Here’s the first of many reminders:

Save the Date for Teaching the Teacher 2022!

February 25-27, 2022

Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake

Get this on your calendar now and start making plans for Austin.

We are very excited about meeting each other at a new venue – Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake. The hotel is only 15-minutes from the airport, overlooking Lady Bird Lake. It has nice fresh rooms, lots of meeting space, and easy access to all that Austin has to offer.

We’ll be sharing a lot more information as we continue planning, but for now, keep these things in mind:

• It’s just about time to look at flights. Airlines typically release their flight schedules about 11 months out.

• If you have flight credit from cancelled pandemic travel, this is a great thing to “spend” it on.
• If you are traveling with a large group from your school – 10 or more – you may qualify as a group with your preferred airline. Please reach out and I can help you with this.
• It may seem early but there are definite advantages to booking early – it’s done, and you don’t have to think about it. AND, flight prices are expected to rise over the next few months, so take advantage of the lower fares now.
• Very soon, we will be providing a link to book hotel rooms. We have a specially negotiated rate for our group that is better than the rate you can find with an online booking engine. Please use our link so that we get credit for all the rooms that we have blocked.
• You've heard of it, but maybe never used it…Travel Insurance. This is the year to look into it. There are many different types and even more rules, but it is an important way to protect yourself in uncertain times. Again, please contact me if I can answer questions about this or help.

Gather your colleagues and friends and make some plans to head to Texas. We’re looking forward to a big Texas welcome and a great time next February.

Keep watching this newsletter and your email for more information!

from the Editor

Master Didi Goodman

Those Crazy Things You Say

We love getting feedback from our members and conference participants, both in person and on our surveys. This year was great, because we had both a large number of participants, and a higher-than-usual rate of returning the survey. Maybe the integration of an online survey into a virtual event made it more likely people would take a moment to fill it out. In any case, thank you for your words--whether they were words of praise, constructive criticism, or suggestions to push us to do better.

My favorite comment was this one: "I took more classes than I had planned on." That's definitely a win for us as organizers, and a testament to the high quality of our instructors and the material they were offering. We knew going in that we'd get sign-ups; after all, it was virtual, and very low cost. But would people just drop in for a bit, or would they commit themselves and engage? We're delighted that we had a high level of participation, commitment and engagement throughout the weekend. We know what it's like to spend that many hours in front of a screen (believe me, we know!), and we appreciate every one of you who participated, whether for one hour or many hours.

My second favorite comment is, to be honest, not favorite, but needs to be mentioned because it came up so often: Many of you requested a virtual component in next year's conference. On the one hand, we loved having participants from afar who would not normally be able to travel to an in-person event. We do want each of you to attend again - every year! On the other hand, putting on a virtual event is hard work; putting on an in-person event is hard work; what would it be to try doing both at once? Would we be able to serve you well in either medium?

So I'm laying down a challenge. Go to your keyboards and give us more words. If you have experience putting on a hybrid virtual/live event; if you have been teaching (or trying to teach) hybrid classes in your school; if you feel you know how it can or can't be done successfully - write about it and send us your thoughts. What has worked for you, and what hasn't? What are the challenges, and how did you handle them? How would you structure an event for success?

The board is discussing the matter, but as yet has made no decisions. Give us your input, if you have real experience in this area - and think about becoming involved!

Extras in this issue: We've got a great article by Nina Thompson that continues the conversation on race begun at the conference; and another in our series of features on artwork by AWMAI members. Check them out below!

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"I've got so many notes to go over and new ideas to implement."

"Super fun class! I definitely 'found joy' and I'm excited to bring that energy to my regular classes."

"Great ideas to try out - and the instructors' enthusiasm really came across."

"The presentation was very well-organized and managed to fit a lot of practical advice and activities into a very short period of time."

"This was great for school leadership.  It brings home the difference between teaching classes and having a school/community."

"Once you open up the conversation, you see there's a lot more going on than you realized."

"So important to unearth these racist microaggressions so we can move forward  and heal."

"Important information, and very relevant for me as a self-defense instructor. Really appreciate the instructor's spirit and generosity in sharing knowledge and materials with us!"

"I wasn't sure what to expect...but it turned out to be fantastic! It brought forth a lot of solid information that I can use."

"Of course it would have been nicer to be in person, but the Hall of Fame ceremony brought tears to my eyes."

"Exceeded my expectations! The instructors are knowledgeable and so are the attendees. Some of us have been teaching online for awhile and it was nice to share skills and tips."

"Thank you so much for a wonderful conference.  Attended more sessions than I thought would be possible. It did my brain a whole heap of good!"

Continuing the Discussion:

Active Bystander Training: Can we apply it within the dojo?

by Nina Thompson

My first AWMAI conference left me stunned with all the talent and camaraderie in our martial arts community. The panel discussion around race—Opening the Discussion on Power Dynamics, with Race and Rank—was very well done and I am very thankful for all the participants.

At one point, it was asked what a person would do if there was something said by an instructor that was racist. It was a very hard question for the panel. Therein lies one of the dilemmas in having hierarchical systems. And if we think of interrupting racism as a form of intervention—when and how is it okay to interrupt/intervene with someone in the dojo, especially a “superior” or Sensei?

There are many ways to address issues of racism when they splash up. I’d like to start by offering The 5 D’s of Active Bystander Training. First I’ll talk about the 5 D’s in general, and then I’ll look at how they might be used within the dojo setting.

The 5 D’s are an approach to teaching students to stay safe and interrupt racism (or other forms of violence). I’ve made a point of teaching this ever since one of my students tried to interrupt an older, smaller person from getting his backpack stolen by gang members near a bus stop. He ended up with a concussion, and trouble with the neighborhood gang. It was a noble effort, but there are ways to get involved that don’t put us at physical risk. Hence, the 5 D’s.

Here’s an outline of the 5 D’s viewed in the context of interrupting racism:

Direct- If you are in a position to challenge a person or ask them to rephrase, you can be simple and direct: “Ouch, I don’t think you meant that to be racist. Do you want to rephrase?” or, “Ouch, that felt a little racist, do you want to restate that?” This can work as a quick check between friends or colleagues. For a more challenging conversation, I teach the three-part statement approach: State the behavior, state the effect, state what you want changed. An example might be, “You just said ‘those people’ in a negative way. When you say ‘those people,’ it hurts because I think you are talking about my friends and chosen family. Please be more respectful in your language.”

Delegate - This means calling on an adult (teacher, parent), a person with more or different power, or an organization to step in and help you. The ACLU might not want to get involved with how my boss said that racist thing in the staff meeting, but I might be able to get the boss’s second in command to talk to them about how that comment was not okay.

Distract - This is my favorite to teach. If you hear someone saying racially biased things but are not in a position to challenge them or challenge their power, you can change the topic or remove the focus onto something else. A commonly-used example of this is if you see a woman being harassed for wearing her hijab, to stop and ask her something random—ask her the time, or isn’t she in your math class and can she help you study (then walk off together towards the library), or something similar. Using skits to practice this can be intense, and yet can lead to some giggle moments as well.

Delay – Sometimes the heat of the moment is not the time to call someone on their words or actions; perhaps it would be better after work, over dinner or in private. Meanwhile, it’s important to check in with the folks for whom that comment or action may have had a more intense impact, and ask them how you can best support them.

Document - You can film the event on your phone, or take a picture, or just write it down, in case it becomes a pattern you need to draw attention to later. Unfortunately, it took the filming of George Floyd’s murder to mobilize the nation. The people filming were begging the police officer to get off him, but it was unsafe for them to intervene physically. That terrible, awful video, and others like it documenting wrongful murders, have mobilized a movement. Documenting the events can allow us to stay safe but still have an impact.

As martial artists we are trained and capable of escalating a situation, but perhaps not always trained enough on de-escalating situations. In teaching the 5 D skills to our students, some of whom are just stepping into their own power, we can perhaps change that trend. In addition, if we can successfully learn to call people in, as opposed to calling them out, we will inevitably bring our communities together. We as a society need to practice calling people in, and one way to do that is to have firm boundaries—and be visible in maintaining those boundaries. When our boundaries are crossed, we must remember there is a difference between anger and aggression. When boundaries are violated, especially those tied to our values about how other human beings should be treated, we tend to feel angry. But we can be angry without being aggressive (just as, being martial artists, we understand we can be aggressive without being angry).

So, how do the D’s apply in a hierarchical dojo? I think there are many situations where we can simply be Direct, and call people in with a three-part statement. Many of us teach this in self-defense, and the same applies in a case, say, where a training partner says something racist or untoward:

Of course, it’s one thing if this can be said quietly to a partner or assistant during class, and another if the offender was a revered Sensei in front of everyone. Maybe in front of the whole class is not the time to call out the Sensei on his un-woke comment—and that’s where Delay comes in. Perhaps after class, at a dinner, or in private. But sometimes even a delayed, private discussion seems too difficult, given the power dynamics. What then?

I think as martial artists we need to look at the structures in our schools. We are all human, we all make mistakes, and we need to structure our schools in a fashion that can absorb and deal with those mistakes. I train in shotokan, and training in a Japanese style that is arguably traditional, we’ve held onto the tradition of sempai. The sempai role is very important in a dojo environment. The sempai, or senior-ranked student, helps keep the class disciplined, helps new students learn where and when to do what, and also acts as a buffer between the class and the instructor. In my style, if the instructor says something racist or un-woke, the sempai may step in during class, or after, to redirect or rephrase what the sensei said. In addition, a student who experienced something during class but didn’t feel they could approach the Sensei about it, as in the above example, could instead approach the sempai (i.e., Delegate).

In starting my own school I’ve kept the sempai tradition. I’ve heard of other schools having different ways to communicate and address concerns, such as holding community meetings. I’m very interested in how other schools address these issues, but in any case, the problem has to be addressed intentionally. There must be a clear way in which feedback can be given to—and willingly received by—a school’s leadership.

I would love to hear what you are doing in your schools to teach students, particularly young students, to interrupt racism. I hope to read more here!

Nina Thompson practices Shotokan karate and co- leads Jinkaku Karate Group in Portland.

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