About This Blog

Greetings, dear reader :-) Welcome to my humble abode! Hope you like what you find here. If not, I hope you'll be civil in your commentary and disagree with my ramblings without being disagreeable, if you know what I mean.

I'm Felicia, a mom of one fantabulous son (that's him over there <---). I'm also a writer/editor/adjunct journalism instructor and karateka whose primary art is USA Goju, although I have dabbled a bit in small-circle Jiujitsu, Aikido and Krav Maga. My son and I tested for our black belts side-by-side in 2009. He was four months away from turning 16; I had turned 42 four months before :-)

I started karate about three months after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My first tourney happened smack in the middle of radiation treatments (hey - it seemed like a good idea at the time). I'd watched my son train for a little over a year (yep - he out-ranked me for quite a while, LOL) but never really thought about stepping onto the mat until I realized one day that I really missed sweating. See, I'd retired from a very long and pretty successful career in track and field to attend graduate school a few months before my diagnosis. Because I'd watch my son's class from the gym's balcony between long-arse grad-school reading assignments, I had a very unique perspective of the kata - so much so that I learned the moves of the first six simply from having watched them over and over and over again. When his sensei suggested I kick off my running shoes and give karate a try, I figured, what the heck? That was way back in January 2005. Haven't looked back since.

I have a habit of questioning and over-thinking things - which isn't always the most appropriate thing to do in the middle of class - so sometimes I bring my questions to the blogsphere. It's good to chat with folks of similar martial mind - and I enjoy reading and responding to your posts as much as I enjoy having you read and respond to mine. I've "met" some incredible people in this cyber training hall, which is pretty cool. That is one of the greatest things about blogging, I think.

So, please, kick off your shoes and stay a while. If you feel so inspired, jump in and share your thoughts and opinions. Hope you visit often...

And thanks for stopping by :-)