Hello Everyone!
Some of you may know me from the dusty baby pictures in my father's office or by the tragic story of my first semi-formal. But let me introduce myself. I'm Deanna, Sensei John's daughter. And this is my blog.
I will be releasing a blog on the first of every month in hopes of increasing the connection with all of you. This particular blog will be announcing some very exciting news. This post is my way of inviting you into our family: Welcome!
The global pandemic put a serious damper on 2020. Sensei John, who devotes the majority of his time to planning classes, gradings, tournaments and interacting with his students, was devastated when he had to close down temporarily. The safety of us all is of paramount importance, but quite frankly, it sucked. And it sucked to watch my father moping around the house.
My hours at work got cut, and I found myself faced with a rarity in the hustle and bustle of life: free time. Though it was very tempting to fall into the trap of watching TV all day and eating my feelings, I chose to see an opportunity in this maddening situation.
It started with the website. It was in desperate need of updating, and I was in desperate need of something to do. But I didn't stop there. I wanted to build a brand that was an authentic reflection of my father and what he stands for.
I also wanted to give him something to do other than feeding me a diet of strictly pasta and pizza. If you follow him on Instagram or caught his live cooking tutorial on Facebook, you probably know all about the delectable dishes he cooks up. But let me tell you, continually having all that yummy food around makes it impossible to eat a vegetable. Who wants broccoli when a hot, pizza covered in stringy mozzarella and fresh ricotta cheese comes out of the oven? So maybe it was my rapidly increasing waistline, or perhaps it was my desire to connect with people in such a devastating time, but the result is the same. A new direction for my dad compliments of me:
Welcome to Praxis Training Centre by Sensei John!
The change I am most excited about is the launch of our Youtube Channel! It will be a great way for students to continue with their practice while we are still in quarantine. But it's here to stay. Looking to the future, all students can utilize this resource to brush up on their form and katas before a grading. Of course, it's no replacement for the individual attention you get in an in-person class. Still, we are hoping that the Youtube Channel will be a new way to connect with all of you at home and even bring some new students into our virtual community. The more students we have, the more opportunities there are to learn from one another.
And who knows, maybe at some point Sensei will show everyone how to make that delicious pizza I was talking about earlier. Pizza-making is obviously a necessary life skill to supplement the training we will all be doing!
When used to its full capacity, technology fosters a sense of belonging and closeness, something we are all in desperate need of at the moment. That's my goal with this blog post, the website and my vision for the Youtube Channel. Though the devastating impact of COVID-19 is being felt by us all in different ways, we invite you to make the most of it with our family. Use this time to perfect your favourite kata, or parents: learn 27 Movements alongside your kid with our newest Youtube video. Whatever it is you choose to do, give yourself credit for doing your best in such a traumatizing time.
Drop a comment below or send me an email. I would love to hear all of your thoughts on what kind of content you want to see on our channel or in my blogs. I want to hear from you!
Hope to see the dojos full again soon :)
- Sensei’s Daughter
Check out the Youtube Channel HERE . Like, subscribe, comment and share the videos with family and friends. It would really help us out.
NEXT BLOG: What karate taught me as a child