Karate College Clubs Spring Magazine 2024 by CollegeKarate

SPRING2024

KARATEFOR KARATEFOR EVERYONE, EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE

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

Editorial

Intention and Action Intention and Action

In this semester’s editorial, we wanted to share some thoughts about intention vs action. Many people in life will have good intentions, but it doesn’t always translate to concrete, good actions. Different situations in life may result in an emotional response, whether it is happy or sad, and those emotions translate intothoughtsofthingsthatshouldbedone,butmanypeoplestopatthatstage anddon’treachthestageofaction.Youmayhavealovedonethatyoucarefor deeply, and you think about them a lot and how you can help them in life, but often that doesn’t translate into all of the actions you wish to do to make that person’s life better. On the other hand, you may cause harm in a person’s life evenifthatwasn’tyourintention,andmanypeoplefeelthattheintentiontonot harmcancompletelyfixthesituation,buttheyignoretheobjectiveoutcomesof theactions.Thisisnottosaythatintentionsarenotimportant,ortoplacevalue on actions vs intentions, but rather to call attention to the importance of actions. In the Karate community, many people talk about the desire to have Karate be passed on for many generations to come, so their intention is clear. However, the actions following that may not be a clear strategy to achieve the desired outcomes of these intentions. As we have written about in previous magazines on the theme of dream, plan, action, where a dream you have shouldbecomeaplanthatyougeneratetoachieveit,whichthenmustresultin actions taken to follow through with that plan. Similarly, intentions you have in life should result in actions that achieve outcomes that align with those intentions.

1stKaratePracticeof2024

01/07/2024

On January 7, we started off the New Year with our first Karate practice! Given the rainy weather,ourfirstofficialpracticeof2024wasoverZoom.VazrikSenseitaughtareviewofthe JKA Shodan ido kihon syllabus in order to get students acclimated to the punch, block, and kicking techniques needed for the test. We also reviewed semi-free sparring (jiyu ippon kumite) with partners to practice demonstrating proper distancing (maai), compressionexpansion (tai no shinshuku), and offense/defense timing. Indeed, these are some of the criteria used to test students for their black belt. In addition to semi-free sparring, we practicedaseriesoffreesparringdrillsforkizamizuki,aimingtogofromthebasicpunchlevel tothemostadvanceduseofthispunchinjiyukumite.

Last but not least, Vazrik Sensei reviewed the 4 Sentei kata: Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Enpi, and Jion. Each student testing for their JKA Shodan must pick one of these kata, and for students aiming to test in June 2024, this class was an opportunity to review these fundamental kata andstarttodecidewithwhichonetheywouldliketotest.

JanuarySeminars

1/14-ShodanandNidansyllabus

1/21-Mawashigeriforfreesparring

1/28-ReviewofHeiankataandkumitereflexdrills

Throughout the month of January, we hosted 3 indoor seminars at MIT to help advancedstudentspreparefortheirupcomingJune2024blackbeltexam,while keepingourbeginnerandintermediatestudentstraininghardbeforethestartof thespringsemester.EachSunday,wereviewedboththeShodanandNidanJKA ido kihon requirements to continue to help students acclimate to the required stances, hip mechanics details, and stamina. In particular, on January 14, we closely studied the Nidan test’s requirements and its differences from the Shodantest,helpingtheadvancedstudentsprepareforit.OnJanuary21,Vazrik Sensei emphasized practicing roundhouse kick (mawashi geri) both with the backlegandthefrontleginordertoutilizethistechniqueinfreesparring,given that the Nidan test requires free sparring for the kumite portion of the exam. On January28,thefinalJanuarypracticebeforethestartofthespringsemester,we reviewed the 5 Heian kata so that beginner and intermediate students could start the semester off strong. We also practiced appropriate reflexes for free sparring, in particular for movements used as counters against offense techniques.

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.

FreeZoomLessonsOffered ThroughouttheSemester

ByAmandineFromontfromWashingtonDC

Likeprevious semesters,our Karategroup continuestooffer freeZoomKarate lessonsforour alumstudents aroundtheworld everyTuesday evening.Amandine Fromont(Nidan JKA)taught studentsintheU.S. andallaroundthe world,crossing timezonesand accommodating fordifferent schedules.Ourgoal istoofferclasses forstudentswhodo notliveneara Karatedojoto ensurethatthey cancontinueto trainKarate consistently.This spring,thematerial taughtfocusedon preparingour advancedstudents fortheirblackbelt exam.Studentsgot topolishtheir promotionkata’s choreographyand rhythm,whilealso refiningthe crispnessoftheir promotionkihon.

KARATEUNIFORMDONATIONS INBENIN,AFRICA

InJuly2023,weorganizedabirthdayfundraisertocelebrateVazrikSensei’sbirthday.Allofour KaratestudentsdonatedtohelppurchaseAdidasKarateuniformsforstudentsinneedaround the world. Over the winter break, our student Emile then went to his mother’s city of birth in Benin,Africa,andjoinedaKaratepracticewithalocaldojo.Hehadpacked20ofthedonated uniforms and gifted these uniforms to the young students there. The students were both excitedandgrateful:noonehadeverprovidedsuchagiftbefore!Emilesharedourmissionof KaratealtruismwiththemandbuiltauniqueconnectioninBenin.TheKarateschoolhassince invitedourgrouptovisitBeninnextyearinordertomeettheyoungstudentsandshareKarate seminarsandtrainingstogether.

RENATATEACHESKARATEFORBRAZILIAN ELEMENTARYSCHOOLSTUDENTS

Renata has been volunteering with Sensei Lumaga at the local school every Wednesday to teach elementary school students Karate. She was interested in giving back to the Karate community that she has learned so much from, and decided to do it by helping teach the kids’classeseveryWednesdaysothatthekidscouldenjoythementalandphysicalbenefits thatcomefromtrainingKarate.

TabataSenseiLegacy

On February 4, Vazrik Sensei taught a seminar focused on ura mawashi geri, or hook kick. While this kick is advanced, evenourwhiteandyellowbelts successfully tried it out as VazrikSenseibrokeitdowninto an approachable, step-bystep process. We then practicedkumitebypartnering upandtrainingkizamizuki,first as an offensive movement, then as a defensive counter. Finally, we learned the kata Sochin, an advanced kata which requires the special stance called Fudo dachi. All levels of students had fun learning this new stance and this powerful kata! At the end of practice, the students who were promoted last fall also receivedtheirnewbeltranks.

TheSochinkatawasdedicated to Tabata Sensei’s memory as this kata is predominantly in Fudo Dachi, which was Tabata Sensei’sfavoritestancesinceit translated towards free sparringcapabilitiessowell.

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 high-level 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.

LiveFeedbackandGuestVisitor fromNewOrleansJudeCambise

5/19/2024

It was an epic Sunday at Harvard MIT Hub on May 19th, 2024, with our second shodan and nidan stimulation! Everyone geared up to show off their hard work from the past two weeks, inspiredbythefeedbackfromourlastbeltpromotionstimulation.SenseiVazrikbroughtitupa notch by giving out some live feedback action. But wait, there's more! Sensei made sure everyone got a recording of their feedback, which was a total game-changer. We're unstoppableonthepathtomastery!

The morning got an extra kick of excitement with our special guest, Sensei Jude Cambise, all the way from our headquarters in New Orleans. His presence definitely turned up the heat in the room. Sensei joined us for the warm-up and the stimulation, watching as each student poweredthroughtheirkihon,kata,andkumitesequences.Now,Sensei,what'stheverdict?Did wemakethegrade?

BuildingBridges:JohannaHoffmann,

04/28/2024

We want to congratulate our dear friend Johanna Hoffmann for achieving a Shodan in the JKA!JohannaisnotonlystudyingtocompleteherPhDatUniversityofOxford,butisalsoavery passionate Karateka who has trained and practice Karate with many legendary Karateka around the world. She completed her undergraduate from Cambridge University before moving to University of Oxford to work on her PhD, studying to enhance our understanding of intracellularcalciumdynamicsinhumanParkinson’spatientstemcellneurons.

Johanna was part of the visiting delegation from Oxford along with Lorenzo Tranchedone in September 2023 when the JUKF sent their first official student delegation to Boston to exchange with US Karate students in not only Karate, but also in experiencing life and universitystudyintheUS.JohannahasbeenthepresidentoftheOxfordKarateClub,helping to organize our visit to Oxford in May 2023. She received her official black belt from JKA England under the famous Yoshinobu Ohta Sensei (7th Dan JKA Chief Instructor of JKA England,graduatefromTakushokuUniversity).

Johanna took her test in Crawley at the JKA England Spring Course with Okuma Sensei, SawadaSensei,andHiroseSenseionthe28thofAprilaftertrainingShotokanKaratediligently forjustunder7years.WecongratulateJohannaforherwonderfulachievement! WealsolookforwardtoevengreaterfeatsthatJohannawillreach, andwehopethejourneyafterShodanbecomesevenmoreexciting!

KarateDiplomacy:Cassiano VisitsUEMSBrazilianUniversity

02/22/2024

CassianovisitedUniversidadedoEstadodeMatoGrossodoSul(UEMS) to have a practice with Sensei João Fabio (5th Dan JKA). Fabio Sensei wasverywelcomingandheisexcitedtoteachtheuniversitystudents Shotokan Karate. His dojo is very inclusive, as he also has a space there for not only the university students to train, but also for youth in the community in the area. He also offers Karate for kids with disabilitiesaswellaskidswithspecialneeds.#KarateIsForEveryone

USATeamTryouts

03/09/2024

OnMarch9,agroupofourstudentswasinvitedtoattendtheUSATeamTryouts. Of all the traditional karate practitioners of the USA, 4 members of each branch of the JKA system were selected as team hopefuls for each division. Our karateka trying out within the 19+ Female Kata included: Lorraine Sin (Boston University,LesleyUniversity),AmandineFromont(WellesleyCollege,Georgetown University)andJuliaVan(BostonUniversity).Eachofourathleteshadachance to perform in two rounds, one being a randomized Sentei kata and the second presenting a Tokui kata. As for our 19+ Female Kumite hopefuls, Julia Van and Sofija Obradovic put up a strong fight for each of their sparring matches. Everyoneputtheirbestfootforwardtorepresentourorganization!Lorrainehada wonderful Enpi and Gojushiho Sho performance and scored one of the highest within the adult 19+ female category. She was therefore chosen as one of the alternates to the USA team. Hirotaka Fujii (Boston University) and Sasiru Pathiranage (Boston University) will also be representing Team USA within the youth19-21agegroup.Wearesoexcitedforthisuniqueopportunitytorepresent TeamUSA,alifelongdreamthatsomanyKaratepractitionershold!

SKDISpringChampionship

On April 6, we traveled to Colchester, CT, for the JKA SKDI Spring Championship. Seven students from 8th kyu all the way through Shodan level competed in the kata and kumite divisions.Ourstudentsatthebeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlevelsallperformedvery well, performing at the best of their form in a tough competition with six different dojos from the New England area represented. While some of our students were competing for the first time,theybroughtsuchenergyandenthusiasmthatweareexcitedforfuturetournamentsto come!

*BEGINNERS 7/8 KYU*

4thplace-JoDonovan(HarvardUniversity)

3rd Place-KumiteCarolCuesta(HarvardUniversity)

2ndPlace -IBBassaiDai(LesleyUniversity)

2ndPlace -EmileGiovanniTekkiShodan(HarvardUniversity)

3rdPlace-BruceHouJion(BostonUniversity)

1st Place-EmileGiovanni(HarvardUniversity)

2ndPlace-KATABassaiDai (Emile-HarvardUniversity,IB-LesleyUniversity,Bruce-BostonUniversity)

3rdPlace-GarenChiloyanBassaiDai(UConn)

3rdPlace-GarenChiloyan(UConn)

2nd place-NikitaPatil(UniversityofTexasatAustin)

IntercollegiateSpring KataTournamentatMIT

04/14/2024

On Sunday, April 14, we hosted an in-house tournament to celebrate the end of the semester togetherwithbeginner,intermediate,andadvanceddivisions Studentsfromthevariousuniversities weteachaswellasouralumniwereexcitedtodemonstratethegrowthintheirKaratekihon,kata, andkumiteoverthepastfewmonths!ThebeginnerstudentsshowcasedHeianShodan,Nidan,and Sandan. Meanwhile, the intermediate students showcased Heian Yondan, Heian Godan, and Tekki Shodan.Finally,theadvancedstudentsshowcasedBassaiDai,KankuDai,Enpi,andJion.Weutilized theflageliminationsystemusedinJapanduringuniversityKaratetournamentstogivestudentsthe opportunity to compete side by side. This tournament was also an opportunity for students to practice their chosen kata for their upcoming kyu and Dan exam promotions. We were impressed with the power, speed, and focus the students demonstrated. At the end, we had a special Heian Shodan division where all students of all ranks competed with only Heian Shodan against each other Congrats to everyone who competed and got a chance to refine their kata! Below are the podium positions for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels as well as the special Heian Shodandivision

BEGINNER DIVISION

AndyCheng(BU)HeianSandan

RosabelliCoelho(MIT)HeianShodan

JuliaTomasi(MIT)HeianShodan

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION

RileyLeighton(BU)TekkiShodan

NaomiGrusby(BU)TekkiShodan

SaraSugita(BU)TekkiShodan

ADVANCED

HiroFujii(BU)Enpi

DIVISION

JuliaVan(BUAlum)Jion

SofijaObradovic(BU)Jion

HEIAN SHODAN SPECIAL DIVISION

SofijaObradovic(BU)

SaraSugita(BU)

HiroFujii(BU)

NewYork

IntercollegiateSpring KumiteTournamentatMIT

04/21/2024

On Sunday, April 21, we hosted an in-house kumite tournament to celebrate the end of the semester togetherwithbeginner,intermediate,andadvanceddivisions.Studentsfromthevariousuniversitieswe teach as well as our alumni were excited to demonstrate the growth in their Karate kumite over the past few months! While the previous week was only focused on kata, this time we focused on basic kumite tested in kyu exams. The beginner students showcased Kihon Ippon kumite with jodan oi zuki andchudanoizuki.Meanwhile,theintermediatestudentsshowcasedjodanoizuki,chudanoizuki,mae geri, and yoko geri kekomi Finally, the advanced students showcased Jiyu Ippon kumite This tournament was also an opportunity for students to practice their kumite for their upcoming kyu and Dan exam promotions We were impressed with the power, speed, and focus the students demonstrated.Attheend,wehadaspecialKihonIpponkumitedivisionwhereallstudentsofallranks competed with only jodan oi zuki and chudan oi zuki against each other. Congrats to everyone who competed and got a chance to refine their kumite! Below are the podium positions for the beginner, intermediate,andadvancedlevelsaswellasthespecialdivision.

BEGINNER DIVISION

AndyCheng(BU)

MichaelaNuñez(BU)

JuliaTomasi(MIT)

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION

NaomiGrusby(BU)

RileyLeighton(BU)

SonishaPoornimaNalluru(BU)

ADVANCED DIVISION

SasiruPathiranage(BU)

AngelChan(LesleyAlum)

NikitaPatil(BUandUTAustinAlum)

1-STEP OI ZUKI SPECIAL DIVISION

SasiruPathiranage(BU)

DanielNehrbass(BC)

MayaPensa(BUAlum)

BrazilStateChampionship2024

04/20/2024

IntheBrazilStateChampionshipthisyearwehadapleasantsurprise! Renata kept her state title in the intermediary division, performing the kata Heian Godan and becoming the 2024 state champion by Sensei Moura,FederaçãodeKaratedoMatoGrossodoSulFKMS.Thesurprise of the event was the participation of her mother, Suzana Costa, who has started training with Sensei Lumaga with help from her grandchildren Rafael and Marina. During the competition, Suzanna won the beginner division, performing the Kata Heian Shodan. She celebratedthisvictoryingreatstyleat76yearsold.

HARVARD

MerleKartscher 1stkyu

EmileZounon 1stkyu

RobertoColarieti 3rdkyu

EshaanVakil 3rdkyu

CarolinaCuesta 4thkyu

JoDonovan 6thkyu

OpeyemiOlubajo 7thkyu

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

RileyLeighton 2ndkyu

AnilJoshi 2ndkyu

NaomiGrusby 2ndkyu

KathleenYam 2ndkyu

SonishaPoornimaNalluru 2ndkyu

SaraSugita 2ndkyu

AnnaTrapani 4thkyu

PaulFerrer 5thkyu

SuAndyCheng 5thkyu

MichaelaNuñez 6thkyu

AlexisHutchings 6thkyu

NikitaChaychenko 6thkyu

VikramBhalla 7thkyu

WELLESLEY

AbbyBrennan-Jones 4thkyu

KaavyaSenthil 4bkyu

DylanBunyak 4bkyu

LolaCavers 6thkyu

MarelynGonzalez 6thkyu

SageWidder 6thkyu

LeslieMendez 7bkyu

SophiaClarkson 7thkyu

JennaMeyers 7bkyu

FernandaVega 7thkyu

ALUMNI

MayaPensa 2ndkyu

RosabelliCoelho-Keyssar 6thkyu

JuliaTomasi 7thkyu

DanielNehrbass 7thkyu

SahitChintalapudi 8thkyu

MayaPensa 3rdkyu

RileyLeighton 3rdkyu

AnilJoshi 3rdkyu

NaomiGrusby 3rdkyu

KathleenYam 3rdkyu

SonishaPoornimaNalluru 3rdkyu

SaraSugita 3rdkyu

AnnaTrapani 5thkyu

AbbyBrennan-Jones 5thkyu

KaavyaSenthil 5bkyu

DylanBunyak 5bkyu

PaulFerrer 6thkyu

SuAndyCheng 6thkyu

MichaelaNuñez 7thkyu

AlexisHutchings 7thkyu

NikitaChaychenko 7thkyu

LolaCavers 7thkyu

MarelynGonzalez 7thkyu

SageWidder 7thkyu

RosabelliCoelho-Keyssar 7thkyu

VikramBhalla 8thkyu

JennaMeyers 8thkyu

FernandaVega 8thkyu

JuliaTomasi 8thkyu

DanielNehrbass 8thkyu

SahitChintalapudi 8thkyu

HOMBUDOJO

KARATEINTERNATIONAL

MikeJacobsSensei SeminaratHarvardUniversity

3/24/2024

OnMarch24,wehostedaspecialseminarledbySenseiMikeJacobsatHarvardKarateClub. Students and alumni from BU, Wellesley, Lesley University, and MIT came together for a kumite-focusedtraining.Wefirstranthroughourkihonsequencewithafocusontheoriginof karate,atimeduringwhichkaratekaoftenfoughtmultipleattackersatonetime.Then,weran through drills in groups of five, where we took turns practicing offense and defense. The students of various rankings practiced something new and thoroughly enjoyed the training. ThankyouSenseiMikeJacobsforleadingsuchawonderfulseminar,Ossu!

BlackBeltExam PreparationSeminar

04/07/2024

On April 7th, Vazrik Sensei led a great seminar in the MIT gym Vazrik Sensei focused the practice on preparing our black belts and black belt hopefuls for kihon, kata, and kumite for theupcomingpromotionopportunity Whileadvancedbeltstudentswerethemainfocus,the practice also gave students of all levels a taste of the advanced syllabus, and therefore a frameworktofurtherunderstandthegoalsthattheywillhopefullyreachoneday.Inparticular, partneringupwithouradvancedbeltsforgyakuzukidrillswithinthekumitesectionalsogave students a chance to more closely observe the intricate details of technique that drive the powerandstrengthbehindasinglepunch.Wonderfuleffortfromeveryone,ossu!

ShodanandNidanBlackBelt ExamSimulationAprilFeedback

04/28/2024

OnSundayApril28,2024,wehadaspecialKarateseminaratMITdedicatedtosimulatingthe ShodanandNidanblackbeltexaminations.AswehaveseveralstudentsattendingtheJKA-AF camp this June in New Orleans, we are working hard to prepare the students for the test. Students performed the full kihon, kata, and kumite requirements of their particular exam in ordertoidentifyuniquebottlenecksthattheycanfocusoninordertoimprovetheirtechnique furtherasweapproachtheNewOrleanscamp.Studentstooknotesontheirspecificfeedback toworkonintheupcomingweeks.Itwasexcitingtoseethevarietyofkatathatthestudents werepreparing,namelyBassaiDai,KankuDai,Enpi,Jion,andGankaku!

Some of the feedback included how to chamber the legs for a more powerful mae geri and yoko geri kekomi, the timing of the rotation for mawashi geri, generating power rotating into hanmi for blocks, and rotating into shomen for punches. Feedback for kata included translatingpowerfulkihonintothekataandcapturingthespiritofthekataregardlessoflevel. Eachstudentcameawaywithatleasttwokeypointstopolishinthenexttwoweeks,whichwill helptheirkihonandkatareachthenextlevel(evenbeyondthetest!).

ShodanandNidanBlackBelt ExamSimulationMayFeedback

andAlumniKyuExams

InMay,weheldanotherblackbeltexampreparationseminar.Buildingonthefeedbackgiven tostudentsinAprilfortheirkihon,kata,andkumite,VazrikSenseigavenewtipsonwhattodo topreparethemselvesfortheblackbelttestcominguponJune.Inaddition,aftertrainingthe students preparing for the black belt test, we also conducted kyu exams for the alumni students,namelyJuliaTomasi,RosabelliCoelho-Keyssar,SahitChintalapudi,MayaPensa,and DanielNehrbass.

karate more than

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.

HamazkayinArmenianCultural EventinBoston

Vazrik Sensei is a part of the Hamazkayin Armenian and Educational Society of Boston This organization works to showcase Armenian culture by putting together events featuring Armenian language, music, film, theater, and dance in the community On April 16, Vazrik Sensei helped organize an event in the Watertown Armenian Community, hosting the InternationalChairofHamazkayinwhocameandspokeabouttheimportanceofmaintaining Armenian culture, particularly the Armenian language, and how important it is to dedicate time to the community to help keep the culture alive and thriving In this event, Vazrik Sensei alsoinvitedanewlyformedArmenianchoirintheWatertowncommunity,ledbyMaestroArtur Veranian,tosingArmenianfolkmelodiesfortheaudience Boston

Vazrikintroducingtheevening’sevent

RosaOrganizedBrazilianCultural EventatMITKendallOpenSpace

05/01/2024

RosaorganizedanexcitingmusicalperformanceattheMITOpenSpaceinKendallfortheMIT community.ShehasbeenpracticingBrazilianPercussionwithseveraloftheMITstudentsfrom theMITBrazilprogram,andtogethertheyplayedmusicforthecommunity,aswellasaKarate group’sfavorite:“OPato”.TheclasseshavebeenledbyMarcusSantos,founderofGrooversity (aworldwidedrummingnetwork)andgraduateoftheBerkleeCollegeofMusic.

AmandineJoinedtheVis InternationalArbitration CompetitioninVienna

03/22-28/2024

Duringmy3yearsoflawschool,IwasanactivememberoftheAlternateDisputeResolution (ADR) Competition team. One of the three competition teams under the Georgetown Law Barristers’ Council, ADR is dedicated to training its members in dispute resolution methods beyond courtroom litigation: negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Interested students try out for the team in their first year of law school, and the top 16 competitors of the tryouts make the team. Team members compete every year, facing other teams of law students fromschoolsaroundtheworld.

After making the team in my first year, I competed in the CPR International Mediation CompetitioninSaoPaolo,Brazil,inmysecondyear.Thisyear,Ihadthehonortobeelectedto lead the ADR team. Along with my wonderful co-director, I organized trainings and bootcamps for my teammates, hosted the annual Bellamy Negotiation Competition at Georgetown,andofcourseorganizedtravelsandtrainingforallofourcompetingmembers.

I also had the opportunity to participate in the prestigious Willem C. Vis International CommercialArbitrationMootinVienna,Austria,themostrenownedarbitrationcompetitionin the world. The Moot process spanned six months, and included researching relevant law, writing two briefs, and preparing oral arguments with my team. The process was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. It helped me develop practical legal skills while introducingmetothecomplexdomainofarbitration.

During the competition, our team made it to the Round of 64 (out of over 360 teams) for the first time in Georgetown history, receiving an honorable mention for the Eric E. Bergsten Award. While our team was eliminated in the next round by a split decision against the National Law School of India, our arbitrators recognized it was the best round they had everseenintheir15yearsasarbitrators.

Iwassogratefulfortheincredibleopportunity

to develop ADR skills during law school, and particularly through the Vis competition. Negotiation, mediation, and arbitration teach lifeskillsthatcanapplytoeverydaysituations, from defending a perspective to active listening to reaching a mutually beneficial compromise. The competition process also taught me that good preparation, planning, and teamwork can help face any challenge with confidence. My team’s dedication and support made this experience an incredible learningopportunity!

Nikita’sClimateLeadership TrainingwithAlGore

4/12-14/2024

Outside of Karate, our students are involved in various leadership activities, includingclimateleadership.OntheweekendofApril12-14,Nikitaattendedthe Climate Reality Leadership training with Al Gore in NYC. Panelists included community leaders like Roberto Múkaro Borrero, the Chief of the Guainía Taíno Tribe of Borikén, scientists like Dr. Gavin Schmidt, Director of NASA Goddard InstituteforSpaceStudies,andfinancialexpertslikeAmarBhattacharya,Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. They covered topics ranging from building communitytofightingdisinformation,fromintersectionalityandclimatejustice to a unique dance performance by the Artists Climate Collective. This training provided people from all walks of life with a better idea of how to take climate action,whetherintheirpersonallivesorthroughtheirprofessionalcareers.Asa trained climate reality leader, Nikita is now connecting with other like-minded climate enthusiasts and professionals through the local chapters and continuingherworkinclimateentrepreneurship.