You feel like you're really a part of a movement when you're singing Journey at a karaoke bar.
My go-to karaoke? 'Alone' by Celine Dion.
I've only done karaoke twice in my life.
My parents split up when I was nine years old, and I started taking karate lessons at that point. I was very dedicated to my karate, and I looked up to my karate instructor kind of like a second father.
Singing karaoke is my worst nightmare. But in the car, I rock out to anything Bon Jovi or Beastie Boys.
When I was a kid, I'd always wanted to take karate, but my parents wouldn't let me because I did a lot of other things, including ballet.
In karaoke, you don't choose the song; the song chooses you.
As a 4-year-old, I saw two men competing in the ring, and I thought it was martial arts. I asked my parents if I could do martial arts. So, I was 5 or 6-years-old, and I was doing karate and jiu-jitsu. Later on, I started kickboxing. Then, it just progressed. I did a little bit of everything, but predominantly, I did kickboxing.
It turns out that a Nobel is also followed by other recognitions, and perhaps the most unexpected of these is that the Japan Karate Association in Tokyo has now made me an honorary 7th-degree black belt, something that, given my athletic abilities, is even more unimaginable than being an Economic Sciences Laureate.
I only do private room karaoke where it's just me and one of my closest girlfriends. My mom always said I could really belt songs out, and the Dixie Chicks feed that encouragement.
