On March 26, 2016, five of our High School mentoring pairs and Apex staff member, Sascha VanWilliams, were invited by Yinan Xia from The Young Professionals Board of New York Asian Women’s Center to attend Defend with a Friend, a self-defense workshop designed to build awareness, preparedness, and readiness for any life-threatening situation that may occur. The event was made possible through the collaboration of The Promise Society and Unity Jiu Jitsu. Throughout the session, there were plenty of “Ow!” , “I’m sorry, you okay?” , and laughs in between. Afterwards, the class was treated to chia pudding prepared by Teresa Chan and fruit drinks provided by event sponsor Vitamin Juice. Even more rewarding was that we had the opportunity to hear from representatives ( Yinan Xia, Jinhee Joe, Elaine Lin, Joanna Lui ) about all the wonderful work these participating organizations do for our community. Thank you to The Young Professional Board, The Promise Society, and Unity Jiu Jitsu for their efforts to empower us all!
Thanks also to Apex staffer Sascha, who attended the event as a substitute mentor for the day. Below, Sascha provides some insight on what it’s like to be a substitute mentor for a day:
I had the privilege of being partnered with William. William, a first year Apex for Youth mentee and high school sophomore, has two months of experience practicing martial arts. I was in good, possibly lethal hands. Our instructor, Ana Lowry, and Chris, her mock assailant, were wonderful teachers. They taught us basic Jiu Jitsu positions, transitions, and moves, such as the Kimura lock, Armbar and Rear Naked Chokehold. William and I practiced these moves on each other, taking turns as both the aggressor and defender. We both helped each other improve our form and technique. As focused as we were, William and I did manage to joke about how silly we felt doing some of the moves and the mistakes we had made. Afterwards, the class was treated to Chia pudding and fruit drinks by the event sponsors. William and I made sure to thank Ana and Yinan before we left. William said he enjoyed the class and would like to pursue martial arts further. William and I realized we both needed to work on our sense of direction, as we try to figured out the best routes home. As we headed to the 34th street station, William and I talked about video games (e.g. Call of Duty, Fallout, World of Warcraft), skateboarding, exploring the city, and he reassured me that 23 wasn’t that old. Then we fist bumped onto our separate ways.
Check out the photos below, courtesy of Yinan!
