I Have Felt Privileged for Every Moment of This Work: Martha Thompson Retires From IMPACT Chicago

Over 30 years ago, my friend Theo encouraged me to go to a self-defense presentation and demonstration to find out more about a unique self-defense course she had taken. When the organizers invited volunteers to do a knee strike to the guy in the padded suit, my hand went up. The experience of that kick was all I needed to sign up for the next course.

That May 1988 program brought together so many of my commitments and interests that I said yes when asked to help develop a self-defense program appropriate for a college curriculum. I had started my university career of teaching sociology with a women's and gender studies focus at age 23 and the opportunity to  combine my academic interests with teamwork, emotional work, and powerful voices and bodies as a self-defense instructor was irresistible.

I’ve been involved with IMPACT Chicago for over half my adult life and it is now time for me to step back from teaching full-force programs, serving on the board, and doing administrative work. I will continue to support IMPACT Chicago and its dedicated and skilled Admin Team, Board, and Instructors in whatever way I can (e.g. if needed, assist with instructor training and help our IMPACT:Ability program get off the ground).

I will still be doing empowerment and social justice work as I continue as the Self-Defense Coordinator for the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation until 2022; continue to be an active member of the Empowerment Self-Defense Alliance, an organization dedicated to influencing national dialogue about preventing interpersonal violence; and continue to support the work of not only IMPACT Chicago, but other IMPACT chapters.

I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated all the people I’ve worked with over the past 32 years to build and maintain the infrastructure that makes it possible for IMPACT Chicago to offer our fabulous programs. Whether new to IMPACT or a long-time volunteer like Lisa Amoroso who has been volunteering since 1990, the work of IMPACT Chicago board members and administrative staff has made it possible for IMPACT Chicago to continue to shine since 1987. I have felt privileged for every moment of this work.

Not surprisingly I hope, my biggest inspirations and rewards have been found on the mat. I have been moved profoundly by each person who has courageously stepped into an IMPACT class; each circle where we witness others’ grappling with their past, reflecting on the present, and opening themselves to a bigger future; each scenario where a defender faces and meets a challenge; and each time we applaud and cheer for each other. I have felt privileged for every moment of this work.

I have not experienced these inspirations and rewards alone. The teamwork with other lead and suited instructors and class assistants has been so enriching. There is nothing like getting feedback from a team on a class plan; working with that team to put the plan into practice while also working to make minute by minute adjustments; and in challenging moments experiencing support from a team member's glance, a word, or a nod. I have felt privileged for every moment of this work.

Martha Thompson
Instructor, 1988-2020
Volunteer Coordinator/Director/Admin Team Co-Leader, 1988-1995, 1996-2020 

Our fund drive this year is in honor of my retirement. You can find the lovely letter from IMPACT Chicago about my work and some more words from me HERE. I know there are many organizations and issues worthy of your financial support. I hope you will join me in making a donation to IMPACT Chicago this year. Any amount will mean a lot to our continued work. You can donate on the IMPACT Chicago website via Paypal, on the IMPACT Chicago Facebook page, or send a check to IMPACT Chicago, 4057 N. Damen Ave, Chicago IL 60618. Thank you.

2019 IMPACT Chicago Instructor Retreat

Row 1: Nat, Mark, Martha, AC, Rachel; Row 2: Bruce, Rob, Dominic, Katie, Ben; Missing: Margaret

IMPACT Chicago instructors met for an all-day instructor retreat Saturday March 16. We use our annual retreats as an opportunity to reflect on the past year and to look ahead to the future. Each of us co-organized and co-led a portion of the agenda.

This year we addressed:

• Teamwork 
• Technique refinement and adjustments 
• Instructor development 
• Organizational expectations
• New curriculum development

Thank you to our Instructor Team!

Lead Instructors

Katie

Margaret 

Martha

Rachel 

Suited Instructors

Aaron 

Ben 

Bruce (retired)

Mark (retired)

Nat 

Rob 

Suited Instructor-in-Training

Dominic 

Instructor Trainers

Margaret 

Mark 

Martha 

Rob 

#IMPACTChicagoSelfDefense

Mark Nessel: Training the Next Generation of IMPACT Suited Instructors

 

Mark with his kids Sam and Sofie

The IMPACT core class is such a complicated and multi layered thing that the training and certification period for new instructors, which frequently seems unnecessarily long to people that are unfamiliar with the details of the class, is a one of the foundational elements of the success of the program.  The necessary skills can't really be put into practice in a laboratory environment, it's simply impossible to simulate all the possible permutations of what might happen in a class.  The only real way to effectively train staff is to utilize an apprenticeship model where staff in training are working in a class with real students under close supervision of senior certified instructors.

     There are no throw-away moments in the IMPACT core program.  Every interplay with the class or individual students is an opportunity to either enhance or diminish their learning.  IMPACT instructors are always "on", from the moment the first student arrives before the class until the moment the last one leaves.  Every interaction needs to be intentional.  The only way to learn this is from practice and the experience of the senior staff.

     While I'm no longer able to be in the suit, I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with the next generation of suited IMPACT instructors.  We need this course and this organization now more than ever before.  Highly trained professional instructors are critical to the IMPACT program's survival and advancement of our mission of reducing and eliminating predatory violence against women.  I'm thrilled to be able to contribute to the mission through training new instructors.

Mark Nessel, IMPACT Chicago Instructor Trainer 

For more about Mark as a Suited Instructor, check out  "It's Time to Hang Up My Helmet."

          

Aaron: New IMPACT Chicago Suited Instructor

AC Christensen

Aaron Christensen (AC) is the newest member of the IMPACT Chicago Instructor Team.  He has completed the required attendance at a What is IMPACT program, rigorous interview process, observation of two Core Programs, and an intensive out-of-class training with instructors and experienced class assistants, wearing body armor customized just for him. He will be one of the suited instructors in the upcoming 2018 April Core Program.

Aaron brings a lot of experience to IMPACT. He is a certified Rape Prevention and Self Defense Instructor with the American Women’s Self Defense Association, and has worked internationally with Peak Potentials and Success Resources, assisting and leading motivational camps that incorporate martial arts and non-verbal tactics to de-escalate and/or end conflicts without compromising one’s safety or integrity of self (2013-present). He is an Elite-level personal trainer with Chicago Athletic Clubs, a professional actor, and one of the founding members of Not In Our House: Chicago, an organization created to combat sexual harassment and unbecoming conduct within the Chicago theatre community (2015-present). Welcome, Aaron!

Class Assistant and Board Member Janette
helping with AC's out-of-class training

IMPACT Chicago Lead Instructor Molly Norris Retires

Molly, IMPACT Chicago Lead Instructor 2012-2017

we all move forward when

we recognize how resilient

and striking the women

around us are 

-rupi kaur

IMPACT changes us. That’s why we are here, that’s why we stay, and that’s why we come back to give back. When I first took the Core Program in 2009 (upon the suggestion of suited instructor Nat Wilson), I had no idea what I was opening inside of myself. I called him after the first weekend (fully adrenalized and hypervigilant, I might add), and told him “I had no idea THIS is what you do.” It takes a unique collection of skills to teach with IMPACT and I had no idea at the time that my unique collection would fit.

Life has taken a hard left for me since 2009. I became an instructor in 2012, got married, bought a house, sold a house, earned a doctorate, gave birth to a future IMPACT grad; through it all, IMPACT has been a touchpoint. Something to rely upon. Something that gave me the courage and strength to make all of those difficult and necessary changes. Somewhere I knew that no matter what, we were doing good.

It is ironic that IMPACT has prepared me so well for the next hardest step: leaving IMPACT. At this point in time, I have had to make the choice to put a few of the spinning plates away and focus on new endeavors as a clinical audiologist (Side note: wouldn’t have become a Doctor of Audiology without IMPACT either).

This post is to say thank you to the IMPACT community. You have been my home for the last 8 years in one way or another, and I wouldn’t be who I am without you.

Passing it on…

Molly Norris

IMPACT Chicago Lead Instructor 2012-2017

Suited Instructor Bruce Brio Retires

Dear IMPACT Chicago Self Defense Community,     

This letter serves as notice to the IMPACT Self Defense Community that I have retired as a suited instructor. It has been such a pleasure working with all of you over the last twelve years, but after many years of using my body to help teach self-defense, I’ve decided that I would like to parlay my acquired skills into a new position within the organization that is less physical.

I can whole heartedly say, my journey has been a transformative one. It has educated and inspired me in unimaginable ways. One of the highlights of my teaching experience has been watching you make the empowering transformation in the class from day one, to day three or four. I sincerely hope I am replaced with an instructor who will not only give all of him or herself to the craft, but also receive as much knowledge and growth as I have, working with the great staff and students over many years.

Although my new role has not yet been identified, I look forward to serving you in that new capacity once it is determined.

I thank you all for the opportunity to work for IMPACT Chicago Self-Defense. I wish each and every one of you much success, and I look forward to working with you in a new capacity within Impact Chicago.

Sincerely Yours

Bruce Brio

9/25/2016

Mark Nessel: It Is Time to Hang Up My Helmet

I saw my first IMPACT Chicago graduation at Patton Gym at Northwestern University in the fall of 1990 or '91 (I can't remember anymore) and certified as a suited instructor in October or November of 1992. It’s time for my career in the Suit to wrap up. 

The September Core Program was my last Core. I'm scheduled to work in Defense Against Multiple Assailants class in October. When that class concludes I will have met all of my class commitments for this year and it will be the last time I suit up for an IMPACT class. This was not an easy decision to make, and I expect that I will have doubt about it for quite a while, but I am confident that it's time. It's my intention to remain involved in IMPACT Chicago at least in curriculum development and instructor training and I’m talking with the instructors about other ways I may be able to contribute to IMPACT, and that's a conversation that we will continue.

            

I was 25 years old when I strapped on my helmet for the first time; at the end of this coming November I will turn 49. That my time in the suit will end has always been a certainty, I only have a choice about how it ends. I feel like I'm at a juncture where I can choose to end that part of my work on my terms, or push on until that choice is somehow made for me. I very much prefer the former.

As you may well be aware, few 25-year-old males are really adults. While I'm sure there are some that are, I'm equally certain that I wasn't one of them; so I have been an IMPACT Chicago instructor for pretty much my entire adult life. Almost everything of value that I know about being a man, I learned on the mat. I can't begin to articulate how grateful I am to IMPACT Chicago for that, and for the opportunity to do my work for so many years with people that I consider, for the most part, my family.

Mark Nessel

Post from Mark on FB October 22:

 "In 1990 a martial arts student invited me to see my first IMPACT Chicago graduation and changed my life. After 24 years in The Suit it's time for me to be done with that part of my work. To the folks that don't believe that there's a war against women in this country: You haven't seen what I've seen, heard the stories I've heard, and met the people I've met. I've been a soldier in that war, working with a team that's become my family, training women to fight back for 24 years. It's time to find other ways to fight. I will remain involved in curriculum development and instructor training, and maybe a few other things. There are too many people to tag and to thank, you know who you are. I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to pursue my calling with all of you."

Comments on Facebook and in Emails

Kim Lustig Clifton 

Mark, you will be missed greatly and I want to thank you for all of your years of wearing the helmet. I feel grateful that I was one of your students as well as having the opportunity to work with you as an assistant. As Lauren said, you, as well as the other male instructors, have changed my life forever, and I don't say that lightly. Thank you for everything and best of luck in the future!!

Lauren Pérez Amack 

Mark, as one of the women whose life you changed by putting that helmet on, I thank you for your service and dedication from the bottom of my heart. I realized early on during my IMPACT training that it was no easy task for a decent, good man, to willingly become a "mugger". I understand the sacrifice that you made for me and countless other women, so that we could learn the skills we needed to defend ourselves. You showed me the lengths that a good and decent man is willing to go to, to be an ally, a supporter, and an effector of real change. Best of luck with whatever the future holds and know you have my eternal gratitude.

Audrey Raden As an IMPACT grad, thank you for all your years of service, your knowledge and support, and your willingness to be a part of positive change in this world. You've had more impact than you can guess.

Nat Wilson I have learned so much working with Mark these past 10 years. He is a master of his craft, has been a great inspiration to me and transformed my entire perspective on self defense and teaching. I'm sorry I missed participating in his last class but I am looking forward to continuing to work with him in different ways through IMPACT. Thank you Mark.

Lisa Amoroso It has been an honor to work with Mark on and off the mat since he brought his energy, skills,and too many other positives to name to our team in the early 1990s. Mark's technical skills are so readily apparent; however, one thing I have consistently appreciated about his interpersonal skills is his willingness to express and defend an idea or opinion and to engage in respectful dialogue to come to a consensus or an acceptable "agree to disagree" point. Mark is able to simultaneously coach, learn, and create space for others to do the same. Many thanks!

Michelle Barnes Schmitt Mark, I carry you with me everywhere. Thank you.

Scott Schmitt Mark, Thank you for the tools that you helped my wife develop. You have changed her life!

Rose Naegele thank you Mark

Ernest Natur From a suit in NYC, thank you and Godspeed on the next steps

Meg Stone Mark I remember meeting you at 9 one morning and teaching with you only an hour later. Though you'd never taught little kids before you jumped right in and were a seamless co-teacher. It has always been a joy to collaborate with you.

Anastasia Madeleine Korbitz Thank you Mark for all your years of dedication and for helping Benjamin a member of such a valuable program. Good luck to you and so happy to hear you will remain involved in some capacity. You have done great work all these years!

Andrea Smith-Gage Thank you for your compassion and dedication to the work. May you continue outside the helmet!

Evangeline Su thank you so mch.

Therese Schmieg Mark, I will never forget you. Thanks for being there for all of us.

Amelia Norfleet Dorn The end of an era!

Katie Bee Thank you, Mark - you made me so much stronger than I ever knew I could be!

Maureen Dunn Poet Buddha of power, the umame of Impact. Come back. For us all.

Jeanette Andrews Thank you Mark, your time in the suit has changed my life. I feel able to move so much for freely in the world! You are doing the real work of creating genuine change and please know how much that is valued on a daily basis but those whose lives you and all impact instructors, impact.

Abigail Lynn Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Anita Ginther Heartfelt thanks for all you have given and shared, Mark. The world is a better and healthier place because of you. And the ripple will continue outward. Wishing you Joy!

Jim Watson Well done, Mark. Thanks for your many years of service in the suit.

Yudit Sidikman Think of all the amazing seeds you have planted along the way. Without you and Martha, there wouldn't be an IMPACT ISRAEL! smile emoticon love you!

Rudy Andrew Trejo Mark its been a pleasure knowing and working with you in this war we fight. Nice doin battle with you! Looking forward to future collaboration and learning from your many years of suit knowledge.

Timothy Patrick Kinney Thanks for the knowledge, encouragement, and support. It's been an honor. I hope it continues to be one, because I hope to see and talk with you again. 

There's something in my eye right now, gotta go.

Ika Chipman Speechless.
Greatful for the training I got from you.
And glad to know you're staying around for development.

Kate Washabaugh I couldn't be prouder of you for all you've done and a har decision gracefully executed. I love you in and out of the suit.

Margaret Vimont Words can't do it my brother in arms.

Martha Thompson Mark, your work in the suit has been incredible and also transcends the suit. You are not done yet!

Jenny Williams Thank you mark for all your amazing work! I am very grateful for the times I got to work with you and Martha I learned so much smile emoticon
Enjoy your next chapter, wherever it may lead you

Lisa Scheff Mark, there are no words sufficient to express my gratitude for your incredible dedication to this work/war, and on a personal level for all of the support and encouragement you have given me in finding my way in the Impact world. I will have to make due with: Thank you. I am so happy that you will continue to share your incredible knowledge of the craft and look forward to working with and learning from you for many years to come.

Anthony Nitsos You were a true sensei/sifu. Thank you for the work and the guidance my friend!

Yotam Barr Sensei!

Mary Shimandle Thank you Mark!
I took the course at North Park College 1995 I think & still talk about the great experience - of bringing you down! Most recently to kick box instructor Isaiah Johnson. The learning is in me and so far I have not had to use it. In graduation video, Northwestern Univ, my dad and husband can be seen in my part, jaws open to the floor, hands over their (privates)... It's the best!!

All the best to you and your next steps!!

Carol Middleton DC IMPACT Director
Gosh, it’s hard to imagine Mark Nessel never being in the suit again, but it’s wonderful that he will still be with IMPACT Chicago.  What a spirit and heart he has, not to mention that analytic mind!  He will still be a huge help in training suits—couldn’t come from greater experience and wisdom!  And I’m sure that every other way he contributes will be golden as well.  A wise decision, I’m sure, though yes, it does feel like the end of an era.

Mark Nessel Thank you all for the kind comments about my work and its reach and impact. This was a hard decision to make, but nobody can be in the suit forever and I felt like I'd hit the crossroads where I could hang it up on my terms or eventually have that decision made for me.
Those of you that have also been in the suit or on the whistle (or still are), since that first day in 1990 all I've ever wanted to do with my life was fight this fight in your company.
It has been an honor to get to do that for so long. I'm not going anywhere (where could I go at this point?). Just changing roles

Location, Location, Location

Earlier this year an IMPACT Chicago Instructor Team worked with a magnificent group of women at the University of Michigan. University of Michigan staff Katy Mattingly, author of Self-Defense: Steps to Survival, and Kellie Carbone were fantastic hosts for Margaret Vimont, Bruce Brio, and myself. The trip got me to thinking about travel and IMPACT.

While IMPACT Chicago would love a permanent, convenient, and easy-to-get-to location (with plenty of free parking!), we teach the class in a variety of locations around the city to make ourselves accessible to as many women as possible. We’ve heard over the years that location (in addition to the time commitment and money) is one of the reasons why women do not enroll. Folks don’t want to travel too far out of their way in order to take the class.

But after our recent foray to Ann Arbor, Michigan, I see this in a different light. I would never make light or dismiss anyone’s position on why they can’t make it to a certain class because I certainly acknowledge there are real-world limitations to getting around Chicago. But seeing how hard our hosts worked to bring us to Michigan, struggling for five years with bureaucratic red tape, apathetic administrators, fundraising to cover our costs – it did give me some perspective.

I mean, if this group can jump through this many hoops, wait this long in order to bring us to them, what are your hurdles to take the class? Again, not to say they aren’t real or do not need to be figured out – but seeing how long it took for this group to prevail, I feel confident saying that for most folks, we can probably work together to find a solution to your obstacles—whether it means you coming to one of our locations or you making it possible of us to come to you.

We’d love to have you in one of our classes soon – and will happily give you directions.  :)

Rob Babcock, IMPACT Chicago Suited Instructor

How Do Suited Instructors Stay Fit?

Being a suited instructor in IMPACT, we quickly realize that once we are on the mat with a student during a scenario, there is a lot we cannot control. That being the case, one of the few things within our domain is physical fitness – which is an essential part of being an effective suited instructor – and we take it very seriously.

A few years ago, I joined a new gym. Part of the cost of joining was one free (mandatory?) session with a personal trainer. I was not really interested in hiring a trainer, but I figured I would go through the motions for the session. He asked me what one of my fitness goals was, and I answered, “I need to be able to run around in 40 pounds of body armor for six to nine hours and be able to have about 75 – 100 fights, each lasting anywhere from five to 45 seconds.” The trainer looked at me quizzically, paused, and said, “Uh…what exactly do you do?”

As much as I thought that was funny, I really couldn’t blame him. IMPACT is unique in a lot of ways. Since there is no manual on how to stay physically fit enough to do this work, we all kind of do our own thing.

I try to keep a general fitness baseline with both cardiovascular conditioning and weight training. I like to do a lot of cross-training – biking, elliptical, running, swimming, aqua aerobics, push-ups, crunches – because it involves using lots of different muscles. When suited instructors are on the mat, we never know when we are going to need to twist in one way, or take a kick in an awkward position, so our entire body must be prepared for taking strikes and moving quickly.

And now that most of our classes are packed into one weekend (for years, the core class was over two weekends), stamina is even more important. So in my fitness training, I alternate interval exercises on some days, like sprints or step-ups, (to mimic the fights on the mat) with longer periods of exercise (40 – 60 minutes) to prepare for the long days of teaching. And general weight training is always good for tone and injury prevention.

Who knows – maybe when I retire from IMPACT, I will work on a fitness video for suited instructors, so the poor personal trainers at our gyms won’t be so overwhelmed.

Rob Babcock, IMPACT Chicago Suited Instructor

Kids Will Grow Up Safer, if Enough Potential Predators Get Their @$$%$ Kicked

At his last checkup, around his third birthday, my son Sam's most excellent pediatrician asked for his permission to touch his penis before examining it. Since then, Kate and I periodically will discuss with him who gets to touch him there (he does, mommy and daddy do and the doctor does, with Sam’s permission), and what to do if someone else touches him there, or tries to or asks to. Did I mention? He's THREE!

This is our world.

I'm about to begin my 21st year working for IMPACT Chicago, where I work with some of the most amazing people there are, to teach full-contact women's self-defense and rape prevention classes. This relates to what Kate and I are teaching our son because we live in world where predatory sexual violence happens. It happens, I'm convinced, in large part because the predators believe it is a low-risk crime to commit (that's not the only reason, of course, but it's a big one).

For years, IMPACT has been graduating classes of 9 to 16 women who have learned to ramp up predators’ risk level astronomically. If we do enough of that, maybe my son and daughter won't have to worry so much about teaching my grandchildren about who gets to touch them when they're three years old.

I've been doing this a long time. I've never met a woman who couldn't learn to defend herself. Please, look at the website, consider signing up or encouraging women you know to sign up. If enough potential predators get their asses kicked enough times, all our kids will grow up safer for it.


Mark Nessel, IMPACT Chicago Instructor

It Should Be Dangerous to Attack a Woman

I grew up in northern California, just a hop, skip and a jump from the Bay Area. I grew up with liberal parents who encouraged me to do anything, because I could and should! The world was my oyster! I never considered myself to be anything but strong and empowered. Then I flew the coop, jumped ship, made a break for it…in other words: COLLEGE. This is when I learned that not everyone is raised to believe women are equal, that we are strong and entitled to everything that men are. I chalked it up to new experiences, but this new world view really seeped into me insidiously. I started to forget that being strong and sure of one’s opinions was acceptable and should be encouraged.


Fast forward 10 years through two master’s degrees from California and Upstate New York to this west coast girl settling into a cautious Midwestern existence in Chicago. I had connections to a few friends, one of whom was dating a guy who helped teach self-defense. I filed self-defense away as something that would be good to learn, but not necessarily needed. Then, I was followed home. It wasn’t a huge deal at the time…but I was frightened.


The next day I signed up for that self-defense class and…I woke up. In one weekend, I was reminded of that sassy and spirited gal who left California so long ago, and I was deeply saddened. If I was subconsciously being pushed down by the seemingly latent messages of female inferiority….what about the women who were experiencing it openly? Why was it still happening? What could I do? Well, I learned that what I can do is fight.


So five years later, I’ve become an instructor. It took two years of training and work, but in light of the statistics it didn’t feel like there was any other option for me. IMPACT Chicago teaches full-force, fully adrenalized self-defense for women and girls. We use padded male instructors so women can learn what it feels like to hit something and that they do have the strength and power to do it. We also provide an opportunity to learn and practice prevention, assessment, and verbal boundary setting because we emphasize that no one should engage in physical altercations if they can avoid it. But knowing your body can back it up if you’re in danger adds so much weight to the message. We teach women they are worth taking care of.


Consider how revolutionary it will be when it becomes a very dangerous thing to attack a woman. Consider how different the world will look, because right now, there are no consequences and the mentality that “she was asking for it” still exists and is tacitly approved by society. Even now. So we start with 15 women at a time and we teach their muscles how to remember what to do when that adrenaline rush hits and their fine motor skills go out the window, and if they feel empowered along the way to change the world a little bit themselves, then we’ve done our job.


Molly Norris, IMPACT Chicago Instructor

Martha Thompson Receives Peacemaker Award

Nancy Lanoue, Co-Executive Director,*

Thousand Waves Martial Arts & Self-Defense Center

Martha and Nancy

One of the riskiest decisions I ever made was in 1991, when I offered to coordinate the annual conference of the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation here in Chicago at Loyola University. I had had no experience to prepare me for such a task and was a relative newcomer to the organization, but I was driven to the challenge.

Fortunately, the conference didn’t fail and even earned enough money for us to buy our first computer for Thousand Waves. But the most valuable thing I got from it was not the boost to my reputation or a financial windfall. It was an amazing new member, Martha Thompson, who had heard that the conference was offering a self-defense track and decided to check it out. She shortly, thereafter, made the leap into studying martial arts.

At this time, Martha had already been teaching self-defense for several years. She was slowly and steadily building the capacity of the organization, IMPACT Chicago, and extending its reach across Chicago as a provider of feminist, empowerment-oriented self-defense. As many of you know, what IMPACT offers that we at Thousand Waves do not, is the opportunity to work with armored male co-instructors to practice full contact strikes in an adrenalized condition.

Martha has been an inspiring teacher of IMPACT Chicago self-defense for 25 years and, in this capacity, has touched the lives of literally thousands of students, giving them the tools they need to be safe and to heal from whatever violence they have experienced.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to work collaboratively with Martha on many projects. She, Marie O’Brien and I decided to try to articulate our shared vision of what a Feminist Empowerment Model of Self-Defense looks like. Once we captured it on paper, we took it to our colleagues in the NWMAF and got them to adopt it as the standard pedagogic model for their certification program.

Martha’s leadership, in this and countless other projects that she has volunteered for, is a demonstration, in and of itself, of the feminist empowerment model we sought to articulate.  It comes naturally to her to make a place for everyone, respect diverse points of view, draw on the expertise participants bring to the table, bring out the best in everyone, inspire respectful debate and work towards consensus.

One of the reasons Martha is able to so skillfully apply the feminist empowerment model in her self-defense teaching, and to help other teachers like me do it as well, is that this topic has been a major focus of her academic scholarship, as well as her self-defense teaching. Since her retirement from Northeastern Illinois University’s Sociology and Women’s Studies Departments, she has begun a new type of teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she works on preparing future faculty by teaching them her pedagogic methods

I could go on much longer singing the praises of my friend, my martial arts student and my self-defense colleague, but with no further delay, I would like to award the Thousand Waves Peacemaker Award to Martha Thompson.

We honor you, Martha, for your contributions to the development of a Feminist Empowerment Model of teaching and for many years of creative, principled leadership in local, national, and international Women’s Self-Defense work.

Through your academic scholarship and 25 years of inspired teaching with IMPACT Chicago, you have set thousands of positive waves in motion. Thank you for inspiring us to follow in your footsteps.

*Remarks made on the occasion of Dr. Martha Thompson’s Peacemaker Award, February 9, 2013

Rob Babcock, IMPACT Chicago Instructor and Board Member

Rob Babcock came to IMPACT Chicago in 1999, determined to “make a difference in preventing violence against women.” In addition to his work as an Instructor and as an Instructor Trainer, he has served on IMPACT Chicago’s Board of Directors for more than ten years. “I like working on the ‘front lines’ of the movement to prevent violence against women,” he says. “I enjoy thinking that, after a student leaves a class I have helped to teach, she is more confident and capable of defending herself.”

One of the most effective aspects of IMPACT, he feels, is that it teaches practical, safe self-defense tools designed around the innate strengths of women and girls.

When he’s not donning a mugger helmet, Rob works as an educational administrator. He also pursues his recently-discovered passion for theatre. Over the past 4 ½ years, he has performed in approximately fifteen plays, and he’s “always looking for more.”


Being an ally and advocate for women is deeply rewarding for Rob. “In working for IMPACT, I gain much more than I give,” he says. And his ultimate goal? “I’d like for there to be a day in the near future when no one knows what a rape whistle was used for.” Rob was interviewed by Amy Voege, IMPACT grad and board member