Mei Tanaka-Ross

Mei walked into Northgate in 2014, the month it opened, after a friend dared her to try one class. Eight years later she became the first student Dani promoted to black belt.

She started the women's class in 2017 with three regulars. It now has around twenty, and most of them also train in the mixed classes.

Mei works as a physical therapist, which is why her warm-ups are longer than anyone else's.