Mikayla Ashe

Part-timE ninja, full-timE leader

In a day and age where society faces many safety challenges, there is an evident urgency to learn how to protect oneself. According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), as of 2018, one in six women are victims of sexual assault in their lifetime, totaling 17.7 million American female victims in the last 20 years. Sophomore Mikayla Ashe, a martial artist, combats this emergency with her own women’s selfdefense program, training women across age groups since the seventh grade.

“In this stained age, violence is a common scene. You should know how to defend yourself because the chances of getting into that situation right now is extremely high,” Mikayla said.

Wanting to defuse the situation, Mikayla’s program ensures the teaching of vital defense tactics. With this, girls may use their newlylearned tactics to escape danger.

“They are educating themselves, and they know that this is a more serious, real issue than they thought, and they know they are capable of protecting themselves properly,” Mikayla said. “I don’t think I know any girls who have had to use it, but in the future if they did, and they benefitted from my program, I’d consider that a win.”

Taekwondo, a martial art that Mikayla first practiced at six years old, also connects Mikayla’s family. Since the rest of her family are all highly ranked in the sport, Mikayla felt compelled to keep the tradition going.

“When I was little, most of my family did it: they all did Taekwondo. I was doing ballet at the time, and I

really didn’t have any interest in it, so I was like, ‘Okay, I really want to be a ninja,’ so I joined Taekwondo, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Mikayla said.

A home that supports her endeavors ensures Mikayla’s success and prosperity in the responsibilities she has in Taekwondo and her educational career thus far.

“Healthy body, healthy mind: our family follows that simple, but important principle,” Mikayla’s father, Lawrence Ashe, said. “We are all crossfitters and we’ve all practiced martial arts. We’ve always encouraged Mikayla to participate, but she’s clearly taken it to a whole new level through sheer determination and perseverance.”

Apart from a natural talent for Taekwondo, Mikayla demonstrated her devotion from a young age, practicing multiple hours a week. Even with the highly-regarded Taekwondo belt testing, Mikayla was able to excel regardless of the difference in age, and eventually earned a black belt at 10 years old.

“On ‘Instagram,’ there are videos of me in a younger version breaking boards, doing forms, self defense, kicking combinations and my belt testing... And I also had Youth Empowerment videos that I demonstrated tutorials on how to do certain skills,” Mikayla said.

Given Mikayla’s early achievements, her “Instagram” videos attracted girls interested in learning these skills to come and talk to her.

“A lot of girls are getting assaulted. I’m trying to teach them self-defense tactics to try and avoid the situation or make it less catastrophic,” Mikayla said.

These girls’ stories inspired Mikayla to create the women’s self-defense program during which, regardless of their age, women learn practical Taekwondo techniques in order to defend themselves in threatening circumstances. To establish her defense clinic, Mikayla spoke particularly to her main instructor, Antony Graf, who specializes in teaching martial arts.

“He gave me PowerPoints, information and some additional self defense tactics that would add to my clinics. He guided me in speaking properly to a group of people and keeping the audience engaged. He talked to many girls and students in his classes, teachers, friends of his in other martial arts facilities to gather a set of people who would be interested,” Mikayla said.

Graf has taught Mikayla since she was six years old, developing a close relationship with mutual respect for one another. Throughout their time together, he has seen her mature, not only in the art of Taekwondo, but also in her life.

“She is exceptional and she always stood out to me. She has a tremendous retention for patterns and a natural gift, but with an extremely great work ethic,” Graf said. “Her focus is just unparalleled.”

In recalling her efforts to make a difference in the community, Graf acknowledges her work with those of all age groups, not only younger females, and her evident influence on them.

“Mikayla works with children from three-and-a-half-years-old to adults. From a personal standpoint, at least with my own children and wife, the last thing you want them to feel is helpless,” Graf said. “She is contributing to the community by giving people an extra tool that’ll give them a chance to find success in a dangerous situation.”

As a student developing this program, she also faced difficulties balancing the clinic with schooling, but starting at a young age made it easier for her to adapt to the schedule and to find an effective way for both priorities to coexist.

“Time management-wise, it was hard balancing school, extracurricular activities and the program, but now I have found a balance. [I found it because of] consistency and not giving up. Eventually over time, I got used to the schedule and now I’m okay with it,” Mikayla said.

With her readiness and determination, Mikayla progressed quickly in teaching self-defense techniques and gained popularity among the community.

“She is very interactive. She shows you how to get out of a situation, such as kidnapping. A lot of people recommended the clinic. I went there two years ago. I feel brave and protective to people surrounded me now,” a past participant in the defense program, Sabina Ortiz, said.

Mikayla, a young leader who acts on ideas that will make a difference in our community, provides her students with not only basic selfdefense strategies, but with confidence in their ability to protect themselves.

“With that, I can make changes with real life problems in a societal issue we face and my accumulated attributes I gained over the years, once helping out with the clinic in seventh grade. My impact on our community has become somewhat tangible to me,” Mikayla said. “There was no looking back.”

Joanna Salvat Online Editor-In-Chief j.salvat.thepanther@gmail.com PHOTOS BY VALENTINA CACERES Kun Lu Senior Design Editor g.torras.thepanther@gmail.com DESIGN BY JULIA STRASIUS