2014 Spirit Challenge - Final Update

Thank you! 

Your support helped me successfully complete my 2014 Spirit Challenge! All that is left to do is to help Thousand Waves reach our $70,000 goal. We are close - as of this morning the total raised is $63,229.60. So, if you are able to help us out, click HERE.

Here are some more photos and videos! Last Wednesday, I participated in the Super Circuit Fitness Challenge! We did a lot of squats, v-sits, jumps, agility work, ab challenges, push-ups, rows with exercise bands, heavy ball throws, shadow boxing with weights, etc. At the end, when we were truly exhausted, we did 100 punches from horse stance! 

Friday a group of my fellow karateka and I performed kata to a recording of Maya Angelou reading her poem "Life Doesn't Frighten Me." Click here for a video of the performance. Here is the version of Angelou's poem that we used. And here is a photo:

Saturday was the last day of the 2014 Spirit Challenge. I participated in the Karate Boot Camp, assisted during the Beginner Board Breaking Challenge and participated in the Advanced Board Breaking Challenge. This last event was truly the most difficult for me. The challenges were to break a board suspended from a string, stand on one leg for 5 seconds and then do a break and do a power break of more than one board. My first two boards did not break. I used a roundhouse descending elbow (my left one!) for the power break (my first ever attempt at breaking more than one board) and broke the top board. I moved the pieces out of the way and broke the bottom board.

Even though I wasn't successful in breaking all of my boards, I'm very happy with my 2014 Spirit Challenge. Board breaking is always challenging and I look forward to future opportunities to improve this part of the art. Check out the video of the amazing breaks of my Senpai here. (My breaks are around the 5:40 mark.)

5 years of Spirit Challenge t-shirts!

Nidan and Shodan Kata Endurance Challenge Group

Partner sit-ups and punches with Senpai Maddie

Our tremendously talented teens!

Spirit Challenge Update - Midpoint

Thanks again to all my supporters! I have reached my fundraising goal, but donations are still welcome in order to help Thousand Waves reach its goal of $70,000! Here is the direct link.

After the 10K race on Sunday, Monday was Kata Endurance Challenge. Sensei Eric encouraged us to perform kata with power, speed, control and grace for an hour and 15 minutes. It was indeed a challenge! I don't have any pictures from my group yet, but here is a picture from the senior black belt kata challenge:

 

Tuesday night was my Sparring Endurance Challenge: 75 minutes of sweat dripping off my face and a lot of fun, tiring sparring rounds (with 40 birthday push-ups in honor of Senpai Amy thrown in!).

Last night was the Super Circuit Fitness Challenge! 75 minutes of pure sweat! Today my muscles are definitely speaking to me! I hope to have more photos to share in my next blog.

All in all, I'm feeling strong. My fitness is improving every day and I'm having fun pushing the limits of my endurance in these events!

Thanks once again for all of your love and support! Here is my fundraising link one more time!

The 2014 Spirit Challenge has begun!

THANKS TO ALL MY DONORS!

I HAVE REACHED MY 2014 FUNDRAISING GOAL!

Yesterday we celebrated our fathers (those still with us and those who have passed) and ran in support of diversity and violence prevention in our 2014 Spirit Challenge kick-off event - the Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate. Sam (Stacey) and I ran the 10K and Sam got a PR and finished 3rd in her age group! I was 11th in my age group. We had a fun time. There were 65 Thousand Waves participants! 

Though I have reached my goal, the ultimate goal of $70,000 that Thousand Waves needs to fulfill its mission has not yet been achieved. So, you may still donate by clicking HERE

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49% of my goal!

Who will help me achieve over 50% of my goal? If it's you, please click on this link to my personal fundraising page. Huge thanks to all who have already contributed!

The school year ended last week for me and since then I've...

• trained in karate
• done curriculum mapping and planning
• worked on plans for our Italian Exchange summer program (27 students and 4 adults from Italy for 2 weeks in July!)
• worked on home improvement projects and our kitty-peaceful-cohabitation project
• run several days, including the Hollywood HuSTLe in St. Louis, in jeans! Bleeker won first place for costume and got a PR in the 5K--a smoking 21:26!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

So, as you can see, I've been just a little busy! ;)

Please help me reach my fundraising goal! THANKS! http://goo.gl/qbLmUk

36% of my goal!

I like the number 36... but, in this case, I like the number 100 even more! :) Can you help me achieve 100% of my fundraising goal? Here is the link: https://secure.qgiv.com/hobnob/account/63395

Yesterday I ran 5 miles and took two challenging karate classes. Before running I was feeling bloated and sluggish. I don't feel that I'm in my top physical form right now and it gets me down. However, during running and karate classes, something magical happens--my spirits lift and I start feeling better--way better. And the feeling lasts even afterwards (for a few hours at least!).

So now you understand even more why it is essential that I train! Osu!

Why I Train

Why do I train at Thousand Waves (TW)? Here are a few reasons.

1) I felt immediately welcomed by the TW community from day 1. TW is truly for everyone, from 4 to 84 (and even beyond!) Seido karate and self-defense courses at TW are available to all no matter your age, body size, fitness level, ability level or ability to pay.

2) Seido karate at TW helps me become stronger in mind, body and spirit.

3) I've learned to defend myself and others and how to be an upstander instead of being a bystander in situations of harassment and violence.

4) I used to suffer quite a bit from depression. I've discovered that running, meditating and practicing Seido karate are essential to my mental health.

Please help me reach my 2014 Spirit Challenge goal of raising $1500 in order to ensure that anyone who wants to train at TW for any of the reasons that I have listed above or for any other reasons are able to do so, even if they do not have the means to do so. Thanks!

Here is the link to my personal fundraising page

Spirit Challenge 2014!!!

A huge thanks to all who have supported me in past Spirit Challenges. Now I ask you to help me reach my 2014 Spirit Challenge goal! Here is the link to my personal fundraising page: https://secure.qgiv.com/hobnob/account/63395

This year is special in that this will be my first Spirit Challenge as a Black Belt! I trained hard and achieved my "Shodan" (first degree) belt this past March. In the months leading up to the test I focused on karate and did not do much running. Now I'm trying to balance karate training, fitness workouts and running in order to prepare for the challenging events of June 15-21.

Our ASK program is going strong. It is truly rewarding to work with the wonderful students of ASK. Many of them just participated in our annual Thousand Waves Kids' Tournament. Here are a couple of photos from that event.