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Sempai
Jessica Rota was born January 4, 1987 in Elko Nevada. Elko at that time
was a small mining town half a day's drive from Salt Lake city. When
Jessica was nine, her father's position as a geologist required that
the family move to Colorado. They now reside in Kiowa, a small town about
40 minutes outside of Denver. She became involved in Ninpo in her freshman
year in high school. Having wanted to be involved in a martial art for
some time, she began looking for a school. With her mothers help she
investigated several arts, finally deciding on the Ninpiden Dojo. Rather
than sit & wait for an hour, Jessica's mom elected to join her in
class. They both tested for their black belts together, & now with
her younger brother also having joined Ninpo, they make class a family
affair. Jessica is currently finishing her senior year of high school.
Upon graduating in May 2005, she plans on attending University of Northern
Colorado in Greeley, where she will major in business. Jessica plans
to continue studying Ninpo Tai Jutsu during college and would like to
use her business studies to help the Ninpiden Dojo continue to grow.
When not in the Dojo or at school, Jessica works part time at the Sonic
drive in and enjoys spending time with friends, attending movies and
doing "normal teenage things."
"I am so lucky to have found the right art
for me on the first try. There are many people who spend years
trying to find a martial art that fits them. I, thinking that
all martial arts were the same and created equal, blindly found
the right one on my first attempt.I now spend my after school
hours teaching this wonderful art, and spend my Friday nights
at black belt class. How many teenage girls can say that? I
love how much a part of me that this art has become. Have you
ever had a place where you’re just happy if you’re
there? A place, where no matter what kind of day you had, you
can walk into it and all of the bad just disappears? To me,
the Ninpiden Dojo is that place. Because of this art I have
become a person that I am happy to be. All of the changes that
this art has brought into my life have always been for the
good, and I would not trade a moment of my time there for anything."-Jessica
Rota
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