At her debut class, Salgado witnessed things that left her in awe. A brown belt student stepped to the middle of the dojo floor and performed a series of movements with inspiring concentration and awesome force. This was nothing compared to the Young Olympians classes! It was her moment of clarity—she was determined to be just like that brown belt no matter what it took. And so the martial arts journey continued. With a lot of discipline and will power, Salgado quickly climbed up the ranks. She skipped purple belt and was promoted to San-kyu (3rd grade brown belt) by Soltis. Finally she’d achieved the first goal set on that debut class. However, it was far from her end of the journey.
Salgado stayed with this class until Soltis’ departure to Louisiana. After promoting her to Ik-kyu (1st grade brown belt), Soltis turned her instruction over to Juan Carlos Tapia (5th dan). Under Tapia’s instruction, she continued to polish her karate and to prepare her black belt review. Amidst the uncertainty of practice location and time, Tapia and Salgado were dedicated to training whether it was in an empty apartment waiting to be rented or in the backyard of his parent’s yard. Even on the coldest nights, Salgado practiced both empty hand kata and weapon kata, outdoors. Tapia exposed Salgado’s strength and increased her self-conviction. He reassured her desire for a black belt. Salgado’s training continued for almost two years. In December of 2008 after 4-5 hours of testing before a review board headed up by Soltis, Salgado finally earned the rank of Shodan alongside Rafael Acevedo (1st dan).
The years in karate have been a roller coaster of emotions for Salgado. She has sweated, bled, and shed tears to reach her present day accomplishments in karate. Shorei-ryu and her instructors brought out her ferocity—a side that she never dreamed existed. Not only did Salgado gain confidence in herself, but she has made long lasting friends in the style—a second family she can depend on. For these reasons and more, she wants to pass on her knowledge to the next generation of karate-ka and be the inspiration that her instructors were to her. Salgado came in a shy little girl and came out a strong independent woman. Salgado is a recent Loyola Marymount University alumnus with a Bachelor’s in Biology. While she is focused on becoming a nurse, her ultimate goal is to attend medical school and become an OB-GYN.
