Senior Anika Trotman is a world-class karate junior sensei. She’s been doing karate for the past eight years at Ingram’s Karate Center, which was chosen in 2016 to represent the United States at the international competition in Ireland. In addition to placing third at that competition, she’s been successful at many other tournaments. Trotman and her younger brother Sean both do karate and have competed at the international level since 2014.
“In all honesty, I didn’t make a conscious decision to do karate. My brother was obsessed with the idea of being a power ranger, so he started taking karate lessons. It was only once I saw my brother practicing that I figured karate would be something cool for me to do as well. So, I started lessons and I took to it immediately,” said Trotman.
Trotman hopes to make the United States National Team for karate at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Her multiple international competitions are going towards her preparation for attempting to make the Olympics.
“Beating my brother and being good at something really tangible motivates me the most,” said Trotman.
Trotman conditions by long distance runs and strength training.This year she’ll attend an international competition in Scotland and will also attend a competition to get to United States Nationals. She’s hoping to medal, because she often gets third or fourth.
”Karate is something that I’ve had a deep attachment to since I was a kid. It’s not only one of those things that you do because you’ve been doing it forever and it’s like breathing, but it’s also one of those things that I’ve made too many friends through and learned so many life lessons from. It benefits me and my well-being overall and it acts as an escape when everything becomes too stressful because it is the one constant in my life,” said Trotman.
Trotman will be attending the University of Hawaii in the fall, where she hopes to continue practicing to prepare and achieve her Olympic dreams.
Gretchen Strunk // Staff Writer
Sara Gofter // Staff Writer
