Eight years ago a young girl noticed a martial arts class next to her gymnastics class in Dimmit and decided she wanted to try something new. That decision changed her life.
The first time martial arts instructor Albert Treto met MorgAnne Thompson, he knew she was special.

“She had the right focus and ambition,” Albert said. “She stepped up to the plate from the very beginning. That’s how I knew she was special.”MorgAnne began training with Albert and excelled quickly. She found a lot of enjoyment in karate, but shortly after she began learning karate, her family moved away from Dimmit to Canyon.

In a twist of fate, Albert subsequently moved from Dimmit to Canyon, unknowing that MorgAnne now resided there. After discovering that they were once again in the same place, they resumed training together.

When she wasn’t training, MorgAnne spent her time observing Albert’s older students.
“Being around the older fighters really inspired me,” MorgAnne said. “The more I found out about the sport, the more I wanted to do it.”

MorgAnne saw one of Albert’s fighters got the chance to represent the U.S. in Beijing. After seeing the opportunities that Albert’s other fighters had, MorgAnne decided she too wanted those opportunities.

“She told me she’d be on the national team some day,” Treto said. And she was right.
Three women, including MorgAnne, recently qualified at nationals and the judges voted MorgAnne to represent the U.S. at the Wushu World Championships in Turkey this October.

“I was blown away,” MorgAnne said. “It was the first time I was old enough because I had just turned 18 and I was so excited that the judges picked me over the older girls.”
Presently, MorgAnne is a senior at Canyon High School, but graduating is the last thing on her mind. On top of her schoolwork, she trains in Sanshou three to four hours every day and goes to Lubbock once a week to train.

“It’s extremely hard to balance everything,” MorgAnne said. “I’ve lost a couple of friendships because of it, but I’ve gained new ones. I also get a lot of support from my family, boyfriend and coach.”

Albert feels that MorgAnne will do better in Turkey than everyone expects her to do.

“I think because of her age, they’ll underestimate her,” he said. “But MorgAnne is a very smart fighter. She always has a game plan and she’s unpredictable.”

After she returns from Turkey, MorgAnne will test for her instructor’s black belt.

“She’ll be an amazing instructor,” Albert said. “She’s very compassionate and she truly cares about her students, not just the best ones, but every single student.”

After MorgAnne earned her orange belt when she was ten, she began helping train lower belt students. MorgAnne found a new passion in teaching and has continued to teach younger students.

“I think teaching kids is a gift of mine,” she said. “I always knew I was called to do something with children. Then I found this. I’ve always had a passion for it.”

MorgAnne aspires to someday open her own gym in a small town and give other kids the chance to have the same opportunities she has had.

“I really felt like I excelled in martial arts from the beginning and I’ve pursued it with all my heart ever since,” MorgAnne said. “At first, this was more of a dream. Now all of a sudden, all of my dreams are coming true.”