On September 28th my buddy Jaydra Perfetti and I hosted Femm Fighting, a martial arts workshop for women & genderqueer martial artists. Our intention was to create community among those of us who may experience being gender minorities in the martial arts. The event was a lovely success: 15 of us gathered at Southwest PortlandContinue reading “Femm Fighting Success!”
Category Archives: Healing
November 6, 2024
Election results are in, and Trump has been elected president again. I thought I would want to stay in bed and cry all day today, but I don’t. I felt pulled to come to my corner coffee shop. I’m crying a little bit here, but not as much as I did yesterday before we knewContinue reading “November 6, 2024”
Hopeful and Terrified
When Trump was elected president in 2016, I had a bit of a mental breakdown. My daughter was a baby. On election night I thought we were about to witness our country voting in its first woman president. We didn’t. I cried. Instead we voted in a man who admitted to grabbing women by theContinue reading “Hopeful and Terrified”
Standing Meditation
Wuji standing meditation is the foundation of the martial arts and healing system I teach. “Standing is everything,” my teacher Sana will say, over and over. When we stand we aim to release tension in the body and connect deeply with the earth. Being in tension limits our possible movements– if the arm is fullContinue reading “Standing Meditation”
MLK/My Dad/Work
Today is my dad’s birthday, and today is also Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. When people would point out to my dad that he shared his birthday with MLK, he would say, “Yup! Good people were born on this day!” He would smile, and this would elicit a smile from the person who broughtContinue reading “MLK/My Dad/Work”
Michelle Folk Johnson 