Help Thousand Waves Keep Kicking!

Thank you for helping us fulfill our mission to foster fitness, healing, empowerment and peacemaking!

How did my mom and I discover a love for Karate?

This is a long story, so get comfortable and get some snacks!

Let's start– my mom is not the best coordinated person at throwing kicks in the air, or doing the splits. Well definitely not the second one. But then why is she still doing karate? Imagine this, you’re the only person that is terrible at karate, you're the lowest belt, and when you look at someone they roll their eyes at you.

Not the best environment right? Trust me, I've done courses with people like that in an environment like that, not fun. But imagine staying in a place where everybody smiles at you, is super supportive, and helps you when you make a mistake, and doesn't roll their eyes when you get it wrong but push you to improve. Now that's a great community, right? That’s Thousand Waves.

It all started with my mom, she started at karate around 3 years ago. I remember that I spent some time at the dojo waiting for my mom to finish her lesson. I remember watching my moms tests thinking I have no clue what they just did there.

Karate became an important part of my moms life, and I really love that karate makes her feel better, how much she enjoys going to the dojo.

...Now comes my part of this story…

Since my mom really loved karate, she thought that maybe I could try it out, maybe it could be my thing too. So I took a try out lesson and thought; cool, nice movements but not for me. But my mom still wanted me to try it out, just for a while. She thought that I would like it later on. And she was right. I was hesitant at first but that push is what got me here today, it's what got me doing what I love to do.

When I first started I was one out of three white belts at Thousand Waves. You must think, scary right? I was terrified at my first lesson, because I was the lowest belt there and I knew way less than all of the other belts there. But everyone greeted me with smiles and offered to help with anything that I had trouble with. The teachers were super kind and took everything slow, so I could understand everything better. Before I knew it, I had made so many amazing friends at karate!

Thousand Waves isn't just a dojo, it's our dojo, and it's a pretty amazing dojo. It’s a magical place where even the “unskilled” (like my mom) can thrive. My teachers and classmates push me to improve while creating a friendly, never-give-up attitude. Not only karate but also self-defense workshops, kids’ camps, and programs for students with disabilities, for 40 years, my dojo has impacted thousands and now two more, me and my mom.

So it's your time now, let's throw a kick– not an actual kick, but one at barriers- so donate and let's make a difference together.