MIMA Blog

My life as a black belt will vary depending on my further goals and the type of black belt I want to be.

What are my goals upon having reached my black belt for my future training and learning?

I will go for instructor. This will require my own nunchuck/sword form (one of each), but I may need to improve my sword skills. I will need to learn new Chung kals and the back belt form. Then, I might go for master. While I am a black belt, I might teach classes, but not be too strict. I might also go

My definition of being a black belt has evolved over the years. When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a ninja and/or a Power Ranger, that’s what being a black belt meant to me back then. Now, it means being Batman, fighting crime and taking names… Kidding! When I started doing martial arts, I thought being a black belt would be to become proficient at self defense techniques and sparring. As I progressed through Mercer Island Martial Arts, I found that being a black belt was so much more.

When

Friend! Yes, here would be a beautiful picture of my friend Karen. I assure you she has no problem with me posting this picture because it used to be her profile picture on facebook not too long ago. I also assure you there are more attractive pictures than this, but this face is too awesome not to repost. 

She is telling me that she is writing an awesome recommendation for me, and from the tidbit she gave me I’m sure it will turn out great. Not because I’m an awesome person, but because she has

I figured a good place to look for heroes was in history. The problem usually is, though, that on a closer inspection, despite all the good these people have done, often the heroes of history have a dark side. That is not true for Rosa Parks, though. She showed us all a single person, with a single action, can change society for the better. With simple civil disobedience, Rosa parks started a boycott that showed that the simple action of a community can change the world. The civil rights movemen

I figured that as long as I was doing a fictional character, I might as well also get this one out of the way. Batman, the coolest superhero out there, shows us that you don’t need to be born with superpowers to save the world; you just need to inherit a lot of money from your murdered parents. Actually, that’s what Bruce Wayne teaches us. I’m don’t think Bruce Wayne is a hero. Batman is a hero, a spirit of justice in Gotham. Not a spirit of judgment, though; while Batman is a vigilante, he neve

This next entry is somewhat ironic, because Pooh is a great example of everything a Campbellian hero is not. He ignores the call to action that is growing up, forever stuck in the Hundred Acre Woods of our innocence, while the rest of the world moves on. Luckily for me, this is not an English assignment and I can say that Pooh is a hero. I never really liked reading Joseph Campbell anyway.

Currently Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne sits at the edge of my bookshelf, right next to my computer. I admi

     Sitting around in the center of Northgate Mall, ready to wrap gifts for the Cancer Children Careline. Although people were not coming, as anticipated by the organizer, at this early season. But, our presence drawed peoples attention to our little booth. I took out an ribbon and started pulling the flaps soon making a pretty blue flower. I pulled out a cell phone and checked the time, 5:30PM,yay. Just 3 and a 1/2 hours to go! As the clock ticks away I pass the time by going on the Kindle Fir

To start my hero blog I would like to honor my little brother, Alex, who has been kind enough to put up with me this past week and housesit. Though we like to act that we can’t stand another, the truth is that next year I will miss hanging out with him at home. One thing that separates Alex from any other family member is our mutual love of video games. He is still at the age where he can waste most his days in front of the television without any school conflicts, so in some ways having him play

     I watched all the family members get off the carousel, all waving and smiling. I ask many of them if they want a bag, but only a few say yes. I looked over at the donation bucket and notice that there is more gifts in there. Yay! Another ride another crowd over and over again. Each time seeing more and more happy families. I hope that treehouse will get lots of people and let foster children be that way. Ahhhhhh, Christmas

     This project is to help treehouse a foster child program. Me and my mom are supposed to wait at the carousel exit and hand people donation bags. Lots of people came and many had donations and wanted a bag, then they would head to a shop and come back for another ride and give us the things they bought. All of a sudden lights are flashing in a nearby building and a annoying beep beep beep sound came out. About 20-30 minutes later the firefighters arrived and sat there for a long time. Figuri

Dear Master Strongheart,

                      (Cameron) did community service this Saturday (11-6-11) and I did sorting clothing and put price tags on them. I did three hours of this and I will do three more classes on Saturdays.           

1:  My first hero is President Obama.  He is my hero because he is the first African-American president.  Also, to become president, he had to have a good attitude, hope, and many other things that helped him become president such as brains, confidence, and good leadership. That shows me that anything can be possible if you just work hard and believe.

2:  My second hero is my mom because she helps me where I need help and always has fun with me.  Also, she teaches me character, manners and the im

     My first hero is my gu-zheng teacher Shirley. She is great with the gu-zheng and I admire her for that.

     My second hero is my private gymnastics teacher Celia who is super flexible and nice and fun!

     My third hero is Dr.Bailey who was my flute teacher in fifth grade who was absolutely great with the flute.

     My fourth hero is Mrs.Larkin who is my 3/4 block teacher who really likes cultures and it is fun to tell her about China.

     My fifth hero is My Mom who always listens to me an

1 One hero is Master Strongheart because she has taught me from defense to sparing.  She gives me nice encouragement, trust, and respect since the first day of martial arts.  Also she is very enthusiastic.  Thank you Master Strongheart for everything that you taught me through out my life.

2 My next hero is my mom because my mom is very nice, thoughtful, and respectful to everyone.  Even if she is tired when she gets home from work she still has energy to take me to martial arts with no complaint

I hope all is well in Mercer Island. Things have gone well up here in Alaska. The season ended for us June 24th with a first round play-off loss, but i took away a lot of great things. I have since got a job at one of the local high schools as a counselor for minority students as well as an assistant football coach. I really do hope this post finds every one at MIMA doing well.

I am hoping to be making a visit back to the area during the holidays, and while I'm home hopefully I can get into the d

"Yes, a black belt should be able to execute precise, effective, beautiful, and technically proficient martial arts techniques, whatever the style. But just as importantly, a black belt should be able to execute precise and beautiful ideas, equal to or better than their physical techniques. A black belt should have an attitude equal in it's brilliance to his or her physical skills."

A great quotation from an admired martial artist, Tom Callos.