Midterm Proposal - What and who has Nikita become

Nikita Leon is a woman practicing the martial art of Taekwondo. She has been practicing Taekwondo for the past 10 months and is currently training for her first competition. She has always wanted to train in a martial art, but as a child her fear stopped her from trying it. She got over her fears, lost over 35 pounds, and started training in Taekwondo before she turned 30.  While she is training she is writing her blog about her experiences in Taekwondo as a woman, sharing personal stories about her weight loss, and her continued efforts to live a healthy life style.

I created the pseudonym "Nikita Leon" for a few reasons. When I was a young child I called myself Nikita after watching the movie La Femme Nikita, about a convicted woman turned assassin. At that time you did not find many women on TV carrying guns and training to fight. I always admired strong and tough women like her.

Leon is also based on one of my favorite movies of all time, The Professional. Jean Reno plays "Leon" a lonely professional assassin who becomes a little girl's caretaker. I never noticed until now that I have given myself the name of two assassins.

I use the same pseudonym as my Twitter name, @MsNikitaLeon. I thought it was important that the pseudonym and twitter name be the same because I find it a little confusing when both are not. I have thought about my twitter name and at times I do wish it was a bit stronger and correlated more with my world in Taekwondo. I thought about changing it to MissTKD or something similiar. However, I want to be considered as a real person, an individual, and not just an entity of ideas and thoughts.

What I am learning and enjoying:

• I am enjoying the critiques I have received from my classmates, group and my Instructor. This is a once in a life-time experience. I have never had anyone critique my work before and noone has ever offered it. At first, I took it a bit personally, and then I remembered that we are all anonymous here. I am going through this class open-minded and excepting of all forms of critiques. When I read the critiques and read how much better my words and sentences can be, I get excited about the possibilities of improving.

Some of my favorite pieces:

• Tweeting. I was never fond of Twitter before this class. I wasn't sure how to use it effectively. Since Nikita began using it I looked forward to tweeting and achieving a strong voice that grabs someone in the first few seconds they view the post.
• "In 2012 a violent crime occurred every 26 secs. One murder occurred every 35 minutes. Learn #selfdense basics. http://nikitasway.blogspot.com  #506iv "
• ""He punched me in the stomach. I almost threw up..but that didn't stop me. I lunged at him." http://nikitasway.blogspot.com  #506iv #tkd #girlpower"
• Articles. I enjoy writing, but I never felt that I was a good writer. Taking this course has made me want to be a better writer. Once I become a better writer I can finally touch people with my written words about subjects I find important. 
• One of my favorite articles I wrote on the blog was "Getting hit by a man". I enjoyed writing because it is unlike me to share personal stories about myself. I allowed myself to be very honest and open with myself and the readers. I want to see more pieces like this on my blog.

Some areas I would like to change:

• Blog name. When I first created the blog, "Nikita's Ways" I thought it was clever. My hope was to convey that I was showing my teachings, like the movie title, "Carlito's Way", starring Al Pacino. However, I think I need a stronger title, so that when a reader comes to my blog they know exactly what the blog is about.
• Twitter name. I am considering changing my Twitter name to incorporate Martial Arts or Taekwondo.

Some areas I would like to focus on are:

• Creating articles to submit to magazines and other blog related to women in martial arts.
• Hearing and sharing more of a man's point of view in Martial Arts. 
• Interviewing women, classmates, and leaders in Taekwondo for powerful blog articles.