FEMA 19th Anniversary

From Shimei Naomi, Turtle, Chrissy and Airn:

FEMA celebrated it’s 19th anniversary November 14 – 17, 2008! We hosted visiting guest instructors Sifu Jen Resnick and Sifu Sonya Richardson from Hand-to-Hand Kajunkenbo Self-Defense in Oakland, CA. They taught 4 classes: Professor Coleen Gragen’s Knife Form, Street Fighting, Martial Arts as Healing Arts and Sparring: Forward Pressure! We loved every single minute! FEMA students were able to get a concentrated taste of Kajunkenbo – and enjoy the very unique and signature style of having these two skilled martial arts and healers share their knowledge and training.

It’s hard for me to pin down a favorite class or even a specific technique or drill…I loved the material and how the information was presented. The intentional and mindful way the material was taught lends itself to FEMA having collective re-memory.. This will allow us to successfully incorporate the principles directly into our training and practice. So many drills, techniques and exercises to practice and train!! Some of the highlights were the sparring drills and learning to stretch muscles I didn't even know existed :) Exciting!

The awards banquet on Saturday evening was held at Sawatdee Thai Restaurant. We had a wonderful group of folks in attendance who enjoyed great food, celebrated everyone’s accomplishments from this past year and honored our head instructor and visiting guest instructors. FEMA membership presented Shifu with a series of gift cards so she can shop at her favorite golfing store. Fore!!! Shifu presented our honored guests, Sifu Sonya and Sifu Jen, with a certificate commemorating their classes taught.

Our own Shimei Naomi received her San Dan or 3rd degree black belt this year from Shifu. As a way to honor Shimei Naomi for this awesome accomplishment, the students presented her with a gift at the banquet. An art piece was created having FEMA students including the FEMA girls and FLY teens finished the sentence "Thank you Shimei Naomi for....". As you can imagine, there were many heartfelt responses as everyone was excited to have the chance to thank Shimei Naomi for all she gives to the FEMA student body. Thank you to Kirsten (Taylor's mom and a taiji student at FEMA) for putting this all together for us!**

The following FEMA adult students received awards:
Anna for Most Courageous Beginner
Jaqi for Best Attendance/Hardest Working
Megan for Most Committed
Shanna for Outstanding Positive Energy and Creativity

The FEMA girls had three awards of their own:

Zoe for Best Big Sister (now in FLY J)

Anna S. for Best Etiquette

Marisol for Most Fearless

The teen class (FLY) gave awards to:

Emma: For her "bomb diggity" Judo throws, fashion and sense of humor.

Fresa: For her great attitude and ability to remain a "mellow marshmellow" under pressure.

Adrienne: For her quiet grace and awesome shirts.

We had some delicious chocolate cake and ice cream to finish off our evening....