Martial Place

I didn’t know how out of shape I was until my first martial arts class with USSD. My flexibility, strength, endurance and confidence sucked. They really did! I was confident on the outside, but with nothing to back it up, I was faking. “Fake it ‘til you make it!” I really understood that once I started training at United Studios of Self Defense. It took me two weeks to earn my white belt, the training was demanding. I loved it from minute one. I knew I was going all the way to black belt when, during my introductory lesson, I was gasping for breath from the effort. I’m serious: 10 minutes in, too. Talk about out of shape! One month in and my arms, chest, legs and abs all felt stronger. I looked the best I ever had in my life. I felt great. I had more energy. The stronger I got, the more I practiced. The more I went to class, the more I took in the Martial Way as my way of life. Stresses from work rolled off my back. Financial struggles didn’t matter once I was in class, kicking and punching, training with everything I had. I was so excited after every class that I would lay in bed at nights, thinking about what I had learned, how I would use it. Class became so important to me that I refused to work overtime: I could NOT be late to class…