outside of linguistics

I have a son who studied sociology,  and who shares my passion for rebellion
I am a martial artist, a Sensei (4th degree blackbelt)My style is Don Jitsu RyuRelocating to Barcelona meant that I had to leave behind my dojo. So now I train on my own. 
and I lift weights
and do yoga
and sometimes I run
movement keeps me going

I love Barcelona
I love the mediterranean sea, 
the food
the people
the life-style
the spirit

before linguistics
I loved grammar in elementary school. 
There was nothing more interesting to me than underlining 
subects in blue, 
predicates in red, 
objects in yellow, 
and adjuncts in green (at least that's how I remember it) 
I loved the way language became so logical and colorful.
And I still do. 

In high school my passion became acting 
(and perhaps rebelling). 
Though acting school didn't admit me and so I went to study literature and journalism in Vienna. 
It didn't take  long for me to discover that that's not what I love
But I quickly refound my early passion: 
and now it had a name: SYNTAX. 

So I'm deeply rooted in my passions:
I still draw trees, 
not just for subject-predicate relations 
      but also for interactions, emotions and the mind 

I still perform - though not in the form of acting,
but in the form of giving talks and teaching
I love when I feel that I can touch my audience 
when I can inspire them

and I still like to rebel
I love to question the basics

I have a new dog, eh? 

It was finally time - 
almost 2 years after Yoshi passed away – my dog of 13 years – who moved with me from Vancouver to Barcelona and who kept me company during the pandemic. 

And so, I am now able to say the sentence that kept me busy for 10 years 
"I have a new dog, eh?"

I adopted him from Soidog in Thailand. 
He came as Magnat 
but after getting to know him 
I renamed him Bushido 
("the way of the samurai"). 

He teaches me a lot about the mind, 
about the relation between instinct and trauma, 
and about being positive and grateful. 
(If only humans had tails!)

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.
 (Bruce Lee)

Martina Wiltschko

Personal life