I’ve had 3 kids, 2 knee surgeries, foot surgery, and recent back surgery. Yet, I will not let myself have any excuses…I am going to train and I am going to compete in the open martial arts circuit!
I could let having kids be an excuse. Just think of the time and energy it takes to keep up with them, take them to the places they need to be, cook and clean-up after them, and well this list goes on and on. But no, kids are not going to hold me back. Yes I was pregnant, gained the pregnancy weight and worked my tail off to lose the weight. I nurture my babies, take care of them, but I also have to do things to take care of myself and make myself happy. My kids see me run, go to the gym, practice at home, and go to taekwondo class. They see me work hard and they will see me succeed. I will not be a chubby mom who lives through their kids. Instead, my kids will learn from me: living an active lifestyle, setting goals, and working hard.
I could let my injuries be an excuse. I have metal rods and screws all over my body, and being injury prone, I am sure there are future operations I will need. But I will not let this stop me either. I love martial-arts and I will do it one way or another. I will not be old and regret not learning and moving while I still can.
I have multiple state and national titles from Olympic style and USCDKA tournaments. I love to compete, but I have hit a point where I want to move on to bigger and more challenging tournaments. How else can I get better if I do not push myself to compete against better martial-artists.
Next year I am going to compete at local open karate tournaments in Florida. My goal for 2011 is to compete at the U.S. Open in July as well as Internationals in the fall. My focus will be on traditional forms, point-style sparing, and fans. I am going to have to relearn to fight. It has been over 2 years since I’ve seriously trained because of my back injury. This will require conditioning, strength training to keep my body safe from injury, drill work with instructors, and sparing practice.
I am going to have to clean up my traditional form. It has been awhile since I’ve had to do more than just kick high to win at forms. Plus, I will have to make my form more competitive for the open circuit since WTF Taekwondo forms are so different from karate forms.
Finally, it has been several years since I have competed with my fan. I am going to have to create a form and make it awesome so that I do not embarrass myself. I’m going to have to work through my wrist, back, and knee pain so I can make the fan form more extreme and exciting.
Yes, I have my work cut out for me, and I am excited about it!
