It is Monday morning which means it is time for another installment of This I Believe. And today our essay comes from an NPR listener in H Virginia. 26-year-old AM is a contracting officer for the federal government, but her belief arises from something she does after work. Here's our series' curator Jay Alison.

Angelina Michetti holds a first degree black belt in karate. Her personal believe stem from that practice, but also from the linkage and even the contradiction, between her contemporary religious upbringing in America and the ancient Japanese martial art. Here she is with her essay for This I believe.

I believe in the principles of my karate do, my dojo-kun. It is my way, seek perfection of character, be faithful, and endeavor respect others, refrain from violent behavior. It is my philosophy, my creed. I believe in this as I sweat through my gi, rubbing my inner elbow's raw on my sides. My beliefs are in my callused feet that once bored blood blisters as big as my palm. My beliefs are in my broken nose and soft jaw from walking into punches. My beliefs are in my kiai! I yelp, shout, bark when striking, blocking, kicking. My beliefs are also in the hardwood floors, the concrete, the field house rubber matting I trained on. I believe in the dojo-kun as I lied up with the others at the end of every training. Sweated through, I kneel, close my eyes, meditate, open my eyes and recite. I recite in my own voice with all the others, trying not to pant. I recite in my head, we recite as one.

I know my beliefs are paradox. My Judeo-Christian heritage says, strive to create a meaningful life, have respect for others, be peaceful, it's all me, my being, my life. But my believe saw also a dojo-kun, that are Japanese principles. There is no individual, no me. There is blind obedience, suppression of individual conscience. Never ever questioning of a teacher or leader. My beliefs are in ancient system created for bodyguards who lived and died for their emperor. But I am alive and breathing in America in the 21st century. And my belief is light and dark, water and fire, air and earth, yin and yang. I believe in contradictions, I believe in breathing as one, I bow my head as we kneel as one in one mind before Sensei our teacher. Once, twice, the line arises and falls as one. I raise my head to recite the dojo-kun, seek perfection of character, be faithful, /endeavor respect others, refrain from violent behavior. This I Believe.

Angelina Michetti with her essay for This I Believe. Michetti says she attends her karate school two or three times a week, but she thinks about the philosophy all the time. If you would like to submit an essay to our series or browse through all those that have been submitted to date, visit our website npr. org. For This I Believe, I'm Jay Alison.