I am officially 18 years old! I celebrated my birthday this past Sunday with my family and it was very fun. My mom made chocolate chip waffles for breakfast and I opened some gifts. After that my sister and I went to the mall. There are a lot of companies that offer free rewards to … Continue reading “18th Birthday”
Written by Elinor Silack
This past week I got the opportunity to lead a Postal Service colorguard. This is one of the few colorguards that I’ve led that have gone really wrong. We had a couple new members on the team, so right off the bat the colorguard was already struggling. The second thing that went wrong was our … Continue reading “Postal Service Colorguard”
Written by Elinor Silack
Every Sunday morning Avi and I go to the dojo to get some extra training time in. Normally when we get there, the first thing we do is makiwara. It’s an easy thing to get out of the way. Sometimes we will switch it up and do pushups and sit-ups first. But the main reason … Continue reading “Sunday Training”
Written by Avi Martens
Just a few weeks ago, our dojo had a CPR/AED first aid class. It was awesome! It covered CPR, Stop the Bleed, responding to choking incidents, recognizing heat-related symptoms, and more. Learning about the human body and how to save a life was really interesting. Honestly, this class really solidified my desire to become a … Continue reading “CPR class”
Written by Phillip Debord
Why would a Sensei repeat his black belt test—and not only repeat it, but attempt a much harder version? I’m still asking myself that question. But it may have to do with what the One Heart Challenge means to me. The One Heart Challenge is demanding. It asks questions that become more meaningful the longer … Continue reading “Another Journey”
Written by Elinor Silack
Attached is a video of me doing Seisan kata. I’ve been a little sick so this isn’t my best kata, but I still wanted to post it. Seisan has been my tournament kata for years and has won me many gold medals. After starting my black belt test, I switched my tournament kata to Chinto … Continue reading “Seisan Kata”
Written by Olivia Ford
One of the many requirements of this test is to write an essay about what a black belt means to me. I finished it a little while ago, and I thought that I would share it as one of my blog posts! I have been doing karate for more than … Continue reading “What A Black Belt Means To Me Essay”
Written by Elinor Silack
I spent this Saturday morning leading a colorguard team for the State Society Council meeting for the California Daughters of the American Revolution at the downtown Sheraton. I lead colorguard events all the time, but this one was a little more complicated because we had to post the colors. Posting colors is basically just putting … Continue reading “DAR Colorguard”
Written by Elinor Silack
The past few months I have gotten into making press-on nails! I was inspired by my friend at school because she also makes her own press-on nails. Making my own nails has saved me a BUNCH of money because all the supplies were roughly $50 and a professional set is roughly $60. So, I am … Continue reading “Nails”
Written by Olivia Ford
I’m just about one month away from my black belt test!! I genuinely can’t believe how far I’ve come on this journey. I hit my one year mark a few days ago, which was absolutely surreal. When you first start the test, 13 months sounds like a lot, but you don’t realize just how long … Continue reading “One Month Left”
