35th Generation Disciple
Brief info
My martial arts journey started when I was 14. I decided to take karate lessons after I went through a few rather unpleasant incidents that involved verbal bullying and threatening letters. However, I wasn’t very interested in the sport karate, because I was being pushed to competing, and I wanted to be able to protect myself in any situation, not just to fight limited by strict rules.
Fortunately, a friend of mine came across traditional karate classes which completely bewitched me with its complexity and skills of the teachers. As I reached 18, I started to attend regular seminars to become a karate instructor. Our teachers encouraged us to study other subjects as well, for example traditional Chinese medicine, dietetics, Theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Feng Shui, body language etc. My Sensei often used to say that we should learn to help others before we learn to harm them. He also liked to remind us that masters are born from sweat and blood, and to never give up. Our classes and training conditions were very tough, our dojo had no heating or air-con, had a hard instead of a soft floor and we didn’t use any body protection at all. I kept training though and received my black belt in 2009.
Witnessing my karate school disintegrate and following my dream to live in London, I gave up training karate and searched for a martial arts school that would offer everything I was used to. That’s why I joined Shaolin Temple UK. What I love about Shaolin is that it teaches not only combat and fitness but also wisdom, compassion and how to take care of our health.
I have always wanted to become a fearless martial arts master who could teach women and men self-defence so they couldn’t be taken advantage of or bullied. Due to my personal growth in recent years I have realised that I would also like to help people who want to lose weight and advise them about healthy lifestyle and diet.
When I need to lift my warrior spirit, I like to watch The Matrix or anything with Jackie Chan. However, my real inspirations are my past and present teachers, Shifu Yanzi and my Shaolin brothers and sisters, who set an example with their everlasting dedication and loving presence.