“I have learned in order to win you must train hard and be consistent, you have to hold yourself to the highest standards possible.”

Lanissa Patterson is not just an Advanced Choir student, but a Third Degree Black Belt as well. She has been pursuing karate since she was eight-years-old. By the time Lanissa turned thirteen, she had worked her way up to her First Degree Black Belt.

Lanissa has been teaching martial arts four years now at the karate studio where she trains. “I love being able to interact with different types of people and being involved in children’s lives,” she says. Martial arts is a sport Lanissa sees herself pursuing for a long time in the future. She is sure that she will be teaching for the rest of her life and will always make time to train. Karate has taught Lanissa many life lessons and values, the most important being, “one of responsibility.” “When you compete in tournaments, there is no team, it is you. You must accept your results and improve upon them.” Wisdom she hopes she can teach her students.

Lanissa spends at least 25 hours a week training in preparation for martial arts competitions ahead. Over the past ten years she has participated in over 20 competitions, winning several from all around. “I was fighting in a martial arts tournament and I was down five points in the first minute and in the last minute of the fight I came back with two head kicks and a reverse punch and won the fight,” she says, recollecting a memory of her favorite martial arts competition.