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”
Written by Olivia Ford
This week at my school is finals week. This is the last week of the first semester, so I have a week of early release days, but also a week filled with lots of hard tests. Because I am now an upperclassman, I don’t have as many hard curriculum classes, so I only have three … Continue reading “Finals”
Written by Olivia Ford
I started training at this dojo because of my dad. I did a tumbling class when I was 7 at the Coloma Community Center, and just a few doors down was Zen Martial Arts at the former location. My dad decided to get me started with classes at this dojo, and I’ve been with it … Continue reading “My Dad”
Written by Olivia Ford
Happy New Year! This is officially the year of my black belt test. It’s honestly surreal to think about that, considering I’ve been doing karate for almost 9 years. Getting a black belt has always been a really big goal for me in my training, and the fact that I’m going to be testing for … Continue reading “New Years”
Written by Olivia Ford
I’m only about halfway through my winter break, which is very nice to still have some time left. I have been spending a lot of time catching up on my pushups and sit-ups, but I have also spent time with my family. We always host my mom’s side of the family at my house and … Continue reading “Christmas”
