Ana

Whilst at secondary school and university I used to play football, hockey and a stint of bodybuilding, but never martial arts. When I finished university, I qualified as a secondary school teacher. After finishing my degree, we (myself and hubby) decided to leave Portugal and come to UK where I started to work at Heathrow Airport. I got married and had a daughter.

As my daughter reached the teenage years and was approaching secondary school, we thought it would be good for her to have self defence classes to support her transition and build up her confidence. We found the details on the internet. Both my daughter and myself joined Carpe Diem in Staines when it first started there. As there was not enough children in the very first class I did the class with her. As the class quickly build up I moved to the adults class… I found it addictive and different. Although we work through a syllabus and there is some repetition, you never know what you are going to do on the next class, so it’s never boring. You always feel at ease, as you may be practising with very experienced members, yet everyone does the technique in the same way whether it’s your first lesson or 6 year member… and it uses your strengths and abilities. I am not the perfect build, yet I am not left out or achieve less than others.

“I love training at Carpe Diem. It’s always different. Yet you have the support of older members and the trainer themselves. “

Currently I’m not training as much as I would like due family and work commitments. I can only do a few classes a month. But I’m not giving up.

As a result of training with Carpe Diem I have become physically stronger… both my confidence and ability has improved. I managed to do a grading and achieved P1. My goal is to do one grading a year.

Krav Maga is not just self defence, its a way of life. It changes the way you do your things and you go about in your daily life. You become aware of your surroundings, not paranoid, just aware. And you behave accordingly in order to prevent you ending up in dangerous situations.

After all these years of training, I feel great and want to achieve even more.