floor with spring underlayment will insure “soft” landings during Jujutsu classes;
the ball is used for certain training exercises. (Karen Torme Olson/H-F Chronicle)
When 18-year-old Diane Wallander arrived on the campus of Northwestern University in 1982 to start her freshman year, she was looking forward to diving into advanced science classes, meeting peers from all over the country, and enjoying personal independence. The thought of having to defend herself against a physical attack in her college community never crossed her mind.
But later that term, news of multiple sexual assaults on women in the immediate area reached her mom, who promptly insisted that her daughter enroll in a self-defense class.
As a result, Wallander joined a Jujutsu class at Northwestern that was taught by a former Green Beret, John Lewis, an expert in hand-to-hand combat. He was a sensei (teacher) of Miyama Ryu, a style of Jujutsu that was developed in the South Bronx and which is “. . . the flexible art of street-fighting, a form of self-defense that the Samurai used in case they didn’t have their sword or if it was knocked out of their hands,” Wallander said.
Taking that first Jujutsu class was a first step in Wallander’s lifelong career of training and teaching others to defend themselves. “It was tough,” she said. “There were 25 people in class when I started, but just two of us when the class ended.
“In Jujutsu, you have to learn to give as well as take punishment, and you have to learn to fall, which is intense. I was an athlete, and it was probably easier for me because athletes already have body confidence.”
When Wallander graduated from Northwestern four years later, she had earned a brown belt and was teaching a self-defense class. She went on to do a stint in Tonga with the Peace Corps, earn an M.A. and a Ph. D. in Anthropology, lecture at local universities, and parent of two children with her husband, Rohin Ullberg, all the while advancing her martial arts skills.
Today, she lives in Flossmoor and is the only woman in the entire Chicago area with an 8th-degree black belt in Miyama Ryu Jujutsu. Now she is ready for her next step — establishing her own state-of-the-art training facility in Flossmoor — Chicago Minami Dojo, which translates to Chicago South Side Place of Training.
Wallander maintains that she can teach anyone how to defend themselves, and she will offer a wide variety of sessions to make that happen. “There are lots of styles of Jujutsu,” she said. “They differ in moves, velocities, or emphasis and each has a different flavor. I’ve taught women who weigh 100 pounds how to throw a 300-pound attacker. It’s about balance and technique.”
Wallander’s dojo will offer private lessons, a regular schedule of after-school classes for younger children, and an early evening class for teens. “There will be self-defense classes and kickboxing for anybody who wants to get a good workout and learn basic skills but not go the full Jujutsu route,” she said. Eventually she will offer specialized monthly weekend self-defense seminars such as self-defense for cane users and sessions for people who are struggling after experiencing a trauma.
armed with a knife. (Provided photo)
“Martial Arts isn’t just about defending yourself,” Wallander said. “It’s the awareness skills, the psychological preparedness, being able to read behavioral signals from others. There’s a beautiful positive feedback loop that happens when you train in physical skills. It spills over into psychological preparedness. When you elevate a person’s confidence in their body and what they can do physically, it affects every other aspect of their own personal awareness in a positive way.”
Chicago Minami Dojo is located at 1831 Dixie Highway, Building B, Suite 202. It will hold its grand opening celebration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16. Jujutsu demonstrations will begin at 11 a.m.
For more information on classes at Chicago Minami Dojo, go to [email protected] or call 708-951-5524.
