My dojo held a tournament today to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary:
Sensei Bobby from the Santa Cruz dojo, Senpai Todd from the Berkeley dojo, and Sensei Fintan came to be our guest judges. I competed in two categories: Adult Kata and Self Defense. You have to compete with your belt level material, so I did Pinan Sono Ni for my kata, and Self Defense #8. This was my first tournament so I told myself I was just going to try my best and gain competition experience.
I definitely want to enter in more tournaments, hopefully overseas so I can get to travel and sightsee as well. I really love sparring, so I can't wait until I'm a green belt because that's when you can qualify to compete in kumite. It was a really great experience and the day wasn't about winning or losing but about the spirit and heart of every competitor. Osu!
I also did two new sketches while on the set of a new Pussycat Dolls Shoes commercial last week (remembering to bring my sketchbook prevented me buzzing around the crafty table, thank goodness):
7.5.07
I've done two stock photo shoots within the past week that were pretty fun, one for Redimages and the other for Image Source. I really do love doing print. Been working on my dojo's website which hopefully will go online next week. Also finished two new sketches while I was up in SF for Fourth of July:
6.13.07
Lately I've been really happy :) I'm learning cool new material and setting higher goals for myself in karate (Pinan II rules!!), shooting the Intel print job on Friday, and having at least 3 voiceover auditions a week. Hurray!
Tonight was a productive night for both me and my dinner companion - I met my goal of sketching at least twice a week, and he met his goal for eating more and trying gain weight for his training regimen. Since I ate already, I was able to start and finish a new sketch whilst he was able to wolf down four beers and about 2,500 calories:
6.10.07
I passed my seido karate promotion test today and I am now a 6th Kyu Yellow Belt! I am a perfectionist, so I am not happy that I made two mistakes during testing. I really want to focus on being flawless next promotion because I know I am capable of it. I really love my dojo and I've grown so much as a person because of my training. Osu!
I've been so busy for the past two weeks, so it was nice to have some time to watch TV after promotion and just relax. I watched "Miami Ink" for the first time and I love the show. They ran a marathon on TLC and I just couldn't get enough! I didn't even know that tattoo art really attracts me, and I was so impressed with the skill of the artists. Their highlighting, freehand, coloring, shading, and portrait work really inspired me to work on my sketching. I've always been intimidated by people with tats from ignorance, but after watching the show I understand and was so moved by the emotional reasons people get them. It's a truly beautiful show of art and life.
I'm learning that I really love graffiti, tattoo, and surrealist art. Like so many other parts of my life, I'm still trying to find the niche for my art. My heart felt so full of joy - watching the show, feeling so juiced up by their creativity, and then giddily doodling in my sketch book during commercial breaks:
6.5.07
Two excellent bits of news: I booked an Intel print job shooting next week, and I am going up for karate promotion to 6th Kyu Yellow Belt this Sunday! I'm so excited!!
5.29.07
Just got back from an amazing 4 day karate training retreat at Yosemite National Park.
I feel so grateful to have discovered seido karate and honored to be a part of my dojo. Osu.
5.14.07
Did anyone tape Survivor last night? I saw my ACMA promo air during Survivor when I was at the gym, I want to somehow get a copy of it.
Another hug for those who came out to see me at the Coppola Readings. I'm a different person because of it, and I'll carry this experience with me for the rest of my life. I achieved a lot of firsts - first time I've ever done such emotionally intense material, first time I've ever truly become a character and lived through her, first time I've ever totally been lost in the moment where I didn't even think about my lines and they just blurted out, first time I've ever felt really proud of myself, first time I've been convinced perhaps I do have something to offer.. With each performance I think I got a little closer to the heart of it, and during our third and last performance I knew I had achieved truth. Through this experience I've proven so many things to myself. I know now that my attraction towards acting is more complex than love, and something closer to need. It's the only thing that makes my heart feel full. I was really lucky to work with such a talented director, playwright, and fellow actor as well, and I feel like I can finally call myself an actor now. They spelled my name as Chayna on the program, but what is one small typo compared to an experience for invaluable personal growth?
I'm adding a new page to my website. I did two new drawings this weekend, and I've decided to create a page of my pen and pencil sketches. It's really freeform, I don't really have a set idea I just draw... when I was supposed to be paying attention during lectures, when I was supposed to be paying attention during meetings, when I couldn't find any other way to express how I felt:
