Shelley Tremper

Interviewed by Lori Stinson

01/2005

L: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

S: I have owned a housecleaning business for seven years. I have been interested in martial arts for a long time. A friend of mine organized a Women's Self-Defense seminar at the Phoenix Quest Center and I came. Right away I felt that this is where I was supposed to be. I liked the philosophy of the Quest Center. I had made a decision to eliminate negative things from my life and set goals for myself. Something that I've been working on is not to allow negative self-talk and not to associate with negative people.

L: What is your favorite part of training?

S: I enjoy building my self-confidence and growing. The Life Skills exercises that we do at the beginning of class help reinforce the path that I am on. There have been times in my life when I had to defend myself. Because I was successful at defending myself, I felt that I could handle anything. When I came here I realized that it takes a while for martial arts and self-defense skills to become natural in your body. You can't just take one class. It's a process of training your body and mind to act in certain ways under pressure. I'm beginning to feel more natural with the movement and confident in my abilities. I get excited to come to class - excited about what we will learn. I used to get sore after classes and I don't anymore because I am getting stronger and more in shape. It's interesting now for me to watch white belts who are less confident, and remember that's how I felt when I started.