Karate College Clubs Spring Magazine 2022

JULY 31, 2022

KARATE COLLEGE CLUBS

MAGAZINE SPRING 2022

13 NEW BLACK BELT RANKS!

SPRING 2022 MAGAZINE

HIGHLIGHTS

NEWS 5

Tabata Sensei Legacy

9

Scott Sensei & Simon Sensei in Boston

17

JKA AF New Orleans Summer Camp

18

Mikami Sensei Lifetime Achievement Celebration

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5 New JKA Black Belts at New Orleans

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8 New HDKI MA Black Belts

29

Wellesley Culture Show Karate Performance

30

HDKI Kyu Exam Results

32

JKA Kyu Exam Results

35

Lorraine Sin Achieves HDKI Nidan

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Amandine Fromont Achieves JKA Nidan

37

MIT Moonlight Sailing Semester Celebration

39

Vazrik Sensei gets JKA Licensing

41

Jazz, Food, and Karate in Boston area

45

Offering Free Zoom Karate Lessons

46

Outdoor Karate at MIT

47

Teaching Tips for the College Karate Students

48

Student Academic Achievements

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CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN TOGETHER

INFOGRAPHIC

Check out our infographic and learn more about what we have accomplished in Spring 2022 on page 3

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Scott Sensei & Simon Sensei HDKI Inter-Club Seminar Karate Gamification as a Teaching Pedagogy

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Ricardo & Emily Tae Kwon Do Seminar

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Rachel Sensei JKA Seminar

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Cheryl Sensei Kumite Seminar

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Vazrik Sensei Empi Kata Seminar

TOURNAMENTS 43

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SEMINARS

12

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EDITORIAL

Heian Nidan Tournaments Brazil State Cup

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karate Throughout the magazine, we feature several of our Karateka and the activities / passions they have beyond Karate on pages 7, 8, 20, 28, 36, 38, 44

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Throughout the magazine, you will find featured articles on the Karate journey of various instructors that we have met and connected with on pages 21 to 27

DETAILS ABOUT THE HDKI INTERNATIONAL CUP

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CONTACT US

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READ OUR LATEST ISSUES

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SPRING 2022 KARATE NUMBERS TOTAL ATTENDEES (CLASSES + EVENTS)

1,200+

22 5 5 2

STUDENTS PROMOTED

PROMOTIONS AT:

BU, WELLESLEY, MIT, HARVARD, ZOOM

SEMINARS HOSTED RACHEL JKA CHERYL SPARRING SCOTT & SIMON HDKI VAZRIK EMPI TABATA SENSEI LEGACY

TOURNAMENTS BOSTON UNIVERSITY WELLESLEY COLLEGE

120+ TRAININGS

50+

VIA ZOOM

70+

IN PERSON

42 13

NEW KYU RANKS ACHIEVED

NEW BLACK BELT RANKS ACHIEVED

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SPRING 2022 MAGAZINE

EDITORIAL

Spring 2022 was another semester filled with weekly Karate trainings, exciting seminars, tournaments, and promotions. In particular, we note the HDKI black belt promotions held at MIT and the JKA promotions held at New Orleans. It was a dream for us to see our students reach their black belts. Many of these students were ones that started off as white belts training with us, many of them came from different Karate styles or organizations. With each student came the unique opportunity to understand how to help them not only learn and grow in the art of Shotokan Karate, but to also enjoy the journey of getting to black belt, not just the achievement itself. We created a plan for each student, and we helped each student stick to that plan to climb the mountain and reach their black belt. For us, it was not only important to climb this Karate mountain and reach black belt and learn how to teach, but to bring people up the mountain with us and to give back. Too often we see people who reach high levels in various aspects of life, but don’t want to share with others in case others reach their same level. We wanted to create an environment where students can learn and grow even faster than we did when we were their age. By utilizing technology and video recordings of students, we aimed to take their capabilities to the next level. By teaching students how to teach, we gave students the ability to understand Karate at a deeper level, but also equipped them with the ability to teach the next generation. Many of our advanced students have become instructors and now teach the next generation of beginners at each college club and help provide the same exciting learning environment that they were able to enjoy. We are excited for you to read about all of the events and activities of the Spring 2022 Semester in this magazine and to be inspired as the best is yet to come.

-Vazrik & Cassiano NOMADIC

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TABATA SENSEI LEGACY TAUGHT KUMITE TECHNIQUES AND TABATA SENSEI’S FAVORITE: OI ZUKI FROM JIYU KAMAE AT BU, HARVARD, WELLESLEY, AND ON ZOOM

MARCH 2022 This semester, Vazrik Sensei taught kumite seminars in person at Harvard, BU, and Wellesley as well as online via zoom. The kumite seminars focused on some of Tabata Sensei’s favorite techniques, particularly oi zuki (stepping punch) from sparring stance, as well as punch + kick combinations such as mae geri + kizami zuki (front kick + jab). With the relaxation of COVID constraints of 6 foot distancing, students were able to practice kumite distancing as well as targeting against Vazrik Sensei to learn at what distance Karate techniques can be thrown.

Oi zuki (stepping punch) applied for sparring was one of Tabata Sensei’s favorite techniques because it was a very bold technique that required courage and the ability to move straight in and not hesitate. Once you started the technique, you had to commit and throw your body weight forward, and this was very much in the spirit of Tabata Sensei of being decisive and assertive against an opponent.

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HEIAN NIDAN TOURNAMENTS IN HONOR OF TABATA SENSEI MARCH 2022 In honor of Tabata Sensei, this semester we hosted live in-house tournaments at Boston University and Wellesley College, this time focusing on Heian Nidan. As the beginners progressed from learning Heian Shodan and competing with it in the Fall, this time they had the opportunity to put their newest learned kata, Heian Nidan, to the test. At each school, we created brackets for the beginner level students to compete with Heian Nidan, as well as a bracket for the advanced students. The students showcased their technical understanding of the kata, which emphasizes hip postures of shomen, hanmi, and gyaku hanmi, as well as their strong spirit, something that Tabata Sensei looked for in students’ performances in tournaments.

Congratulations to all the students who competed and also to the students who earned a podium position! Results for the tournament at Wellesley and at BU are below. We are proud of all the students who participated as everyone showed excellent technique, spirit, and camaraderie.

WELLESLEY BEGINNER DIVISION

1st Place - Ava Wilcox 2nd Place - Brooke Phua 3rd Place - Gal Guillermo Paredes WELLESLEY ADVANCED DIVISION

1st Place - Hanamei Shao 2nd Place - Ayusha Ariana 3rd Place - Amy Liu

BU BEGINNER DIVISION

1st Place - Riley Leighton 2nd Place - Naomi Grusby 3rd Place - Macy McCalla BU ADVANCED DIVISION

1st Place - Preston DiFatta 2nd Place - Sophia Igarashi 3rd Place - Athena Zheng Page 6

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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.

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USA

AMY LIU WELLESLEY COLLEGE

BLACK BELT SHODAN HDKI 1ST KYU JKA

VOLUNTEER FOR FARMER’S MARKET Page 8

HDKI MA HOSTS SCOTT LANGLEY SENSEI AND SIMON BLIGH SENSEI IN BOSTON APRIL 7-9, 2022 For the first time, HDKI MA hosted Scott Langley Sensei from Ireland and Simon Bligh Sensei from England here in Boston! It was an incredible week filled with Karate training, fun seminars, kyu and Dan examinations, sightseeing in Boston, sailing at MIT, and of course delicious food with wonderful students. Scott Sensei and Simon Sensei got to visit the Museum of Science in Boston.

At Killian Court, MIT

At Lesley University

In Apollo Lunar Model at Museum of Science

Discussing Math Exhibition at Museum of Science

Enjoying Sailing on the Charles River at MIT

Exchanging Gifts with Wellesley Karateka

Discussing Karate Ideas at Dinner at Ittoku

Starting the Morning with Caffe Nero

Sailing at the Charles River Page 9

SCOTT SENSEI AND SIMON SENSEI HDKI INTER-CLUB SEMINAR APRIL 7, 2022

We hosted our very first in-person inter-club Karate seminar since the start of COVID. While many of the universities started having in-person activities since last fall, this marked the first opportunity to host students from the various universities that train with Vazrik Sensei under one roof to train together and enjoy being together. We had the pleasure of hosting Scott Langley Sensei (7th Dan HDKI) from Ireland and Simon Bligh Sensei (6th Dan HDKI) from England on MIT campus.

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Scott Sensei taught a technical kihon class, focused on creating speed and power with gyaku zuki. He taught a few drills focused on being able to generate power very quickly but also being able to not hold the technique at the end and instead release the movement naturally. We also learned how to utilize the initial 1st half of movement to compress the body, and Scott Sensei used the shuto uke techniques of Heian Shodan to teach this idea. Simon Sensei gave a class focused on the HDKI Dan examination syllabus to help students prepare for the black belt examination they were going to take the next day. Simon Sensei gave individualized feedback to students for their stances, fluidity of rotation, and foot trajectory in kicking techniques.

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KARATE TRAINING AND GAMIFICATION AS A TEACHING PEDAGOGY APRIL 9, 2022 We hosted Simon Bligh Sensei (6th Dan HDKI Great Britain Technical Director) for a Karate seminar at Wellesley College. Simon Sensei taught a very exciting class focused on various technical details in kihon, kumite, and kata (particularly Heian Sandan and Heian Yondan). His class had a wonderful theme of gamification to it, which kept students engaged and excited to learn.

In particular, he had several kumite drills that created a challenge for students in the form of a game, but also offered very technical lessons behind it.

Students got a chance to not only have fun practicing karate, but also take their training to the next level with the challenges that Simon Sensei posed.

These are drills that we will be sure to utilize in our training sessions moving forward!

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RICARDO HARRIPAUL AND EMILY DUTTON TKD SEMINAR

TORO

JANUARY 16, 2022 We had the pleasure of hosting a unique martial arts seminar as two of our Shotokan Karate students are actually black belts in Tae Kwon Do! Ricardo Harripaul (3rd degree TKD) and Emily Dutton (2nd degree TKD) taught a class focused on kicking drills to expose the Shotokan Karate students to unique drills to strengthen hips and legs that they learned in their TKD training. We kicked off the 2022 year with this seminar to give students a kick start to their training in this transition between the fall and spring and to focus on kicks that are not often taught at the beginner level, such as back kick. In addition, Ricardo and Emily taught a form (kata) that they knew from TKD which was very similar to a Heian kata from the Shotokan system. It was also inspiring for students to see how people can be skilled in multiple styles of martial arts at the same time and be able to apply different beneficial drills from one art to help the development of skills in the other art.

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JKA KARATE SEMINAR WITH RACHEL K A T T A W A R S E N S E I MARCH 6, 2022 We had the pleasure of hosting Rachel Kattawar Sensei (4th Dan JKA) for a seminar focused on kihon and kata. The Harvard Karate Club was the official host of this exciting zooms seminar with attendees from the local Boston area colleges as well as alums from around the world! We first met Rachel Sensei at the JKA AF camp in the summer of 2021 where she taught several classes focused on developing connection to the ground with the feet and ankles for improved balance and power in techniques. In this zoom seminar, Rachel Sensei focused on the ankles, knees, and hips in generating well connected Karate techniques.

With a very successful competitive career, Rachel Sensei emphasized the importance of basics and how good basics translate to both good kata and good kumite. For the kata portion of class, she taught Tekki Shodan and worked on kiba dachi stability and hip flexibility for the kata.

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CHERYL MURPHY SENSEI KUMITE SEMINAR BY HARVARD

APRIL 3, 2022

The Harvard Karate Club hosted Cheryl Murphy Sensei (4th Dan Shotokan) for an exciting kumite seminar via zoom.

Cheryl Sensei is a 5x Pan Am (PKF) Champion, World Combat Games Gold and Silver MEdalist as well as a 6x US Open Champion. Cheryl Sensei talked about how she achieved success in sparring in tournaments throughout her competition years and what techniques strategies have worked best for her. She taught students the various college in the Boston area, and she focused on body shifting drills as well as feints to force your opponent to create an opening that you then can attack and capitalize on to score. It was a great opportunity to learn from a passionate teacher!

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VAZRIK SENSEI TEACHES KATA EMPI AT BU, WELLESLEY, AND BY ZOOM

MAY 2022

In the month of May, Vazrik Sensei taught the kata Empi (Flying Swallow) in person at Boston University, Wellesley College, and online via zoom as a seminar to students. Empi is a very dynamic kata, requiring both high speed and agility to make rapid transitions between stances as well as good balance and body control to gracefully move slowly and coordinate various body parts all at once. This kata was offered as an end of semester seminar for students of all ranks, from beginner through advanced levels. The late Tabata Sensei didn’t believe in withholding kata knowledge from students until they reached a certain belt rank or age and would often teach advanced kata to beginner or intermediate students in order to open up their mind and push them to internalize longer, more complex katas. Vazrik Sensei follows this same principle and was able to teach even yellow belts the choreography and technique details of this exciting kata!

Beyond the choreography, students got the opportunity to understand technical details of several unique moves of the kata, such as the age zuki (rising punch), gedan zuki (the diving punch), and how to coordinate the body to perform the jump and land with a shuto uke (knifehand block) in back stance (kokutsu dachi). Students can enjoy a summer time of training and growth and hopefully use this kata for future black belt promotions and tournaments!

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JKA AF SUMMER CAMP IN NEW ORLEANS JUNE 9 - 12, 2022 Many students from Boston flew to New Orleans to attend the JKA AF Summer Camp June 9 - 12. It was a great opportunity to meet JKA Karateka from Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, California, and many other states! The camp was filled with training sessions covering kihon, kata, and kumite fundamentals. Our students enjoyed the trainings with Mikami Sensei and polished their age uke, mawashi geri, and ushiro geri techniques. We learned unique kihon combinations from Fathi Jaruthi Sensei and Scott Decuir Sensei. We learned kumite footwork from Joey Giluso Sensei, semi-free sparring distancing and details from Jose Ferrand Sensei. We also learned body shifting (tai sabaki) details for kumite, applied in defense and offense from Dimitri Papadopoulos Sensei and Wauriman Borges Sensei. It was a great opportunity to be exposed to new training drills as well as refine fundamentals with fellow Karateka.

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We also enjoyed an incredible opportunity to train with Shiina Sensei from JKA HQ in Tokyo. Shina Sensei taught a class focused on kihon fundamentals, particularly hip rotation focused with kick and punch combos, as well as reviewing Bassai Dai with students and teaching Jitte. Shina Sensei taught some very interesting hand-foot timing details about Jitte and what distinguishes it from other kata.

We also congratulate Mikami Sensei on his lifetime achievement award. Being part of a camp filled with so many of Mikami Sensei’s students from over the decades, it was clear he had dedicated countless hours to teaching, mentoring, and developing the next generation of Karateka. We also thank Jerry Kattawar Sensei for all his efforts in organizing this camp and the members of the JKA AF in New Orleans for welcoming us from Boston to this camp and making it a fun, enjoyable, learning experience.

Mikami Sensei Lifetime Achievement Celebration

Mikami Sensei with Jerry Kattawar Sensei

Mikami Sensei with Maria Hrabec Sensei

Party for Mikami Sensei’s lifetime achievement award Page 18

CONGRATS TO 5 NEW JKA BLACK BELTS AT NEW ORLEANS

JUNE 11, 2022

We are excited to announce the newest JKA Shodan black belts!

Congratulations to Anna Barnacka (Harvard University), Yi Yang (Harvard University), Hanamei Shao (Wellesley College), Qiu Yu Hong Lu (Boston University), and Steven Chen (Boston University). All 5 students attended the whole JKA AF camp in New Orleans with Mikami Sensei, and all 5 passed the exam for JKA Shodan. We couldn’t be more proud of their dedication, focus, and outstanding performance!

While reaching Shodan is only the beginning of a lifelong journey of Karate, it represents a significant milestone in a student's path. These students all faced their own unique challenges in climbing this mountain to black belt. Many students start as beginners and quit Karate without reaching black belt. Others join from other Karate groups or organizations and have to start the journey over. Despite their differences, our students have continuously worked as a team, supporting each other through various obstacles to achieve this feat.

As our group always says, being a black belt is not only about Karate techniques but also about attitude.

This trip, and these students’ outstanding achievements, were made possible through the power of altruism: instead of climbing the mountain of success alone, we should be bringing others with us for the journey. To all the students who just got their black belt, we hope you are now even more motivated to give back to the next generation of Karateka Thank you to Mikami Sensei, Jerry Kattawar Sensei, Maria Hrabec Sensei, Wauriman Borges Sensei, Rachel Kattawar Sensei, and all the instructors and Karateka of LKA who helped organize this camp and welcomed us from Boston.

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CANADA

EMILY DUTTON UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

2ND DEGREE BLACK BELT IN TKD 5TH KYU JKA 6TH KYU HDKI

AQUATIC ECOLOGY

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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.

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SIMON BLIGH SENSEI'S KARATE JOURNEY

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Simon started karate in June 1974, because of Bruce Lee, in his home town of Liverpool England, which was blessed with a strong Shotokan Karate dojo . He was a weedy, bullied, shy, tall kid and wanted to transform himself, and the 1970s training was just the challenge he needed. Although he nearly didn't go back after the first class.

In 1979, he went to the University of Manchester to study Philosophy and Comparative Religion BA (hons) and trained with the University team. On graduating, he spent time training in London at Enoeda Sensei's dojo, traveling in Europe and working in Tacoma Wa at University of Pugent Sound. Here he trained in American Free Style Karate with Steve "Mad Dog" Curren, thoroughly enjoying the experience!

After his Father died he returned to Liverpool and trained again with Steve Cattle Sensei, who remains a big influence on his karate philosophy.

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In the mid 80s, Simon then went back to London, training again at Marshall St. (Enoeda Sensei's dojo). As part of the team, he competed in Thailand and met Tabata Sensei and the Boston team in 1987 at the Thai Championships! In 1990, he moved to live, train and work in Japan fulfilling a lifelong ambition. After a year, he came back and continued regular training at Marshall St. until the dojo closed and Enoeda Sensei passed away.

By 2002, Simon had moved to rural Nottinghamshire and began training with Scott Langley Sensei and the JKS. He passed Yondan with Kagawa Sensei. His previous ranks of Shodan, Nidan, and Sandan were all with Enoeda Sensei. Simon has his own dojo, Shogai Karate Dojo. His motto is "karate without ends, always new beginnings, karate for everyone and for all your life".

He still is enthused by all styles of Karate, loves Yoga, calisthenics, Za Zen and long slow runs (he used to love short fast runs!). His close friendship with Scott led to the formation of HDKI GB and Simon is its Technical Director. He has never been a full time professional instructor, but teaches Internationally and in the UK. After a career in the Performing Arts, he now works in Special Education at a SEND Elementary School. He is no longer weedy, shy, or bullied, but is still a tall "kid".

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HIRO KOMINE'S KARATE JOURNEY

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Karate has always been a constant in Hiro Komine’s life. Having turned seventy years old in January 2022, Komine-san reflected: “My life was very exciting because of Karate. I am very happy to share my passion with Karate lovers in Boston.”

In 1971, Komine-san joined the Karate Club of Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo TECH). There, he trained intensively over the next eight years, practicing two to three hours a day, six days a week. As he refined his Karate, Komine-san also participated in an average of five or six tournaments a year.

TOKYO, JAPAN

Komine at Japanese Embassy in Beijing 1981

Komine with Nakayama Sensei in Beijing 1981

Komine as Tokyo Institute of Technology Karate Captain at Nihon Budokan, Tokyo Page 24

After graduating from Tokyo TECH in 1978, Komine-san started work at a Japanese trading company. Maintaining his passion for martial arts, he started teaching Karate to Japanese students at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, China, while residing there between 1981 and 1983. In that time, he also met Masatoshi Nakayama Sensei, the 1st Chief Instructor of the Japan Karate Association (JKA).

Komine and Fukuda at MIT

Kakuno, Fukuda, and Komine with Tabata Sensei

A world traveler, Komine-san then lived in Europe for ten years, returning to Japan in 2011.

Since then, he has become the chairman of Technical Collegiate Karate Federation (TCKF), a position for which he has served since 2014. That same year, he first visited Boston to invite the college Karate clubs to participate in the TCKF Tournament in Tokyo. He has since returned in 2017 and 2018, bringing talented Karateka from Japanese universities to keep developing the bond with our Boston-area clubs. In the past year, Komine-san was also asked to serve as the Chief Officer of International Relations for the Japan University Karate Federation (JUKF), a wonderful and well-deserved opportunity given Komine-san’s efforts in creating bridges with Boston colleges and Oxford University in England.

Students Competing at the TCKF Tournaments in Japan

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JERRY KATTAWAR JR. SENSEI’S KARATE JOURNEY

Starting Karate training at the age of six, Sensei Jerry Kattawar Jr.’s first instructors were his parents, Jerry and Millie Kattawar.

He obtained his Black belt in 1976, at the age of 12, and his Nidan two years later. In 1981, while training at the Greenville YMCA, he took over the Delta State University Karate Club in Cleveland, MS, originally started by one of his father’s students.

Jerry Sensei remained head instructor from 1981 to 1989, during which time satellite clubs in three other cities were added.

While getting his Bachelor’s degree in Business from Delta State, Jerry Sensei obtained numerous ISKF and USAKF/AAU National Kata and Kumite titles, having joined these National Teams in 1985. These teams gave him the opportunity to travel and compete in five continents in competitions including the 3rd World Cup, the 1st Pan American PUKO, and two WUKO World Championships. He even got to participate in scientific athlete tests with the US Karate Team at the Olympic Training Center in 1989, the first Olympic recognition of Karate. Jerry Sensei is now Nana (7th) Dan, reaching this rank in 2013.

Jerry Sensei with his family

Jerry Sensei demonstrating shuto uke Page 26

Having started part-time work at the United Parcel Service in 1983, Jerry Sensei went into full-time management in 1990 while still traveling and competing. In 2004, he relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, for work, getting a chance at the same time to train more closely with Mikami Sensei. As he pursued his career, he continued to train, staying involved with the development of JKA-AF under Mikami Sensei’s leadership. Jerry Sensei particularly appreciated Mikami Sensei’s focus on learning with an open mind, as he organized seminars with senseis like Fumio Demura, Minobu Miki, and Teruo Chinen for students to learn and understand different styles.

Jerry Sensei eventually retired from UPS in 2019, having enjoyed 36 years of service. As Jerry Sensei stated, “Karate helped me in so many ways throughout my career, both mentally and physically.” As current President and Vice Chairman of the JKA-AF, Jerry Sensei promotes JKA Karate in the United States under the guidance and leadership of Mikami Sensei and the JKA, involving instructors and students alike in trainings, competitions, and testing.

Jerry Sensei with Nakayama Sensei of the JKA

Jerry Sensei with the US Karate Team

Jerry Sensei and Rachel Sensei

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USA

YI YANG HARVARD UNIVERSITY

BLACK BELT SHODAN JKA

PEACE CORPS AFRICA

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WELLESLEY CULTURE SHOW: KATA PERFORMANCE APRIL 23, 2022

Last Friday night, Wellesley Shotokan Karate Club performed at Wellesley's annual culture show!

We performed a medley of kata accompanied by Ayusha Ariana on the drum to highlight the rhythms and styles of each choreography. We started with our advanced students (Ann Xu, Amy Liu) performing Kankudai, joined by our intermediate students to perform Heian Godan (Alina Zheng, Soap Peña), and ultimately joined by our beginner students (Ashley Yuan, Ava Wilcox, Brooke Phua, and Gal Guillermo) to perform Heian Shodan altogether.

Congratulations to the team for an incredible performance!

Photo Credit: Micah Fong Page 29

HDKI KYU SPRING 2022 PROMOTIONS Congratulations!

APRIL 2022

Congratulations to everyone who achieved their new HDKI rank this Spring 2022 semester!

We had 20 students reach new kyu ranks from beginner levels all the way through advanced levels in the HDKI as well as 7 new Dan ranks. We thank Scott Langley Sensei and Simon Bligh Sensei for their continued support of HDKI MA and for making the April 2022 Karate seminars and Dan and kyu gradings possible! It was an unforgettable experience!

Since the founding of HDKI MA, this marks our 3rd official HDKI kyu exam grading and 2nd Dan examination we have participated in. We had students in the various universities in the Boston area as well as alums who are now located all around the world! We are proud of all of your hard work and dedication to this passion of Shotokan Karate. We are also proud of your ability to adapt to different syllabi and different approaches to understanding Karate mechanics offered by different Karate organizations.

Look back at your hard work over the semester, review the individualized notes sent to you personally by email for your promotion feedback, and set new Karate goals for the summer and the fall!

Below are the new HDKI ranks achieved by each of the students. For the students graduating this month, we hope you can continue your Karate training as HDKI has dojos all across the US, Canada, South America, and Europe. #KarateAdventures #KarateNeverStops #MoreThanKarate

Infographic Credit: Renata Costa Page 30

BEGINNER RANKS - YELLOW, ORANGE BELTS

Rafael Costa Nogueira - 8th kyu Maya Pensa - 8th kyu Thaila Cruz - 7th kyu Kyle O’Connell - 7th kyu Naomi Grusby - 7th kyu Riley Leighton - 7th kyu INTERMEDIATE RANKS - BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE BELTS

Emily Dutton - 6th kyu Ashley Yuan - 6th kyu Ava Wilcox - 6th kyu Brooke Phua - 6th kyu Bruce Hang-Hung Hou - 6th kyu Sophia Igarashi - 4th kyu Athena Zheng - 4th kyu Renata Costa - 4th kyu Angel Chan - 4th kyu Iyit Benusia - 4th kyu Olivia Postel - 4th kyu ADVANCED RANKS - BROWN BELTS

Sophia Peña - 3rd kyu Ricardo Harripaul - 3rd kyu Olga Lattarulo - 3rd kyu Page 31

JKA KYU SPRING 2022 PROMOTIONS Congratulations!

Congratulations to everyone who achieved their new JKA rank this Spring 2022 semester! All the students should be proud of their hard work and perseverance in training, and we are happy to see that the structured plan laid out for the semester has helped each student reach the next level in their Karate growth.

This rank will be established internationally and is valid at any JKA dojo throughout the world. This examination was approved by Mikami Sensei (9th dan), head of the JKA American Federation, and also Wauriman Sensei (5th dan JKA NorCal). Each student received detailed notes from Wauriman Sensei and Vazrik Sensei, providing individualized feedback from the promotions that students can use to continue to improve in Karate.

Looking back, the semester was filled with weekly Karate training, seminars with guest instructors from around the world focused on unique Karate topics, tournaments, and finally culminating in the belt promotions at the very end. The end of the semester is a good time to reflect on your past semester of training, and be filled with gratitude for all of the opportunities that come with dedication and passion. The new ranks in both the HDKI and the JKA gives students a unique position in the Karate world with multiple passports. As many of our students graduate or their careers take them away from Boston, these ranks serve as a tool with which students can continue their Karate journey wherever they may end up.

Infographic Credit: Renata Costa Page 32

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Ricardo Harripaul - 4th kyu

BOSTON UNIVERSITY Maya Pensa - 7th kyu Naomi Grusby - 7th kyu Kyle O’Connell - 7th kyu Riley Leighton - 6th kyu Athena Zheng - 3rd kyu Sophia Igarashi - 3rd kyu

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Kishan Shah - 8th kyu Eshaan Vakil - 7th kyu

LESLEY UNIVERSITY Angel Chan - 3rd kyu Iyit Benusia - 3rd kyu

WELLESLEY COLLEGE Ashley Yuan - 6th kyu Brooke Phua - 6th kyu Ava Wilcox - 5th kyu Olivia Postel - 3rd kyu Sophia Peña - 2nd kyu

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO Emily Dutton - 5th kyu

ALUMNI Rafael Costa - 8th kyu Thaila Cruz - 7th kyu Bruce Hang-Hung Hou - 5th kyu Renata Costa - 3rd kyu Olga Lattarulo - 2nd kyu Page 33

HDKI BLACK BELT TEST AT MIT APRIL 8, 2022 On Friday, April 8, 2022, we celebrated a historic moment for HDKI MA by hosting the first black belt Dan examinations at MIT. We brought Scott Langley Sensei from Dublin Ireland, and Simon Bligh Sensei from England to help make this event possible. Scott Sensei and Simon Sensei have been very supportive of HDKI MA ever since its formation in the spring of 2021, and this was a big milestone for our students to reach their black belts, and some to reach higher Dan levels. We had 8 students promote, each with backgrounds representing 8 different nations, but the same goal and vision to grow and foster Karate at the college level through the power of altruism. We congratulate Vazrik Chiloyan Sensei for achieving Sandan, Lorraine Sin for achieving Nidan, and Anselmo Cassiano Alves, Amy Liu, Steven Chen, Hanamei Shao, Ayusha Ariana for achieving Shodan. Check out the infographic below highlighting the ranks visually as well as the schools each of these students are from!

Infographic Credit: Renata Costa Page 34

LORRAINE SIN ACHIEVES HDKI NIDAN Lorraine Sin reached Nidan in the HDKI, being examined

by Scott Langley Sensei! We congratulate Lorraine (Boston University and Lesley University) for achieving the incredible feat of Nidan.

Lorraine has trained hard in refining her kihon fundamentals, free sparring skills, and Gojushiho Sho and Empi kata. Even more impressive than her diligent training was her efforts in helping teach students via zoom to reach their next belt ranks. Lorraine works full time as an Outpatient Clinician at Eliot Community Human Services. After long work days, she still put in time to help her fellow Lesley University friends train and grow in Karate. Her dedication to learning and teaching is impressive and will help her reach new heights in both her career and in Karate.

Congratulations Lorraine!

We look forward to the next steps in your Karate journey!

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MEXICO

SOPHIA PEÑA WELLESLEY COLLEGE

2ND KYU JKA 3RD KYU HDKI

KARATE & SKATEBOARDING

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CELEBRATING THE SEMESTER ACHIEVEMENTS WITH M O O N L I G H T S A I L I N G MAY 15, 2022 To celebrate the end of the semester and all of the exciting activities and achievements, we enjoyed dinner together at the Mad Monkfish restaurant (our favorite restaurant in the Boston area!) as well as moonlight sailing at the MIT Sailing Pavilion. We had students from MIT, Harvard, Boston University, Lesley University, Wellesley College altogether to enjoy being together in person once more. We were happy to have the presidents and co-presidents of all of the Karate clubs of the Boston area universities together. We thank Cassiano and Lorraine for a magical, unforgettable night of sailing under the moon and the stars. As we always tell our students at the end of a semester and looking forward to new experiences together:

The best is yet to come!

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ANN XU WELLESLEY COLLEGE

1ST KYU JKA 1ST KYU HDKI

KARATE & PUZZLING

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VAZRIK SENSEI GETS JKA LICENSING

JUNE 11, 2022

Congratulations to Vazrik Sensei for acquiring his JKA Judge and Examiner licenses! After achieving his JKA Sandan and becoming an official JKA Instructor last year, he worked hard to gain further licensing in the JKA to support his students’ growth. Testing in front of Shiina Sensei from Japan, Mikami Sensei from New Orleans, and the upper ranking Senseis of JKA AF was a wonderful experience!

Thank you to Mikami Sensei, Jerry Kattawar Sensei, and Maria Sensei for organizing the camp and giving JKA Karateka the opportunity to gain accreditation.

We also thank Wauriman Sensei for all his support in this journey. Wauriman Sensei's dedication to train and motivate Karate students is inspiring. We are grateful for his steadfast encouragements which supported Vazrik Sensei in this journey.

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AMANDINE FROMONT ACHIEVES JKA NIDAN JUNE 11, 2022 We congratulate Amandine Fromont (Wellesley College) for achieving her JKA Nidan! Amandine has trained hard this past year to learn the Nidan kihon, refine her jiyu kumite, and polish her Gojushiho Sho. Studying Karate techniques, she has thought about precise details of movements to reach a level beyond Shodan.

Beyond her Karate skill, Amandine impresses us with her altruism. Despite starting law school at Georgetown University this past year and interning at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she has found ways to train and give back to our Karate community. In particular, Amandine taught Karate twice a week via zoom to help students around the world reach their next rank.

Since earning her brown belt years ago, Amandine has helped found and manage the Wellesley Karate Club, and served as one of its primary instructors for several years. Some of her own students have now reached Shodan and are themselves beginning to train for Nidan!

Congratulations Amandine! We look forward to the next steps in your Karate journey!

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JAZZ, FOOD, AND KARATE IN THE BOSTON AREA The Mad Monkfish is our Karate College Clubs’ favorite restaurant. Vazrik Sensei has been eating here for almost a decade, ever since he was a graduate student at MIT. Karate students have bonded after training sessions while eating here, many Karate dreams and plans have been formed while enjoying time together in this restaurant! The restaurant has wonderful staff who take interest in our Karate activities and goals, and always serve delicious food year round! It is also a venue for jazz, and many of the Karate students have been lucky enough to watch the very talented Yoko Miwa Trio play Jazz on Friday evenings at the restaurants. We are grateful to have such wonderful memories in such a lovely restaurant to share together, such as end of semester celebrations, black belt achievements, and hosting international instructors for dinner and drinks after exciting seminars. We look forward to more exciting experiences and memories together at the Mad Monkfish and recommend anyone who has not gone to try it out!

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RAFAEL & RENATA GOT PODIUM IN BRAZIL STATE CUP MAY 14, 2022

Our Brazilian students participated and won medals in the Kata modality in the Karate championship in the state of Mato Grosso Do Sul. Renata got third place presenting the Kata Heian Godan and Rafael got Silver medal 2nd place presenting the Kata Heian Shodan. It was Rafael's first participation in the Championship and both are very excited for the next competition in August, Renata will keep Heian Godan while Rafael wants to present Heian Nidan.

Good luck!

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TAIWAN

STEVEN CHEN BOSTON UNIVERSITY

BLACK BELT (SHODAN) JKA BLACK BELT (SHODAN) HDKI

KARATE & NUTRITION

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CONTINUING TO OFFER FREE ZOOM KARATE TO STUDENTS AROUND THE WORLD Weekly, we continued to have free Karate lessons via zoom for students around the world.

We had students training in the US in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Seattle, California. We had students from Toronto in Canada, as well as Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore. Many of our students who graduate and move to different places in the world can still connect with us and learn on a weekly basis. The trainings over the semester provided unique zoom seminars with high level instructors and passionate teachers, as well as consistent feedback to help students reach their next belt level. While COVID initiated the shift to teaching by zoom, we continue to offer zoom training in addition to the in-person Karate classes outdoors at MIT as well as at the various Boston area colleges so that students from afar can still be part of this wonderful community built off of the power of altruism. These trainings remind us all that #KarateIsForEveryone.

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IN PERSON CLASSES CONTINUED OUTDOORS AT MIT Outdoor Karate practice at MIT by the Charles River! What better way to spend warm, summer Sunday afternoons than to practice Shotokan Karate with the beautiful view of the river from MIT campus near the MIT Sailing Pavilion and Hayden Library. Thursday and Sundays outdoors at MIT, students gather from beginner to advanced ranks to work on their kihon, kumite, and kata. Over the summer weeks, students learned and gained better understanding of their stances, hip rotation (koshi no kaiten), and basic punch and kick combinations. For kumite, the focus this summer was on some unique kumite drills focused on teaching distancing (maai), reaction speed, and timing for both offensive and defensive strategies. Lastly, students learned both basic Heian kata as well as advanced kata choreography and polished their kata in preparation for end of summer promotions. It was a pleasure training with everyone and enjoying our usual tradition of getting lunch or dinner after training together. We are happy to see students having fun outdoors learning this beautiful art of Shotokan Karate!

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TEACHING TIPS FOR KARATE STUDENTS AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL Years of teaching Shotokan Karate at the college level have shown how certain methods of teaching can be more effective than others in transferring knowledge. Teaching at the college level is not quite the same as teaching in a private dojo or school. Often, college students who join their Shotokan Karate club at school are only able to commit to training once or twice a week. As such, there needs to be a method that is efficient at teaching students as well as a way of keeping them hungry for knowledge and desiring to return each week to learn and grow more. While there are many different tips that can apply in different situations, we wanted to share two specific tips to keep in mind when teaching. The first is to break down movements being taught into sections. For example, when we teach the choreography of a kata for the first time to a student, we break the kata down into sections and teach it in pieces, stringing the sections together as they are taught. Teaching the kata all in one shot or move by move doesn’t give the student a chance to review the material being taught in order to ingrain it into memory. The second tip is to provide at most 3 corrections for technique improvement at a time. Many times, instructors see say 10 errors in a student’s technique, and in their desire to help the student, they provide all 10 errors for the student to fix. The problem here is that the student probably will only remember 1 or 2 and forget the others. Instead, by providing at most 3 errors, the student is able to remember and focus on these bottlenecks and be able to make faster progress with each training. Lastly, it is important to remember is that training Karate and even reaching the goal of black belt is more about the growth along the journey than simply the destination.

Teaching kata indoors at the MIT T-Club Lounge

Vazrik Sensei correcting kihon details

Providing kumite tips to generate gyaku zuki power Page 47

STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS We are excited to share the wonderful academic achievements and news of our hard-working karateka.

Sophia Peña completed her Bachelors in Biochemistry from Wellesley College. Will be studying digit tip regeneration in mice at a Harvard Medical School lab in Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Ann Xu completed her Bachelors in Physics and Neuroscience from Wellesley College, graduating with honors in physics.

Ayusha Ariana completed her Bachelors in Architecture and Environmental Studies from Wellesley College, and will be an Air Pollution Research Assistant at Energy Program, Health Effects Institute

Amy Liu completed her Bachelors in Chemistry with a minor in Physics from Wellesley College

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Rafael Costa started business school at Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) Brazil

Bruce Hou completed his MS in Business Analytics from the Boston University Questrom School of Business

Anselmo Cassiano Alves started a teaching fellow position at the Harvard Law Program on Negotiation and Dispute Resolution.

Nikita Patil Completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin

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SAVE THE DATE SEPT 16-18, 2022

IN BARCELONA, SPAIN We are excited to announce the HDKI International Cup set to take place in September of 2022.

Mark your calendars and get ready to compete!

WWW.HDKI.ORG Page 50

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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