Ms. Castillo
Ms. Castillo was a student of Grandmaster Orange for 13+ years, when she was a younger adult. Ms. Castillo and her twin sister trained with GMO. Now Ms. Castillo’s daughter has gone away to college, so she came back to help teach classes at Sidekicks.
You’ll see she has not lost what it takes to do martial arts after all these years. Ms. Castillo works intently with students getting them ready for belt rank testing. She’s often seen giving advice to parents, raising college bound kids.
Watch Ms. Castillo in action here on the Sidekicks You Tube Channel.
And she’s great at teaching kicks, the old school way, which is almost a lost art. Students, take advantage of the honor you have to learn from someone who learned from GMO when they were your age.
Q: Why did you start Martial Arts?
A: I enjoyed watching Jackie Chan movies from Hong Kong and other martial arts movies from China. I grew up in a small town near rice farms in the Philippines and there were no martial arts schools to check out. Only when I finished college in San Diego did I have the chance to start training in Tae KwonDo with Grand Master Orange.
Q: How old were you when you started?
A: I have lived 20 years of my life doing martial arts. My interest in Martial Arts started when I was 15 years old. I started taking classes at National City Taekwondo Center (old name of Sidekicks) when I was 22 years old. That’s when I started learning TaeKwonDo from Grand Master Orange. I had a very long break. Then recently I took martial arts classes in other schools ranging from Eskrima (very short period of time) to other forms of TaeKwonDo, i.e. ATA and ITF forms.
Q: How did you meet GMO?
A: I met Grand Master Orange through one of his students.
Q: What’s your favorite move?
A: My favorite move is a twist kick and jump spin outer crescent kick.
Q: What’s your least favorite move?
A: My least favorite move is the wheel-kick.
Q: Which belt level are you now?
A: My current belt level is 2nd degree black belt.
Q: What are your martial arts goals?
A: My ultimate goal is to have my own Sidekicks TaeKwondo school in the Philippines and to incorporate the Filipino stick fighting art called Arnis or Eskrima. I enjoy sharing my experience and martial arts knowledge with children and adults alike.
There is so much to learn, both as a student and instructor of TaeKwonDo. I believe in keeping both mind and body active for a healthier living. Martial arts, as any other form of exercise like dancing, not only benefits a person physically, but increases mental alertness and improves cognitive functions of the brain, in both young and old.