan University Karatedo Federation (JUKF) is, and how it is comprised of various karate styles (i.e. Shotokan ryu, Shito ryu, Goju Ryu, Wado Ryu, etc.) and is a networkofover200universitiesinJapanthat have Karate clubs. We showed the Oxford Karate students the photo albums from the JapanesevisittoBostoninSeptember,aswell as the Boston Karateka visit to Japan in November to showcase some of the bonds and opportunities built through our interactions.

building

One of our Karate students, a graduate student doing a Masters degree in EducationatHarvard,hadbeensimultaneouslytrainingKaratewiththeHarvard Karate Club but also studying it as part of her coursework In the fall semester, she wrote down her perspective of the Karate teaching methodology she was exposedtothatVazrikSenseiutilizes BelowisanarticlethatAllisonwroteabout the class that was reduced in length for this magazine , which we felt did a wonderful job describing how the Karate teaching is not all that different from learningsomethinginauniversityclassroom

Peaceful Mind

byAllisonPrisloe

MastersofEducationinLearningDesign,Innovation,and TechnologyfromHarvardUniversity

AnEthnographyonLearningOutsideoftheClassroom

“Ichi, ni, san, shi...,” Vazrik Sensei counted in Japanese as we practiced our first kata for the twelfth time in a row. The 21-step sequence of movements is a fundamental foundation in karatethatmustbeperfectedbeforelearninganythingelse.

Ifoundmyselfdrowninginaseaofcoloredbelts,havinghadnomartialartsexperienceuntil two weeks prior. Upon noticing my struggle, Vazrik immediately began translating his commands into English instructions in real-time to help me keep up. “If you make a mistake, it’s because that mistake was programmed into you,” he explained. “You need to de-bug it fromyourcode.”

The one-minute water break that followed was hardly enough time to jot down what had happenedintothefieldnotesonmyphone,butIdidn’thaveto.Hiswordsstuckwithme.Ihad chosen to conduct research on the karate club in order to understand how students learn outside of formal academic settings. Why was he speaking to us like we were in a computer scienceclass?

Upon further investigation, I discovered this was just one instance of a larger trend. “Shotokan karate is oneofthemostbeautifulthingsIhaveeverstudied,” Vazrik once shared with MIT’s newspaper, The Tech. Studied? “The art form is almost mathematical in its precision and methods for developing power, speed, timing, and rhythm.” Months of apprenticeshipbased fieldwork offered me a privileged stance to experiencethispursuitofprecisionfirsthand.Multiple practices per week – in which we learned that the ground is our “reservoir for momentum” and that “one degree” of an angle makes a significant differenceinourform–madethisoverarchingtrend crystalclear

In a lot of ways, the learning process that proved to beeffectiveformeandotherstudents,rangingfrom undergraduate to postdoctoral, is similar to what you’dexpectinaclassroom

First, practice routinely starts with a series of warm up exercises and stretches meant to build muscle memory and prepare us for techniques we would learn that day – A classic example of scaffolding Movements that feel arbitrary and unnatural when introduced, such as standing shoulder width apart and twisting back and forth as fast as possible, alwaysfacilitateourlearningofsomethinggreater,in this case the proper motion for blocks Another student reassured me of this process early on, sharingfromexperiencethat“eventuallyitwillclick”.

Second,personalizedfeedbacksteersthedirectionof our learning. Vazrik typically walks back and forth during each exercise to direct real-time feedback towards us as we follow his commands. I wasn’t the onlynewmembertostandinthebackinanattempt toconcealmylackofconfidence,untilrealizingthere wasnowaytogounnoticed.VazrikSenseitracksour every move during practice with far more attention to detail than my own observations of him, as if he weretheethnographer.

Third, summative assessments hold students accountablefortheirlearningandaremandatoryto level up. Students are evaluated individually and grades are announced publicly in the form of belt colors and formal write-ups. Many students, myself included, arrived to practices earlier, attended more frequently, and sought out additional support in the monthleadinguptothebeltpromotionsexam.

Evidently,therearesimilaritiesbetweenmyethnographicfindingsandtraditionalclassroom learning. What’s more interesting, however, is what has made karate training different. This differencealoneisaprerequisiteforthestrategiesmentionedabovetowork.Withoutit,my interviewees would not have stuck with karate from as young as ten years old, and I would not have returned after a challenging first practice let alone continue my training beyond thescopeofthisstudy.

Toputitsimply,it’sthestateofmindkaraterequires,whichinturninfluenceshowitmakes youfeel.Karateachievesthisuniquemindsetintwoways:mentalfocusandspirit. Mokuso, the Japanese term for meditation, is performed systematically at the beginning and end of every practice in order to “silence and clear one’s thoughts”. One hundred percentfocusonthepresentmomentisrequiredtoachievethelevelofprecisiondiscussed earlier.

AsVazrikputsit,“Karate,forme,isthemostintrospectiveart Youhavetoperfectyourwhole beingforonemotion”Itsetsthetonenotonlyfortherestofpractice,butfortherestofyour day Ileavekaratefeelingnoticeablybettermentallyoneventheworstofdays Asastudent informedmeonce,“Karateisallaboutbeingabletofindcalminthestorm” Anotherstudent shared during an interview that it helps her forget about any stress in her life, which is why shemakestimeforitdespiteherIvyLeaguecourseload

Forgettingabouttheoutsideworldhelpsyourefineyourtechnique,butwelearnedthatitis not enough if you don’t have spirit This can be thought of as your purpose or attitude We were taught to demonstrate it through our energy, confidence, and kiai shout when performing an attack move It was emphasized as the most important theme during training, and was the first thing commented on in our formal exam results (Appendix I) I have seen how spirit makes it possible to overcome learning challenges and perform your bestnomatterthecircumstances

The name of the kata that earned me my promotion from white to yellow belt, Heian Shodan, translates to “peaceful mind”. It illustrates the differentiating factor uncovered in myfieldwork,becauseitcannotbemasteredwithoutbothmindandspirit.

ANALUIZACASALLIDONATING SAILINGHELMETSFORTHEHIGH SCHOOLSAILINGPROGRAMINBOSTON

It was Ana’s first week in the sailing program and when she was getting ready in the locker room, she heard the coach outside the room tell the high school students that they need sailing helmets that were officially approved by US Sailing to be able to join the state tournament.Asapublicschool,theydidn’thaveenoughmoneytobuythesehelmets,soAna askedCassianohowmuchtheseofficialhelmetscostandCassianogaveherawebsiteand shedecidedtobuyanddonate14helmetsfortheBostonPublicSchoolsotheycancompete intheregattasduringthespringseason.

MIT5KatasChoreography

OnMay25,2023,wehadakataseminaratMIT Vazrik'sgoalforthestudentswastoteachthe next kata now that students had finalized their kyu belt exams for the Spring 2023 semester After going through warm-up and kihon, we went through 5 different kata We first taught Heian Nidan's choreography to the beginners, introducing the concepts of gyaku-hanmi hip positionandkeageinthekata.Then,weworkedonTekkiShodan,teachingthechoreography for the beginner and intermediate students while reviewing hip rotation and hip vibration conceptsfortheadvancedstudents.

Then we went through Empi, Jion, and Kanku Dai altogether. Students who have reached brownbelteachhavedifferentpreferencesforwhichoftheSenteikatatheywishtopromote toblackbeltwithinthenearfuture.Vazrikwentthroughandtaughtthesekatainsectionsto facilitateteachingthechoreography,andthenofferedadviceonthetechnicalaspectsofthe kata Many of the students were excited to learn and see so many different katas in one

MITKataTechnicalDetailsSeminar

5/28/2023

On May 28, 2023, we had a second round of a kata seminar indoors at MIT. Vazrik Sensei first taught some kihon that focused on hip rotation and hip vibration mechanics to prepare students for the hip mechanics required for higher level kata. We worked on the uchi uke + gyaku zuki + tsuki combination which emphasizesgyakukaiten,junkaiten,andshindo kaiten.

Afterkihon,VazrikSenseiwentthroughroundsof teachingkata.WecoveredHeianShodan,Heian Nidan, Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan, and Jion. With each kata, Vazrik went through the choreography in chapters to facilitate memorizing the movements. Then, we went throughsomeoftheuniquetechnicalaspectsof the kata so students could understand how the hipmechanicsareutilized.

AMANDINEFROMONTOFFERING FREEZOOMCLASSESWEEKLY

Throughout the semester, we have Karate practices at many of the Boston area universities; but we also offer Zoom Karate lessons twice a week. Indeed, many of our Karate students move away from Boston after graduating from university. We have students throughout the U.S. and around the world who still wish to train Karate with us. Offering Zoom practices allows students to not only continue practicing Shotokan Karate with us but also get feedback to polish their technique. We commend Amandine Fromont (Nidan JKA, Nidan JUKF) for teaching Zoom practice twice a week throughout the fall and spring semesters, all while attending law school.Amandineteaches for free, offering students the same opportunities that she benefitted from as a kyu student working to reach black belt. This is a wonderful example of altruism that helps keep our Karate community connected even when students are all over the world!

THROUGHTIME THROUGHMONEY THROUGHSKILLS

SOPHIA IGARASHI

ShotawastheleaderofourtourguidesduringourvisittoOsaka.BeforegraduatinginMarch2023from OIT with a Bachelor's in Intellectual Properties he decided to visit Cornell University from March 2 to March7,2023.Duringhisvisit,wetookhimtomanylocalrestaurantsthoughweskippedthe7-Eleven since it is nothing like Japanese ones. Friday we toured campus including our Libraries, the McGraw Clocktower for a concert and brain collection before spending the evening in Syracuse, New York Saturday, Evan Davis ’21, hosted us for brunch before we went to Karate Club practice During our weekly session, we enjoyed exchanging ideas with Shota (JUKF Shodan) That evening we hosted an eveningattheHelenNewmanBowlingCenterinhonorofourguest.Sunday,startedwithanAmericansized brunch. Then we had a rock climbing lesson at the Linseth Climbing Center before finishing the day with a tour of the many gorges in the area. Monday, our final day, was spent souvenir shopping andclosedoutbyvisitingourKaratePhysicalEducationprogram.Shotaisnowworkingforacompany inTokyoandwecan’twaituntilwemeetagain.Inthemeantime,wepreparetomeetupwithhissister, Amiru,whenJUKFmembersvisitBostonthiscomingfall.

On Sunday, April 30, 2023, we had a fun tournament among all of our university and alum Karate students. Our goal was to give many of our beginner students a fun 1st tournament experience, and our advanced students an opportunity to compete at a high level amongst each other. We had a very efficient tournament featuring both individual kata, team kata, and kumite events in our 2 hour time slot. The tournament featured both individual kata, individual speed kumite, as well as a team Heian Kata event.Checkouttheresultsbelow!

AnaLuizaCasalli

CarolinaCuesta 1 2

I N T E R M E D I A T E K A T A

MayaPensa

EmileGiovannieZounon

AnaLuizaCasalli

1. 2. 3. A D V A N C E D K A T A

RicardoHarripaul

Sophia(Soap)Peña

EmileGiovannieZounon

B L A C K B E L T K A T A

GarenChiloyan

QiuYuHongLu

RicardoHarripaul

T E A M K A T A

BU(AnilJoshi,SofijaObradovic,MayaPensa,NaomiGrusby,HiroFujii)

Alum(MarianaAndrade,Sophia(Soap)Peña,OlgaLattarulo,BruceHou,QiuYuHongLu)

Harvard(CarolinaCuesta,JaneJosefowicz,AllisonPrisloe,EmileGiovannieZounon,

EshaanVakil+AnaLuizaCasalli+RicardoHarripaul)

S P E E D K U M I T E

EmileGiovannieZounon

MarianaAndrade

Mariana Andrade 8th kyu M I T

Uta Uchida 7th kyu

Arata Uchida 7th kyu

Eriko Uchida 4th kyu

H A R V A R D

Alexandros Pamnani 8th kyu

Nithin Kavi 8th kyu

Jakub Czuchnowski 8th kyu

Carolina Cuesta 7th kyu

Allison Prisloe 6th kyu

Jane Josefowicz 6th kyu

Mathilde (Tilly) Robinson 6th kyu

Emile Giovannie Zounon 5th kyu

Eshaan Vakil 5th kyu

Roberto Colarieti 5th kyu

Alma Conway 4th kyu

Munawwar Abdulla 4th kyu

Merle Kartscher 3rd kyu

Ewa Sitarska 3rd kyu

Maxim Jeffs 2nd kyu

Jialin (Charlie) Wu 7th kyu

Anil Joshi 5th kyu

Naomi Grusby 4th kyu

Maya Pensa 4th kyu

Riley Leighton 4th kyu

Sophia Igarashi 1st kyu

Vivian Atsumi Stewart 8b kyu

Destiny Villarreal 7th kyu

Emily Sher 7th kyu

Abby Brennan-Jones

Sara Brown

6th kyu

6th kyu

Ashley Yuan 2nd kyu

Brooke Phua 2nd kyu

Alina Zheng 1st kyu

Ana Luiza Casalli 5th kyu

Bruce Hou 2nd kyu

Iyit Benusia 1st kyu

W E L L E S L E Y

A L U M N I

Vivian Atsumi Stewart 8b kyu

Destiny Villarreal 8th kyu

Emily Sher 8th kyu

Mariana Andrade 8th kyu

Jialin (Charlie) Wu 8th kyu

Abby Brennan-Jones 7th kyu

Sara Brown 7th kyu

Ana Luiza Casalli 6th kyu

Anil Joshi 6th kyu

Naomi Grusby 5th kyu

Riley Leighton 5th kyu

Maya Pensa 5th kyu

Eriko Uchida 5th kyu

Ashley Yuan 3rd kyu

Brooke Phua 3rd kyu

Bruce Hou 3rd kyu

Iyit Benusia 2nd kyu

Alina Zheng 1st kyu

Sophia Igarashi 1st kyu

Olga Lattarulo 1st kyu

Ricardo Harripaul 1st kyu

STUDENTACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Weareexcitedtosharethewonderfulacademic achievementsandnewsofourhard-workingkarateka.

AlinaZheng

Wellesley College

BachelorofArtsinComputer ScienceandEconomics

AthenaZheng

EmileGiovannieZounon

Harvard University

MastersofEducationin LearningDesign,Innovation, andTechnology

SophiaIgarashi

AllisonPrisloe

MIT

FellowshipinLeadership andInnovation

Boston University

BachelorofArtsinClassical Civilization-theMeyer ReinholdPrizeforHonorsinClassical History,Reception,andService

Harvard University

MastersofEducationin LearningDesign,Innovation, andTechnology

MarianaLage