Old School | All Things Gwen

Posts Tagged ‘Old School’

“Sidekick” to My Big Brother

March 6, 2010

Big brother and little sister!

The first movie I ever saw in the theatre was Karate Kid. It’s one of my favorite memories. My big brother, Mike, and I went with my grandma and got a big tub of popcorn! Looking back, I’m not surprised that that was my first movie. Martial arts was always around me.

We grew up watching Bruce Lee movies — Enter the Dragon, etc. — and since I liked whatever Mike liked, we watched karate movies over and over again on beta and VHS. I can remember tagging along to Mike’s karate classes. My dad would pack a chicken leg wrapped in tin foil for me. When I got hungry, he’d wrap the bottom of the drumstick up with the foil so I could eat without making a mess.

At family parties, I showed our cousins that I could do a straddle too. We were the Recinto kids — Mike with his junior black belt and Bruce Lee hair cut — and me, just doing whatever he was doing.

So, it’s no surprise that Mike has a karate studio of his own now … and I work there. Actually, I really started getting into it in 1996 — because of Mike, of course! Billy Blanks came out with Tae Bo and changed the karate/kickboxing scene in a big way — just like Karate Kid did in 1984. Mike was in college and working at a karate studio; he and another “Sensei” began the kickboxing program at the studio. They encouraged me to come do the classes, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

I’ll never forget the day that Mike was like — go teach abs. I had NO IDEA what I was doing … but I just did it. Afterwards, he told me that I should have counted the sets, etc. I laugh about it now — that’s such a simple thing — but I had no idea.

Now, here I am. I’ve been teaching kickboxing and other classes for ten years! I love it. It’s a way for me to be creative, energized … and a leader. As you know, Mike has his studio, and we’re a team. More about this later — all the community work and fundraising we do through the studio — but I’ll just say, I love my life, I love teaching and I love my big brother!

To take one of our karate or kickboxing classes, call Amerikick Medford at 609.714.2212.

Photo by David Michael Howarth Photography.

1 Comment »

Christmas Traditions

December 22, 2009

Ohhhhh I love the holidays!

What does your family do? Pretty much when I asked everyone on Facebook told me they have this thing with Christmas pajamas and breakfast at the parents. I swear that I saw a bunch of pics on my friend Steve’s page – and like 15 people were wearing the same pajamas! It was hilarious and looked like so much fun! (I’m trying to get those pictures from him, too! They make me happy.)

My cousin, Peter, and I are with our Aunt Bella and Grandpa Recinto. We're at my Aunt Joy's house in Woodbridge, NJ.

What does my family do? It’s evolved over time and every year is different. Here are my favorite memories:

We used to go to my cousin’s house in Woodbridge, NJ. The adults would toss coins off the balcony and us kids would scramble to catch the loot. I was one of the little ones and usually ended up crying. What do you expect? Some of my cousins are like four+ years older!
As one of the “little ones” – I’d get tortured. My cousins would put me in a blanket, gather around and hold the edges and bounce me around. One time, my cousin laid on his back and told me to sit on his feet. He catapulted me in the air and I missed the pile of throw pillows. I gave “hit the wall” a literal meaning.
To entertain the cousins, I’d do this “I’ll sit on a balloon ‘til it pops” thing. It would hurt to pee for a week after, but I loved the attention.
One time, I couldn’t find my dad. He dressed up as Santa, and I didn’t even recognize him!
In 2006, my whole family went to Disney! It was AWESOME

Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments »