Walden Heiwa Nelson was born in Japan and spent the first part of his childhood there before moving to the United States. He found Ultimate in college and grew into an elite player, joining Machine in 2009. This is Walden’s 14th year on the team, and 11th year in a row as captain.
While the time intensive nature of elite club Ultimate can lead to transience in a team’s roster, Walden has uniquely remained a stalwart member and leader of Machine. This dedication has made him a beloved member of the team and the larger ultimate community. On Machine, he inhabits many roles, from rock-solid logistics master to stern captain to treasured, always smiling, fatherly figure.
Walden is proud of his Japanese heritage and Machine has always gladly enjoyed the influence of this heritage on its jerseys, branding, and team ethos. And so we were all very excited to see the jersey that Walden designed for us. To that end, here are some words from Walden about the inspiration behind the design.
2023 Machine Jersey Designed by Walden Nelson
What inspired this jersey?
WN: Saw this design from the Brazilian soccer team, the Corinthians, and thought it looked very cool. Came up with a few designs based on it but we thought the designs that were closest to it looked the best.
Walden and fellow Machine players pointing to their wristbands in a post-workout photo.
What are the words on the jersey? Can you translate a few?
WN: Since 2014, I’ve gotten people on Machine wristbands that say CHICAGO MACHINE <YEAR> on one side and the other side has a Japanese proverb or saying. Sometimes it’s more of a theme for the year and other times it’s just a motivational saying. Either way the wristband is there for players on the team when they need a little boost during a hard workout. And most years the text is glow-in-the dark. The Japanese text on the jersey is just the 9 wristband sayings we’ve had since 2014.
A few years sayings:
2015 – 雨降って地固まる (Earth hardens after rain)
2017 – 道場で泣き戦場で笑い (Cry in the dojo, laugh on the battlefield)
2022 – 初心忘るべからず (Don't forget that beginner's spirit)
How do you feel about non-Machine, non-Japanese people wearing this jersey?
WN: The ultimate community and Machine especially embraced me fully and made me very comfortable being proud of being Japanese. This wasn’t always the case growing up after moving from Japan. I’m very grateful and appreciative that my time on Machine has been such a safe space for me. It can be unusual for non-Machine/non-Japanese people to wear a jersey with Japanese writing. But I hope people can get past that and instead appreciate wearing a jersey of a team that’s secure enough to take a chance on celebrating a long time player/captain’s heritage.
You can order this jersey and other Machine gear by filling out this order form by 9/1/23.
