Alumni Of the Week “Emily Thornton”

Emily began training at Mountainside Martial Arts Center in 2001. In 2008, she earned her 1st degree black belt, and in 2009 competed at a world championship in Japan. Emily’s passion for karate stems from her love of biomechanics and the spiritual focus of training. She cherishes Mountainside as a second-home that fostered her leadership, discipline, and drive she lives by.

Emily graduated with honors from Northern Arizona University with a B.S. in Exercise Science and minors in Chemistry, Psychology, and Spanish. Continuing her studies with NAU, she recently graduated as a Doctor of Physical Therapy. Emily currently resides in Phoenix, where she is excited to begin her career, and continues her training at Mountainside, where she is the competition team head coach.