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NWMAF January Newsletter
Upcoming In-Person & Online Trainings and more!<!–
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January Newsletter
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Image courtesy of sergei_spas from pixabay
January Reflection
Happy New Year to all our members and friends! We hope you’ve been keeping warm and safe during this period of extreme winter weather. We know that many of our members are feeling threatened, unsafe, and overwhelmed by the current political situation in our country. At the same time, many are actively working to effect change. We wish all of our members peace, strength, kinship, and courage during these times. Whether your focus is in the martial arts, ESD, or healing arts, may we find inspiration through the powerful expression of our individual practice and the community we share. ♡
Board Updates
This month, the NWMAF Board discussed a variety of topics, from administrative business to the upcoming regional conferences. 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, February 15th. Click here for the Zoom registration link for 2026 meetings!
Urgent: Board Candidates Needed!
There’s so much exciting news to share, but first, it’s crucial to get the following message out. Several Board terms will be up this summer, and the following positions will need to be filled: Chair, Secretary, Development Coordinator, and Self Defense Coordinator. These are in addition to the four positions that are already open and have been unfilled for some time: Events Coordinator, Digital Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator, and DEI Coordinator.
Terms are for two years; the Board meets one Sunday a month via Zoom. The need speaks for itself: for the organization to continue, we must have candidates to fill these roles before the end of the summer.
The last time we made such an urgent appeal, Corinne Lagermasini stepped in and literally saved NWMAF from folding due to lack of a Treasurer. We are hopeful that over the next few months, we’ll get another miracle! We need our members to step forward and ensure NWMAF has a full, fully functioning board going forward. Please reach out to chair@nwmaf.org if you have the slightest inkling that you might be able to serve and keep this storied organization going strong!
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NWMAF Board Members and volunteers meet up before the 2025 Conference
Weaving Strength Regional Conferences 2026!
We have been building a new tradition, following on from the model established in 2024-2025: alternating National Conference years with years of Weaving Strength Regional Conferences. Therefore, our next national conference will be planned for summer 2027.
In the meantime, we hope that our series of regional events in 2026 will continue to generate new members and provide training and networking opportunities to folks who may not be able to travel to the national conference.
BROOKLYN — MARCH 28-29
We’re excited to announce that the first Weaving Strength Regional Conference of 2026 is in the works! It will be held in partnership with Brooklyn Martial Arts, March 28th-29th. Watch this space for registration information — we’ll be sending out a special email and posting on FB and IG as soon as registration forms are ready!
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CHICAGO – JULY 24-26, 2026
Calling all members in the Midwest region! We’re thrilled to announce that we are working with the amazing team at Thousand Waves in anticipation of a Weaving Strength Regional Training in July. More information to come, so save the date and watch this space!
ESD OPPORTUNITIES AT WEAVING STRENGTH
Note from Martha Thompson, who handles Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) Certification: Sessions taken at Weaving Strength events can count towards your ESD professional development. For a session to count toward your Instructor certification or recertification, you’ll need to provide the title, instructor name, date, location of the session, and a few sentences about the value of the session to your professional ESD development. Keep it in your records and include when you complete your application. For more info, contact Martha at certification@nwmaf.org.
HOSTING A WEAVING STRENGTH CONFERENCE
We would love to support more Weaving Strength conferences this year. Please reach out to chair@nwmaf.org to learn more about collaborating on an NWMAF event in your neck of the woods!
Upcoming Online Training with Lauren Taylor
The first NWMAF online training of the year is coming up Sunday, February 8th with the incomparable Lauren Taylor! Free as always to NWMAF members. Click here for registration! Note: this training counts toward the hours needed for ESD certification and recertification.
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Healing Arts Update: Call for Contributors!
Our Healing Arts Coordinator, Ashlyn Johnson, has been outlining a white paper which pulls together the three pillars of NWMAF and frames martial arts and ESD as healing modalities. This is an area in which Ashlyn has already published research. The end result is to be an evidence-informed NWMAF position paper on the healing potential of martial arts and empowerment self-defense, grounded in peer-reviewed research and designed for minimal volunteer burden.
Members interested in collaborating on the paper should contact Ashlyn at healingarts@nwmaf.org
Empowerment Self Defense (ESD) News
Join us February 9th at 4:00pm (EST) for the Empowerment Self Defense Monthly Zoom where Daniela Lizano will share what is going on with ESD in Latin America. Daniela facilitates Empowerment Self-Defense and IMPACT trainings and workshops in Costa Rica and in the LAC region, with a focus on preventing gender-based violence. She is the Program Coordinator for RIA LAC, working on continuing education and programs for ESD LAC instructors, also as a consultant for organizations and corporations.
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
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Update
Our much-loved DEI Coordinator, Shay Mooster, had to step down in December. We wish her the best, she’ll be missed! Please reach out to chair@nwmaf.org if you feel you might be right for the role of DEI Coordinator. The workload is not heavy, but it is a crucial position for our organization, particularly given the current political climate, with DEI initiatives threatened across the country.
Newsletters on the NWMAF Site
Need to access a previous newsletter without searching through your inbox? Thanks to the hard work of Amy Eckert, the newsletter archive is now available on the NWMAF website. Any member can log in and find several months’ worth of recent newsletters at a glance!
Join Us on WhatsApp!
Just a reminder that, by request, we now have a permanent (not just conference-related) NWMAF WhatsApp group. Join us for news, announcements, and discussion — this group will be particularly helpful as the regional trainings get rolling!
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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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