Gabi Interview

How long did you live in Lithuania for?

I lived there for 21 and a half years.

What was life like there?

My life was all of the time interesting but here I enjoy my life a little bit more.

Why did you move to London?

Actually, I don’t know. My friend just came back from her holiday from the UK and she didn’t want to stay back in Lithuania and she asked me to move to London with her and 2 weeks later, we moved to London. I quit my job in Lithuania and moved with her to London.

How long have you lived here for?

First on June, it will be 2 years.

What jobs have you had here and if you have quit a job or got fired, why?

First of all, when I moved here, I did some housekeeping in hotels. Then I was working in Westfield, Stratford. It was a tea/cocktail shop. Then I became a waitress, working in an Italian restaurant. Then I worked in a hotel as a Conference and events assistant. When I started to work in the hotel, I started to do Karate as well and after s few months, I started doing karate full time as an instructor.

How did you find Shinkyu karate?

On Facebook. I was scrolling on Facebook one day and I saw a sponsored page advertising that they were looking for instructors for part time and full time. I was working as a waitress at the time and I can say I didn’t love my job, it wasn’t my dream job so I was looking for something extra, something like karate. I was doing karate for quite a long time, so I sent them my CV and then they called me and they asked me to come to their training sessions. They asked me to stay at the training for 2 weeks on Tuesdays and Fridays evenings. They said if everything was going alright, you can keep coming. My manager at the restaurant didn’t let me have Fridays off and this is why I left my job. Then I started working in the hotel in the mornings and then I was able to come to the trainings in the evening. After 3 or 4 months, in May they suggested to me to become a full time instructor.

Have you always been a sporty person?

Yes, I have.

Out of all sports, why karate?

I had 3 choices when I was young. You may not believe me, but I remember I was in year 6, I really loved football. I used to play football in the stadium with friends that was one choice. I also had a choice of street dance, freestyle. And last of all martial arts. My friend was doing martial arts and you know how kids like to show off and he looked really cool. And for me an 11 year old girl, is was a really cool thing and my dad saw an advertisement in the newspaper, a little advert. A school that was near me was doing karate training and my dad said to me that we were talking and you said you wanted to do karate so why don’t you go and try it out. I went to that school and stayed here.

How long did it take you to grade?

In the first 2 years, I had 3 grading’s per year, then every year and after 7 or 8 years of doing karate, I got a black belt. This was in Kyokushin Karate. Now my next grading in Shinkyu karate is July. I will have 2 different black belts then. I will have to polish up on a few things to take the grading.

What is your karate called?

Kyokushin Karate.