Finding Home in D.C.

Ari Kirsh

Finding Home in D.C.

When I was five years old, my mother made a decision that would shape my life forever: she enrolled me in classes in Japanese Shotokan Karate-Do. That was how I met Sonny Kim.

            He was a fifth degree Black Belt (Godan) at the time and the Sensei of his own school on Montgomery Road in Cincinnati, Ohio, and truthfully, he almost did not agree to teach me. I was extremely undersized, even for a five year old, and he thought I was too small and would get hurt. He was sorely tempted to make me wait a year to begin training. Fortunately for me, he relented, and allowed me to begin training. That is the story of how my love for Karate-do began, from that day in August of 1998 to the present.

            I am writing about this because Sensei Sonny Kim also worked as a police officer. On June 19, 2015, Sensei Kim passed away in the line of duty in Madisonville. And my world imploded.

            The man who essentially helped raise and mold me for 17 years, the man who I looked at as a third parent, was gone forever in a senseless, tragic act of violence. I will never be able train with him ever again. I will never have him to talk to when school or life is getting under my skin ever again. I will never be able to ask him his opinion on major life questions, from politics to religion to my career, ever again. I will never receive his Facebook messages with martial arts videos that brightened my day no matter how difficult life became ever again. To the world, he passed away while living the very spirit of Karate-do: protecting others from harm. To me, I lost one of the greatest mentors that I have ever had, and one of the greatest people I will ever have the privilege to know. I was shattered when it happened. I would be lying if I said that I am better six weeks later.

            On May 9, 2015, the day that I left for WAIP, Sensei Kim hosted one of his Saturday morning Early Bird classes. I attended, in what I will forever consider as one of the most important decisions that I have ever made. Not only did I get to spend quality time with him for what would be the last time, but my Sensei gave me contact information for a Karate-do friend of his who trains in Georgetown.

“Go train with him,” said Sensei Kim. “I think it would be a great experience for you.”

            Unfortunately, I did not listen immediately. WAIP can be very busy, so I did not train with my Sensei’s friend for a few months. Then Sensei Kim passed away, and everything changed for me.

            D.C. Shotokan Karate Club trains in the Jeleff Boys and Girls Club gym in Georgetown. The first day I went there, it was about 90^oF outside and humid. Funny thing about that gym: there is no air conditioning. So I went there and trained in that sweltering gym, with strangers who I had never met before, practicing the art I have loved since I was boy. And throughout all of my experiences here in D.C., I have never felt more at home or more alive than I did that night. For the first time in weeks, I could not stop smiling. Because when I was out there training, I felt close to Sensei Kim, and it made me feel whole again. I found home in D.C.

            I love my job with The McManus Group, and working in Washington has inspired me to come here and work on Capitol Hill. I am very interested in the legislative process, and I want to take my professional career in that direction. While I was realizing that, there was always one question that lingered in the back of my mind: will I have a Karate-do school to train at if I move here?

            After my experiences at D.C. Shotokan Karate Club, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Hopefully, if I can get a job here, I will return to Washington. When I do, those strangers I trained with will become my friends. Their school will become my school. Most of all, I will have a little piece of home here if I return, and a way to always be connected to Sensei Kim. It means the world to me that I have found somewhere to train in a place where I want to work. And without Sensei Kim and WAIP, I never would have had the chance to find it.