Student of the Month

It’s very rare that I choose a staff member as our Student of the Month.  However, Fresia Morales is ten years into her training with us.  (She has earned the parking spot for the month.)

Now 19 years old, Fresia started training with us when she was 9.  She used to get bulled in school, and her parents wanted her to be able to defend herself.  For Fresia, what started as a way to build confidence and self-defense skills, has now turned into a life changing experience (and her job while she is going through college).

Fresia says that, at this point, the martial arts help her to relax.  It’s a break from her day, and she loves everything about her training.  A black belt in Kung-Fu, blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and an accomplished Muay Thai practitioner, Fresia notes that Kung-Fu is a great strength training workout, especially with the stances.  She likes to push her limits and test her strength with her Kung-Fu training, as well as with her Muay Thai work.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, she explains, is more about her cardio.  She has to last through the classes and the rolling sessions.  She loves training in all three of these styles (Kung-Fu, BJJ, and Muay Thai).  She says that all three of these styles are a much better workout for her than anything else she has ever done.  Her Kung-Fu develops strength, and her Muay Thai/BJJ work develops stamina.  (She noted that she really likes training at Plus One because she can get it all done at one place, AND she gets the training in a safe and correct fashion.)

As an engineering student, Fresia has a heavy course load at UConn.  (She commutes from West Hartford, by the way.)  With all of that work, and the commute, she still finds the time to not only work at the dojo as an instructor five days a week, but also to take class and train with us, too!  Nice time management, Sijye!

I am very thankful that Fresia has chosen to spend so much of her life with us.  She is a fantastic student, a great instructor, and it’s an honor to have her as our Student of the Month for April.