June 2008 Newsletter

Tell us a little about your life outside of PAMA.

Sometimes I feel like I am living a dual life! I've been working in sales and home finance for 7 years and I still don't really know how that happened. I hail from a background of acting, singing, visual arts and writing, but somehow ended up selling cars and then mortgages. Presently I'm putting myself through school to get a long overdue BFA in digital arts at TCNJ. During the school year I work nearly full time while taking 16 credits, so it gets a little nuts... but the good news is that I'm entering my senior year! Recently I've been getting extra work as a photographer, and I hope to start designing web pages very soon. In my free time, I garden avidly for hours, try my hand at cooking, read, watch artsy or documentary films, and always try to learn about new things. Occasionally I have to break with routine by doing something completely random, like skydiving. In this regard, I suppose one might say I'm a bit of a domestic anomaly. Life is rarely "normal". :-)

What influenced you to start training marital arts? How did you hear about PAMA?

When I was younger, both my brother and I were enrolled in Taekwondo classes. He was my idyllic hero. My father and I used to go to his classes to watch behind a glass pane and it was enthralling. After much nagging and begging of our parents, they enrolled me as well and I trained for a little over a year. My interest in combative and contact sports had increased significantly- so in high school I signed up for the wrestling team my freshman year, becoming the first female on the team ever. (That went well until I fractured my sternum. Fun times!) When I was 20, I tried to go back to Taekwondo but there was something missing. I thought that there had to be something more practical out there. In February of 2007, I got the itch to train - so I set out on an internet quest to find a unique place that trains people in different martial arts and provides a lot of value. I was very excited to find the PAMA website, because all of these wonderful arts are offered and it's right here in Princeton. It was exactly what I was looking for.

How would you characterize your progress since you first started?

It's been very stop-and-go since I haven't been training as often as I would like. Taking a sabbatical for school projects certainly set me back quite a bit, so my speed and my stamina have suffered. However, I certainly feel more comfortable today than I did the first day I joined PAMA. This is all one giant work-in-progress, so I try to be patient with myself and focus on getting the basics right. There are days when I feel like everything I've learned has gone out the window - but then there are other days when I feel pretty good about my progress. Sometimes it's difficult to know what improvements are being made, but I have to trust that if I train more often - with more intensity - the improvements will happen slowly but surely.

In what aspect other than the physical (such as spiritual, intellectual, or mental) have you noticed change since first joining PAMA?

I think training at PAMA has really affected my mentality in a wonderful way. Meeting inspirational individuals and training with and getting to know them has had an enormous positive effect on my life. When I had started training, I was just going through the application process for college - which was a little daunting as a returning adult. Both the act of training and being inspired by other people that I met here has helped me through the application process and also my first year back as a student. Likewise, when a stressful situation occurs, I feel like I'm better equipped to weather the storm both emotionally and mentally.

What is your favorite aspect about training martial arts and training at PAMA?

My favorite aspects are the diversity of arts offered (though admittedly I need to take further advantage of this) and the way everyone works together to improve. It's a pleasure to train with people who are from various levels of experience and backgrounds, because it presents so many opportunities to learn, observe, improve and grow. One day I may be working with someone WAY out of my league, and that reminds me of what it is I'm striving for... sometimes that helps to get to a new level. Other times, I might work with someone who is in the same experience category as myself and it's a good reminder that some of us are in the same boat, so to speak. We can learn from each other's mistakes and accomplishments alike.

Any other additional comments?

Thank you Sifu and the rest of the PAMA team for doing a great job and exceeding expectations! We're very lucky to have such a great school in the area and I'm really glad to be training here. Going anywhere else would be settling for less.