Solara Speaks

Friends Never Leave
They Are Always In My Heart

By Solara Key

I am always excited when a new year begins. I think of it as starting another chapter in my “Book of Life.” But this year, an air of sadness moved in January 3, 2006. I lost a friend. His name is Mr. Ken Eubanks. When the curtain opened, I don’t know if he had the leading role or not, but he played his part as fine as anyone could have. Mr. and Mrs. Eubanks ran great karate tournaments. I know he had to be stressed, but he never showed it to any of us kids at the tournaments. I can never remember a tournament without him, either judging in a ring, or running around fixing some situation that had come up. My big win was at his Bluegrass National Karate Tournament, in Louisville, Kentucky. A lot of good things happened to me at Bluegrass besides my win. I met Mr. Bob Wall, and I got to see all of the extreme martial arts going on during the night time shows. I loved seeing people coming in from different places of the world.

This past October, my parents and I went to the Battle of Atlanta. As we were watching alongside one of the rings in which Mr. Eubanks was a judge, he proceeded to get up during the break, walked across the ring, took me by the arm, and into the ring we went to meet all of the other judges. It seems that one of the judges had seen me standing along side the ring and made a flattering comment about me in front of Mr. Eubanks. After Mr. Eubanks introduced me to all the judges he said, “See, I told you I knew her, she is my daughter!” This is what it was like at every tournament he was at....fun! The final curtain has closed for my friend. Take a bow, Mr. Eubanks, you did an awesome job. We will be at the Bluegrass Nationals this year, and so will he....in spirit. I am one friend who will keep his spirit alive. Mr. Eubanks, you are in my heart and my “Book of Life.” If you would like to send a card to Mrs. Kim Eubanks and family, the address is: 2981 KY 185 Bowling Green, KY 42101. I am sorry to say that I did not know Stuart Quan. I feel bad about another wonderful martial artist leaving us so early in his life, and my heart goes out to his family.

I don’t like to loose friends. The night before our neighbors had to return to Japan, they came over and put a pretty little yukata on me, with some beautiful little Japanese shoes. Then they took my picture. Even though I was much younger than Kaori, Reiko, and Hiromi, it made no difference to them. I was their little sister, and they played with me like I was their age. I did not know they were moving for good. I was only 5, and I remember taking my little red wagon to the street, picking up all the belongings they had left for the trash man that they couldn’t take with them. If I kept their belongings for them, they were sure to come back for them. The night they left, I slept in one of their empty moving boxes with Hiromi’s teddy bear she had left behind. It worked, keeping their belongings for them, as they do return...only for visits, but they return. I still have Hiromi’s teddy bear, along with books written in Kanji that I cannot read, but they belong to my friends. I cherish the stories I have heard from them, and the beautiful Japanese gifts I received over the years. I have adopted their grandmother as my own Sobo. When I earned my Black Belt in Shorin-Ryu Karate, Sobo is the one who sent me my black belt from a Tokyo Dojo. I hope that I make them proud of the way I do Japanese Martial Arts. They are more than friends, they are my family. They have loved me and have been there for me since I was 3 years old, and I will love them forever.

Making new friends...or, I survived Sharkey's Winter Training camp! What an awesome experience I had December 26-29. I rolled out of bed at 4:00 a.m. to get to the airport in time to catch a plane. I was headed for Naperville, Illinois, and Master John Sharkey’s Winter Training Camp. I signed in at 5:00 P.M. that evening, and by 5:15 I was on the mats working out with our trainers. The next day was a 12 hour day. Just like my mom, I would not have cried “Uncle” if someone had been holding me by the ankles over a fresh pile of cow manure! (Refer to my Thanksgiving story.) I was so sore, that when we had to do jumps, I had no problem....I couldn’t feel my legs anyway! Now I think I have an idea of what my brother went through in Navy Boot Camp! My mom said it is kinda like having a baby; once you see the results, you can’t remember the pain! There were about 40 kids at camp from California, Arizona, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, St. Louis, Iowa, and Quebec, Canada, to name a few. When I returned to school, the teacher asked everyone in the classroom to tell what they did on Christmas break. Forgetting about the soreness and the tiredness, I held my picture up, smiled, and proudly said, “I trained with THE SIDESWIPE EXTREME TEAM!” My friend just shook her head and said, “I want to join karate!” All the girls went wild saying, “Solara, you are so lucky, you trained with those HUNKS?” I had to laugh, thinking to myself, “yeah, but what they don’t know is that those ‘hunks’ turn into drill sergeants barking orders at you!” I will have to admit, those “drill sergeants” have great senses of humor! I would recommend Master Sharkey’s Camps to everyone.

I am so lucky to meet the people that I meet. I can’t wait to get back to another camp! Hmmm...let’s see, there is an extreme martial arts class every Sunday at Tarzana Karate!!! For now it is back to my weekly karate class of sparring, and my weekend class with Sensei E.J. Greer developing my katas into perfection. (Believe me, if you know Sensei Greer, “perfect” is the right word.) Hey all of you Junior World Black Belt members, last year I went to the first annual World Black Belt Trade Show, and I loved it. My family and I have already made plans to go back. (We always plan ahead so my dad can get “Click and Save” specials on airfare to California from our home in Tennessee.) If you want to get involved in something really fun this summer, ask your parents to bring you to the next Trade Show. The dates will be posted on the World Black Belt web site early enough for your family to get those “Click and Save” specials to California. You won’t regret it. I will be hanging out at the World Black Belt booth, so come by and meet me. Until then, join the Discussion Forum, or you can e-mail me at: solarakey@worldblackbelt.com

This has been a Youth E-Zine Article.