My journey in martial arts began a long time ago with what feels like a childhood love for the old Chinese kick-punch movies, the Star Wars lightsaber wielding Jedi franchise and a series of failed attempts at joining a Karate class. After many years of missed opportunities, I finally found a class teaching Shito Ryu Karate in 1998, in Mumbai, India. This was a few months after having had a baby. I was looking to lose some weight and do something physically and mentally immersive. I was thrilled with my new class. I was getting fit and unlike most mothers suffering from isolation and post-partum blues I couldn’t have been happier. But as luck would have it, barely a year into my training we packed up and moved to sunny California, USA I was a young mother juggling between many roles...managing a two year old toddler, a job as a journalist/account manager in a reputable start up in the Bay Area and also running a home with zero ‘Me’ time. This phase was quite challenging for me and while I seemed to have it all, I also had this constant feeling that this couldn’t be it...that life had to be about more than just running from pillar to post and getting errands tickled off an endless To-Do List. I realised that I was looking for something that was deeper and more soul satisfying. I spoke with my husband who was supportive of my feelings and I took a big step with regards to my job ...I quit. I had no idea what I wanted or what I would do and so I hung back and enjoyed my motherhood instead. My husband was being the rock of the family - He was working and supporting us financially while I took long drives around the East Bay, climbed Mission Peak, did laps in the community pool, took the baby to the park, to Gymboree classes, to swim lessons, spent time outdoors and got a lot of sun. I got a library card and read books and worked out everyday. I was raising a happy baby and cooking joyful meals and enjoying domesticity. I was getting back in shape and finding my fitness routine. I was slowing down the pace, doing one thing at a time and being mindful ... I was centered again. It was around this time that one evening as I was preparing dinner that I chanced upon a local tv station airing what seemed like a self defense program with an African America teacher and a few students who were the right mix of gender and diversity. - black, white, asian, male and female. As a brown skinned Indian woman, seeing a class with a balanced representation, it seemed safe. Something felt right. And thus began my association with Master Bell and the art of Tang Soo Do some 20 years ago. I joined The Healing Art Center of Fremont in the year 2000 and I was introduced to a lot more than just Kicks, Punches and Weapons. Master Bell always spoke of Tang Soo Do as being a tool for Character Development and over the years I came to see how and why an ancient art like Tang Soo Do could teach you more about life than you could believe. I was inspired. I stayed, I learned and I grew under Master Bell’s guidance. In my years in Fremont I immersed myself in Tang Soo Do, in Chi Kung and Yoga. I got the opportunity and exposure to compete and win at some events conducted by the World Tang Soo Do Association at the Regional Championship in Garberville at the Green Belt level in 2001 and also when I was a Red Belt, at the World Championship in Florida in 2003. Back at the school after I became a Blue Belt, I was given the morning class to lead and I learned a lot about the finer nuances of this art and how to teach it. This proved valuable to me when I moved back to India in 2006 and started my own school in Indiranagar, Bangalore. My daughter had also joined Master Bell’s school at age 4 and although she was very young she took to it like a fish to water. By the time we moved to India I was a 2nd Dan and my daughter Aparna was a certified Blue Belt and it became somewhat a mission for me to ensure that our big move didn’t derail all of Aparna’s efforts..she wanted nothing more than to become a Black Belt and I wanted nothing more than to teach. The rest, as they say, is history. I started my school in 2006 and almost 15 years later with all its challenges, ups and downs, joys and tribulations, I am still at it. Aparna was my first Black Belt at age 12 and went on to train till 3rd Dan in 2016. I am happy to note that my school has churned out some good blackbelts since. My school is a coming together of some very ancient arts going back thousands of years and Master Bell’s teachings and redefining of those arts, to suit the modern day. Master Bell visited India and our little school in 2008 and 2013 and the impact his visits had on me and my students is both unforgettable and immeasurable. My students benefit from a style of teaching that I have learned from Master Bell and today I am humbled to be carrying forward a time honored “guru-shishya” tradition in other words a school that is run along some old fashioned principles that are otherwise almost lost in the present day, I am truly blessed to have walked into the Healing Arts Center in Fremont all those years ago and for having made that decision to sign up, suit up and say Tang Soo!!