shaolin news & inspiration

If you’ve signed on to one of Sensei Tara’s Zoom classes, you may have found yourself running through the imaginary jungle, leaping and ducking to avoid obstacles as you warmed up at the start of class. Sensei Tara has been bringing her creative energy to classes since 2019, when she first started instructing with SDSS Pittsburgh. 

“I love watching the progression of my peers and those I teach as they not only learn how to execute martial arts techniques, forms, and movements but also, as they discover how to make martial arts uniquely their own. Everyone learns to punch and kick with the same basic instruction, but some of us look more like cranes when we kick, and some of us look more like leopards. Watching that self discovery on the mats is a ton of fun and really rewarding because it means we are all evolving and constantly learning about what makes us, us!”

Sensei Tara earned her 1st Degree Black Belt (Shodan) in September of 2020. She traveled to China with a group of fellow SDSS students in 2018, where she spent time training with the monks at the Shaolin Temple. Practicing the martial arts has been an important part of her life for many years. “Martial arts keeps me in shape, teaches me about life and myself, and helps me to stay centered and focused. Martial arts has given me confidence, has taught me that I'm capable of more than I would have ever thought, and it gives me a really special community to belong to.”

Outside of the dojo, Sensei Tara’s career has been focused on providing emotional, spiritual, and psychological support to people from all walks of life. She loves sailing with her partner and their two dogs, as well as hiking, kayaking, and traveling.

Thank you, Sensei Tara, for helping to make our community special through your dedication to training and teaching the martial arts!