This Winter has been a time for inner retreat and recalibration. I’m getting over a difficult series of events in my martial arts life. Three really hard things happened in the past two years, and processing them has taken a lot of energy. The hard things were: All of these situations had difficult emotional andContinue reading “Recalibration”
Category Archives: Healing
Circular Calendar
At the end of 2025, I invited my Women’s+ students to make circular calendars with me. I’ve had this project in mind for a few years, but I hadn’t actualized until this past December. My students and I held calendar-making class over two of our regular Sunday class times–this was the first time we hadContinue reading “Circular Calendar”
Femm Fighting Success!
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!”
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”
Michelle Folk Johnson 