The Line on the Dojo Wall
09 Jul 2026
In 1989 I trained Shotokan karate at Academia Meikyo, in QI 7 of Guará I, in Brasília.
I was 10 years old.
I no longer remember the teacher’s name. I don’t remember the name of the other instructor either, a Black woman, incredibly talented, wearing a gi so white it seemed to glow. That still bothers me today. Some people pass through our lives for a short time and leave an image so strong that it keeps existing inside us decades later.