My journey into martial arts started when I was 15 years old. My little sister asked our parents if she could take Judo lessons and my mother said “yes.” However, unfortunately for me, I was told that I would have to do it as well. I was not particularly fond of martial arts at the time; if given the choice, I definitely would have said “no.” Nevertheless, I donned the uniform with my white belt and showed up.
Judo, meaning “the gentle or yielding way” in Japanese, was not so gentle in my eyes. In fact, I became friends with an African boy at Judo, but that friendship wholly consisted of him throwing me to the ground. Needless to say, I didn’t have much fun at all, but I continued to go to the classes and eventually earned a yellow belt. As for my little sister, she continued on to the highest belt.
Fast-forward to 15 years later, at the age of 30, I came across an article in the newspaper about a young woman in Barrie, Ontario, who had a black belt in karate. The blonde, petite woman that I saw in the picture was quite possibly the last person I would have imagined to have a black belt at the time. As a result, reading her story piqued my interest and I inquired at the Dojo about joining. Since my son (who was six) wanted to be a Ninja Turtle, then husband used to be a boxer, and daughter (who was nine) was also interested, the whole family ended up joining.