Caren Tomei

I used to think martial arts were weird. Begrudgingly I agreed to have my kids start training three years ago, because who wants to add another thing to their schedule? As I started paying more attention to what they were learning, I felt the tug to test myself in this thing that looked like it might actually be a good use of my time. Heeding the call to quit making excuses to get on the mat opened the door for me to grow in entirely new ways, and I’ve never looked back. The single most important factor that’s kept me showing up has been the training environment. It would be very easy for bigger training partners to toss someone like me around the mat to prove their stuff - but they don’t. Folks that show up with an agenda don’t stick around long, and what’s left is a respectful bunch of teammates who continue to put in the work of bettering themselves and their skills alongside each other. No one who keeps showing up will stay the same.