This test has obviously been a big part of my life recently, but another thing that has been a big part of my life in the last year or so is my involvement with teaching classes at the dojo. I help teach the Tuesday and Thursday core class every week, and I teach the Saturday … Continue reading “Teaching Classes”
Written by Olivia Ford
There aren’t a whole lot of new things going on in my life recently, so I’m just going to use this blog as an update for how I am doing on my test. My pushups and situps have been going very well. I am able to do those every night while I am at home, … Continue reading “Life Update”
Written by Olivia Ford
This past weekend, I attended the Gold Rush Tournament hosted in Auburn by Bennati’s Martial Arts. I competed in open-hand kata and weapons kata. I placed second in weapons, however it was a very small division in the first place. What I am most proud of though, is the fact that I placed second in … Continue reading “Gold Rush Tournament”
Written by Olivia Ford
Yesterday at karate, two of my close friends, Elinor and Avi, got their second stripe on their brown belts! I have been training with both of them for around five years, and I have grown very close to them over the years. Over the years its been a back and forth of all of us … Continue reading “Next Black Belt Candidates”
Written by Olivia Ford
Today is February 24th, and nine years ago on this day, I started my training at Zen Martial Arts. It’s truly surreal to me that I have been here for nine years, especially considering that that is a little more than half of my life. Of course, I have changed a lot in the nine … Continue reading “Nine Years”
Written by Olivia Ford
I think that the biggest thing that I have fallen behind on is my mileage. I thought that I would have this one down pretty easily. My dad and I would go on bike rides anywhere from 10 to 20 miles. However, it very quickly got cold, and our motivation to hop on a bike … Continue reading “Miles Catchup”
Written by Olivia Ford
Yesterday, my JROTC unit held its annual Military Ball. This is one of my favorite JROTC events each year. It’s essentially like prom, but just for ROTC students. The girls get to wear long prom dresses and it’s all in all just a really fun day with all of my friends. My friends and I … Continue reading “Military Ball”
Written by Olivia Ford
Nothing super interesting has been going on recently, so I am going to just give a little life update. Since I started this test, I have gotten much more used to having to do my daily numbers every day, to the point where the task isn’t as physically daunting as it once was. It still … Continue reading “Life Recap”
Written by Olivia Ford
One of the many tasks that I need to complete on my black belt test is doing 15 minutes of meditation every day. I don’t talk about it a whole lot on here, so I’m going to talk about it in this blog. Meditation was one of the most difficult tasks for me in the … Continue reading “Meditation”
Written by Olivia Ford
Over this weekend, I participated in my JROTC’s Bataan Death March. Every year, we do the Bataan Death March in honor of the thousands of American and Filipino POWs who died during the Bataan Death March in 1942. In April of 1942, the Japanese forced 78,000 prisoners to walk 65 miles in brutal conditions. Thousands … Continue reading “Bataan Death March”
