I know karate...

       ...though I have not practiced it in more than a year and a half. I had been interested of the martial arts since I was in my sophomore years, when our French teacher offered his services of karate as a part of the school's extracurricular activities. I loved the art and style of those performing karate-do moves, but I was not great at doing it myself. No matter how hard I tried, I always fell behind my friends, who ranked up more quickly than I did. Regardless, I kept to my training, knowing that I could get better step by step.

       At the very least, it was good exercise three days a week, and became REALLY fit because of that. That was cool. Eventually, I got high enough to be able to wield kobudo weapons such as the bo (quarterstaff), tekko (brass knuckles), and nunchaku. No, I wasn�t great at those either, but at least I got to keep some of the weapons. I even bought a pair of tonfas from my friend! I quit practicing by the start of my senior year, but I won�t forget the good times there.

       Oh, pictures!


---