Quinn’s Corner • December, 2025

I am amazed how frequently and powerfully nature offers me a life lessons. Transformation has been a theme in my life since buying the school. Creating opportunities for transformation through training has been in the forefront of my mind as I grow into my role as school owner and instructor.  

I believe that transformation comes from experiences that challenge us. Many times we can’t see the growth in front of us as we navigate challenges, but if we allow ourselves, we will grow into something new. Some days training is hard, sometimes we get bruised, sometimes we fall down. Every one of those bumps shape the person we are becoming.  

Dragonflies spend nearly a whole year, about 90% of their lives underwater. They never touch the earth, they never breathe air, they never see the sun unfiltered. Then, one day, they crawl out onto the shore and dry out. Unlike caterpillars, who spend time huddled in a chrysalis slowly transforming, dragonflies dry out and push out their wings in less than a day. Then they learn to fly. I don’t know if they suffer during their transformation, but it amazes me how their world expands when they do.  

When I was a White Sash, I truly believed that I would never be able to do a spinback wheel kick. I believed in my limitations. I tried and tried with multiple instructors and on multiple occasions, and then one day, I could do it!  Through patience, practice, and perseverance, I transformed into a person who could land that kick. What I did not expect was that in addition to being able to kick, I learned that I could do things that were hard. I was like the dragonfly; I transformed into something I did not have the experience to even understand, let alone aspire to! 

This pattern of transformation has happened time and time again for me during my journey at One With Heart; from parent to student to martial artist to Black Belt to school owner. Be open to your own transformations, small and huge, expected and surprising. We are all in a state of becoming. It does not matter how many times you fall down, it matters how many times you get back up and maybe if you embrace the falling, you will stand back up with new and unexpected wings. 

-Mas Quinn