Published: October 19, 2008 01:03 am            

Forget Mr. Miyagi ... it's all about discipline

FAIRMONT — If you think karate is all Ralph Macchio and Mr. Miyagi ... or Ninja Turtles or even Kung Fu ... you’re wrong.

If you think it’s a nifty way to learn to knock somebody’s block off, you are so wrong ... again.

For Garry Freeman and Pat Wilson, owners and teachers of the Eastside Karate Academy, the ancient martial art is a way to learn self-confidence and discipline ... and a nifty way of defending yourself. (Which is not the same as block knocking.)

“Yeah, people come in and that’s what they think,” Freeman said. Forget TV and the movies. This is real life.

For 90 minutes to two hours twice a week, everyone in the class held at the YWCA ... from the littlest ones to the biggest ... work nonstop at learning new skills and perfecting old ones.

No breaks. No time outs. But no one seems to mind.

“We teach techniques with open hands, with weapons and sparring for self-defense,” Wilson said.

“And no. And we do not break boards.”

The students wear the traditional belts. White comes with the outfit, then on up to yellow, blue, green, purple, brown and black.

“It’s mostly to let students know how they’re progressing,” Freeman said. ”We like to give them a rank after they go through a rigorous test. It’s not easy. You can’t just come in off the street and take the test and think you’re gonna pass it.”

Tiny little kids with white belts are helped by older students with black belts.

“That gives everybody the experience of teaching and learning at the same time,” Wilson said.

“Our main focus is to build self-esteem, respect and attitude,” Freeman said. “Without those three, you can’t be a member here.

“We’re old school. We’re not about winning trophies. We want our students to feel good about themselves. That’s our mission.”

Students also have the chance to travel to competitions and tournaments, said Wilson.

“Not to win trophies. But for the experience to do that and meet other kids. Everyone here is a winner, whether they get a trophy or not. Nobody sits on the bench. Everybody can participate here and in the tournaments.”

Freeman, a fifth-degree black belt, has been doing karate for about 30 years, he says. A friend turned him on to the sport.

“I fell in love with it. It built my self-esteem and discipline up. And it mellowed me out.”

Wilson said he’d try it, “but then quit. Got my gumption up and then quit again. But then it stuck and I love it ... for the exercise, the interaction with other people and self-esteem.

“Now I’m able to work with kids and help teach them values. And quite frankly, that makes me feel like I have a good purpose.”

Self-defense is taught. But not fighting.

“We teach you from the get-go how to defend yourself,” he said. “But we have a policy that if you go out and get in trouble and fight, either you don’t come back at all or you’ll be out for a while.

“We’ve had people come in off the street and think they’re already pretty tough and want to show the class, or they come in to learn to beat up people.”

They don’t last long at this school.

“We’re not gonna have them,” Wilson said.

“We do not teach troublemakers martial arts,” Freeman said. “From day one, we are a family. I don’t care if Sensei Pat is better than me, and he doesn’t care if I’m better than him. I’m trying to make myself better as human being and martial artist.”

The fees they charge “most people probably wouldn’t even not open up for,” he said. “But it’s not about money. It’s about giving back to the community. We love what we do.”

“We don’t get paid and don’t want to get paid,” Wilson said.

Succeeding in karate, just as in anything else, takes discipline.

“It doesn’t matter what color or size you are,” Freeman said. “Come in with a clear conscience. Come in wanting to learn and wanting to give. This teaches you to be humble.

“This is not like a basketball game. When our students leave here, they take what they’ve learned with them.”

“Kids here are from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds,” Wilson said. “But everybody is treated the same and treats everybody else the same. This gives the kids a great opportunity to interact with and learn from different groups of people.”

“There is a lot of hard work that had to be done.”

Freeman was inducted into the American Martial Arts Alliance Hall of Fame in October 2007 for being an outstanding promoter and for his dedication to martial arts.

Being black belt is good, “but it doesn’t mean you’re the best,” Freeman said. “No one’s the best. But it does symbolize a lot of hard work and dedication.”

Tommy McDaniel, 15, became a black belt when he was 13, he said.

“I started here 10 years ago. It gave me something to do. It’s fun but it’s hard work. A challenge. I’ve put in many years of hard work,” he said with a laugh.

“I’ve learned self-discipline. It brought my grades up and taught me to respect people. I recommend it to everybody. I’ll probably be in karate for the rest of my life.”

Kayla Keefover, 16, has been in karate for eight years and is working on her black belt.

“My dad talked me into it,” she said. “I enjoyed it since the first night. I wanted to come back to see how far I could get with it. So far, I’m doing pretty good. It helped me in school and taught me discipline. I feel better about myself.”

Aurianna Shay, 14, likes the physical stuff.

“I like punching and kicking and stuff. It’s not real fighting. It’s controlled. It’s hard work, but it’s fun.”

Sara Davis, 15, has been studying karate for two years.

“My friends encouraged me. I love it. You get this burst of adrenaline. It’s really cool. I’ve learned confidence and that I don’t have to be shy. I can be outgoing if I want to.”

One of the youngest is Zachary Anderson, 5, who has been taking karate lessons since he was 3.

He gets right to the point. He likes kicking ... and punching ... and going to tournaments “far, far away” in Ohio and southern West Virginia. He even won first place in the advanced 5-year-old category.

“We started him when he was 3 because we wanted him to get involved in something and he was too young to do anything else,” Dale Anderson said about his son.

“He’s a lot more mature than other 5-year-olds. He realizes to believe in himself.”

E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.

        

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