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NWMAF April Newsletter
Photos, Updates, and More!!!<!–
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April Newsletter
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All smiles at Weaving Strength Brooklyn!
April Reflection
With Brooklyn in the books and the Chicago regional training coming up in July, we’ve been busy busy busy! This may be one of those “cup of coffee” newsletters — lots of news, lots to share, and lots of ways to join in, connect with fellow members, and get more involved with NWMAF! So settle in, get comfy, and read on!
Board Update: *URGENT* Chair Candidate Sought!
We have had self-nominations for three of our open board positions and will be confirming those in June. (Hooray! And huge thanks to those who stepped forward!)
However, a few positions still lack candidates, most critically NWMAF Chair, which will become vacant at the end of July. Please reach out to chair@nwmaf.org if you might be able to serve and keep this storied organization going strong!
Board meetings are held on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 3pm Eastern/2pm Central and all members are welcome to attend. The next meeting will be Sunday, May 17th. Click here for the Zoom registration link for 2026 meetings!
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Looking Back: Weaving Strength Brooklyn!
The first Weaving Strength Regional Training of 2026 took place at the end of March. As promised, here are some pics and details about the event, shared by NWMAF Chair and event organizer Connie Halporn! (The full photo album from the event can be viewed at this link.)
Weaving Strength Brooklyn was held at Brooklyn Martial Arts, March 28-29. We had an amazing group of NWMAF’s favorite instructors along with two new ones: our own Lia Schnirman Barría (who taught her first class in photography) and an instructor from Brooklyn Martial Arts, Jessie Novik. They all participated in the classes as well.
Our participants had the opportunity to try new activities and have fun! Dinner was a blast, held at a local bar/restaurant called SomedayBarNYC. Some of our instructors’ significant others also attended, making for a fun (but noisy) evening. The owner, Megan Rickerson was so happy to see us that she took special care of us all evening!
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Looking Ahead: Weaving Strength Chicago!
We are so excited about the regional training being planned by the team at Thousand Waves to be held in Chicago, July 24-26th. It is shaping up to be the most ambitious Weaving Strength yet.
* The training will begin Friday 7/24 at 5:30 pm and end Sun 7/26 at 1:00 pm
* Location: 3 sites in and around Thousand Waves Dojo (Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, on the mid-north side of the city)
* There will be eight 90-minute time slots offering 3-5 choices of classes per slot
* Three full tracks: Martial Arts, Healing Arts and ESD
Registration opens within days — we’ll send a special issue when it’s ready!
Take it from co-organizers Nancy Lanoue and Patricia Broughton of Thousand Waves: you’ll be “kicking yourself” if you don’t save the date for Weaving Strength Chicago!
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Photo of Nancy and Patricia by Ronit Bezalel
Martial Arts News:
Our Martial Arts Coordinator, Shifu Emily McKee, led a lovely taster on Wing Chun Stance and Centre Punch in April. If you missed it, the recording is available to view at this link. (Passcode: GT08j*pT) As always, online trainings are free to members!
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Empowerment Self Defense (ESD) News
Thank you to Carmen Alonso and Jennifer Keller for this month’s fantastic session on Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) curriculum that Jennifer Keller developed for women with a history of relational abuse. (The three pillars of the curriculum are: mindfulness, healing from trauma, and ESD). Here is the recording of the session. (The passcode is: %uy==h92)
On April 30th, 2:00-4:00pm Eastern, there is a great session to check on the Criminalization of Self Defense, sponsored by Mirror Memoirs with Meg Stone of Impact Boston. Cost is $15 or pay what you can. (See flyer below).
Our monthly ESD Community Meetings (open to all – not just NWMAF members) are held the 2nd Monday of every month, generally from 4:00-5:00pm (EST). These sessions are open to everyone interested in Empowerment Self Defense. Please extend the invitation and registration link to anyone interested in participating. Zoom registration link for the monthly ESD Community Meeting.
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Youth Coordinator News
Emma Thornton, our Youth Coordinator and a student at the University of Texas at Austin, recently spearheaded a self-defense session for The Texas Sunshines, a campus service and spirit organization. The workshop centered on safety in and around cars and was presented by co-instructors, members George Schorn and Coty DeLacretaz of Sun Dragon Seido Karate and Self Defense, NFP. Kudos to Emma for organizing such a fun and engaging event for young people!
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Check Your Website Profile!
Another reminder that members can once again “opt in” to show up in the NWMAF’s member directory and/or our instructor directory. If you’re not displayed and you would like to be, simply log in to your account. It will immediately take you to a screen where you can select Update Profile.
Join Us on WhatsApp!
Just a reminder that we now have a permanent (not just conference-related) NWMAF WhatsApp group, which will be particularly helpful to join ahead of regional trainings!
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Member-Submitted News
We love hearing from you! Do you have news related to your practice in one of our three strands — Martial Arts, Healing Arts, or Self Defense? As an NWMAF member, you can submit material to be featured in our newsletter and/or on our social media pages! We love to share member news, photos, events, and brags! To contribute material to future newsletters, please send details to Tasca Shadix (secretary@nwmaf.org).
The requirements are: (1) Items must be member news/announcements, and be consistent with NWMAF mission and values. (2) Items that could be considered promotions of goods or services for sale (e.g. books, paid workshops, etc), are limited to 2 posts and/or newsletter items per member per year. (3) NWMAF cannot “endorse” member products or services.
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