DARIJA PIZENT

SENSEI

Darija was born in 1980 in Karlovac. As a second child and young sister always wanted to compete with her older brother and to be able to stand for herself and defend herself. At age six, she started with Karate, but after few years and the constant fight around the house, her parents decided its enough. Years went by, but her drive for adrenalin stayed. Hence, she shifts from handball, shooting with a rifle, ice hockey, trying to empty her energy and fill what was missing. When she turned 30 years old with a lot of skepticism about being too old, about practicing meditation and yoga, she joins Bijeli Lotos Kempo. She started her journey with Sensei Goran but taking every Gashaku opportunity to learn from O’ Sensei Ensan Tomio, Sensei Marija, and Sensei Saša, where they constantly challenged her endurance and patience. The fire inside was burning, and she manages to catch up fast with the physical aspects of Kempo. But as she progresses on her way, many obstacles occur, and her inner fears came out.  Then is when she embraces the beauty of meditation and yoga for the first time. It changed her busy and stressful life to see life more clearly. It made both her pregnancies happy, fit, and calm. Kempo truly opened her eyes to what is essential in life, when to fight, when to stop, when to breathe, but to keep that fire burning.