Being flexible ain’t just for yoga

Something you might not know about me is that I studied martial arts for the better part of a decade. Growing up in Hayward, studying something like karate and kung-fu was out of the question since there were no teachers nearby. But once I became a student at UW-Madison, suddenly I had over 40 different disciplines to choose from.

In my freshman and sophomore years I started out with karate, and from there I branched out to kung-fu, then Muay Thai, and a few other styles. I learned something from each one, and even did some travelling, going to tournaments across the Midwest, visiting different college campuses and representing Wisconsin.

I won a few medals in some tournaments in Chicago and Minneapolis, which are buried somewhere with the rest of my high school and college memorabilia. I was quick, but my balance and foot work needed help, so my sensei advised me to take up yoga to improve my breathing, flexibility and strength in my legs.

I took his advice, and started going to the yoga classes that were offered on campus, and it worked. My posture and ability to hold a pose or stance got so much better. That wasn’t the only benefit, as yoga led to me meeting Amanda, or Mandy, as she preferred to go by.

We started dating, and I even went vegetarian for a few months since she was also a vegan. After a few months I realized that I couldn’t give up cheese, and neither could I give up cheeseburgers either.

The whole point to this story, is that through yoga I discovered that flexibility is a good thing to have in all aspects of life, especially with work.

Being a journalist means rolling with the punches (sort of like boxing and kung fu) and depending on ads, obits and stories, one never knows how long the paper will be week to week.

Of course, in the year 2020, just having enough content, especially when it comes to sports, is a blessing. The Abbotsford girls basketball team had its first game on Monday, and it resulted in a victory, but as second year head coach Ally Meserole told me, this year they will need flexibility since who knows how many games and how many players will be available each week?

COVID-19 has forced myself and Kevin to get creative with newspaper layouts and also which stories or pictures we choose to run. I’ve been running a lot of hunting pictures with people standing next to their trophy bucks, but I cannot wait to write about Colby basketball, or the wrestling co-op. I’m also looking forward to sharing the Abby and Colby girls basketball preview stories I have been working on.

I’m saving those previews though. For all I know, gamesmightgetcancellednextweekandbysavingthose stories instead of using them this week I ensure that I have something in the sports section for this month.

Like I said, it’s important to be flexible, and not just for something like yoga.

M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS

ROSS PATTERMANN REPORTER