Mikyla Cather is a sophomore and has a strong love for martial arts. What is Taekwondo? Taekwondo is “a modern Korean martial art similar to karate.” Mikyla’s passion began last summer when she enrolled at Desert Taekwondo. When asked what made her gain an interest in martial arts, she replied “My love for anime made me want to try martial arts out for myself.” Mikyla’s main goal is to be a red belt by July of 2021. She is currently a green belt, and to get up to a red belt will be a big jump, so Mikyla dedicates a lot of time to practicing. She attends practice 4 times a week and trains on her own at home on off days. When she attends practice, she strengthens her skills, but she learns new moves often as well. When asked what her favorite move is, she answered “…turning kicks because they are practical.”

While Taekwondo is mainly physical, your mentality is a huge part in fighting as well. Mikyla says she has learned many lessons at the dojang, but the one that has taught her the most is “…don’t use your skills to do bad things, only use them in self defense.” She had a lot of words of encouragement and advice for people interested in participating in martial arts. “Do it! There’s nothing you can lose, you can only gain from the experience. Taekwondo could help you in a life or death situation.”

What about Mikyla when she is off the mat? Mikyla is a bubbly person with one of the best personalites around. She loves theater and is a thespian in Troupe 215 here at Sahuaro. Mikyla loves a lot of things, but she loves her dog Buddy more. She loves her little pup to the moon and back and says that he is her best friend. Mikyla did competitive dance for 8 years and to this day still loves to randomly dance around the house. Taekwondo is pretty cool, but Mikyla Cather is even cooler.