Full Circle Academy instructor Naomi Even-Aberle prepares to lead students in martial arts presentation at Oglala Lakota College gymnasium. Photo by Jim Kent
Full Circle” Martial Arts Welcomes Lakota Students Into Circle
By Jim Kent
Lakota Country Times Correspondent
www.lakotacountrytimes.com KYLE --It’s a cold, windy, overcast Saturday afternoon on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Snow or rain is in the air. But inside a gymnasium on the Oglala Lakota College campus near Kyle, a group of boys and girls are keeping the atmosphere warm by going through their paces in a karate demonstration. “All of the programming that we offer…not only in Rapid City but also in Kyle…is around Taekwondo and around character development for the students,” Naomi Even-Aberle explained. Even-Aberle is a 4th-degree master black belt and instructor at Full Circle Academy. What does 4-degree black belt mean? That you want this woman near you next time you’re walking down a dark alley. But if you thought studying martial arts was only about learning self-defense, you need to think again. As these Lakota students are learning, it’s also about building self-esteem.
Tsenesa Ducheneaux practices karate moves with a Full Circle Martial Arts Academy instructor during a demonstration in Kyle, South Dakota. Here she throws a kick to break a wooden board. Photo by Jim Kent
“It is so much more than that,” Even-Aberle observed. “But at the end of the day you’re learning how to take care of yourself…how to better yourself. And in the opportunities of bettering yourself you gain the understanding to help better those around you. Because if you’re better and you can take care of yourself and you start to understand your place in the world…you can help others around you.” “Full Circle” Martial Arts was invited to Pine Ridge by the Kyle Health Center to help combat the recent suicide epidemic by giving kids a place to go, a physical activity to take part in and an environment where they could find a support network. The program is funded by Kyle Health and free to participants. “Immediately, I thought, yes…this is where we need to be,” Even-Aberle commented, recalling the request to come to Kyle. “Because, yes, it helps with suicide prevention. But at the end of the day, these are my kids. You know? I mean, we hang out together. We get to know each other. And, so, it goes beyond giving them something to do. It gives them something to be excited about, something to believe in and something to foster on their own.” Even-Aberle added that having an alternative to expressing one’s self through the usual activities of sports and arts is also a great self-esteem builder. “For instance,” Even-Aberle continued, “I have a couple of students who say they really love basketball, but they’re not very good. So they’re not on the basketball team. Well, if you’re not on basketball then what else are you going to do? Every student has a different fit. And this just offers another opportunity for students to find something that fits…them.”
Tsenesa Ducheneaux Here she follows up with a controlled punch to the face after throwing her Taekwondo instructor to the floor during a demonstration in Kyle, South Dakota. Photo by Jim Kent
After just 6 months in the program, 10-year old Nisa totally agrees. “Yeah. I want to learn how to be a helper,” she states enthusiastically. “I want to help. I want to become a master.” Nisa wants to become a master just like her instructor and new role model Naomi. Her friend, Hanna, has similar goals. She also likes the new friends she’s made through the program, the exercise it offers and the self-defense she’s being taught. When Even-Aberle first arrived at Kyle there were several students who wouldn’t look at her and who hardly spoke to her, causing the martial arts instructor to wonder if they - or their parents – even wanted her to be there. Fast-forward 6 months and those same kids are telling Even-Aberle what happened at school and introducing her to their cousins, aunties and uncles. “And their parents are starting to talk to me,” noted Even-Aberle. “So we’re really taking those first steps in developing a family. Not just people who come to the same space, but family who cares about one another.” Rose Mathis has two daughters in the Full Circle program. “I think it’s great,” she observed. “There’s nothing like it around here.”
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Mathis added that she never thought of martial art as providing the opportunity to build one’s spirit. “I always thought of doing yoga,” she recalled. “So they could have a stronger mind and maybe meditate through some of the stuff they’re going through. Sit down and focus and bring yourself back to the center. And I never thought of Taekwondo being similar. But I guess I see that now.” In the end, said Even-Aberle, the goal is to teach “her kids’ it’s all about being the best you that “you” can be. And it’s about celebrating the students in everything they do that is positive – in their life and in their family. Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter and download the new Lakota Country Times app today.
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