Kids find martial arts productive, fun
By Andrew Twohey, 15, and Anna Morrison, 11, with contributions by Faith Perala, 9

Picture yourself in your childhood. You are being harassed and you feel you need some way to defend yourself. That could be one of the many reasons why a young person would want to study martial arts. However, kids do martial arts for many different reasons.

Tavaree Kovach, fifteen, from Gwinn, became involved in Taekwondo with Black Dragon Martial Arts Club in Gwinn because she needed something to do.

“ I had to find something to do when I was bored, so I just joined. I’m pretty good so I stay in it,” she said.

Pretty good is right. Kovach recently progressed from a black belt with a brown stripe to a black belt. The Black Belt shows the wearer is competent in a style’s basic technique and principles. There are many levels of a black belt so a student can continue to study.

Bethany Weiser, thirteen, of Gwinn, who has been training in Taekwondo for five years with Black Dragon, more closely follows the classic scenario.

“ I decided (to begin studying) when I was seven years old because I was dealing with a lot of stuff and I needed to find a way to defend myself without getting in trouble,” she said.

Weiser gives a pretty technical answer when asked to explain what the term martial arts means.

“ I would explain martial arts to be a fundamental and disciplinary set of moves and instructions combined into a fighting area of moves and combat,” she said.

Martial arts include many traditional forms of Oriental self-defense or combat. There is a wide range of levels to be accomplished in the various forms. The levels are usually represented by belts that students proudly wear around their waist. Generally, there are seven possible belts to obtain, not including stripes. The first level is white. Students take a test after a certain number of classes to achieve a new belt. The final belt is the black belt.

Joyce Tredeau, a Master Instructor with the Spirit Warrior Karate program at the YMCA of Marquette County has a seasonal analogy that goes with the white belt.

“ The white belt is like wintertime… like a seed under the snow… so it takes a while to grow,” Tredeau said.

The instructor with the Black Dragon Martial Arts Club in Gwinn, Tina Fuller, explains that it can be a long, but rewarding process to get a new belt.

“ It’s quite an accomplishment, especially when they reach their belt levels,” she said. “A black belt takes three or four years to get and about 100 and some classes to reach that level.”

Aikido, Daito Ryu Aiki Bujutsu, Hapkido, Kalarippayattu, Soo Bahk Do, Vovinam Viet Vo Dao, and Wing Chun are all types of martial arts. There are hundreds of forms of martial arts, however, the most common types of martial arts include karate, Judo, and taekwondo, and Soo Bahk Do.

Nicholas Overmyer, fifteen, from Gwinn, studies with Black Dragon. He explained how he feels Martial Arts are beneficial.

“ It teaches you discipline, and you can defend yourself if you get attacked. It teaches you perseverance,” he said.

Fuller agrees martial arts are beneficial for kids in a number of ways.

“ They gain a lot of confidence, a lot of strength,” she said. “They have better study skills because they can concentrate better in school. They’re polite to people and show respect to themselves and others.”

Tredeau had a long list of benefits that youth can take away from martial arts.

Ashley Larson, eight, of Marquette, studies at the YMCA. Larson said that she found the most difficult part of the class to be when it gets really tiring.

Overmyer agrees that studying martial arts can be physically demanding.

"The tests are about three hours long, and they’re very athletic,” he said.

Despite the difficulties of martial arts, the students pointed out many reasons to enjoy it.

Seth Quayle, Seven, of Gwinn has two specific reasons why he enjoys martial arts.

“ I like it because usually it’s pretty fun and it helps me get stronger,” he said. “It helps me defend myself if something happens.”

Caleb Clark, seven of Negaunee, and Hawk Paston, seven of Marquette, both attend the YMCA classes. They said that “punching” was very fun during class.

Tredeau pointed out that fun is one of the most important aspects of teaching kids a martial art.

“ Children, they don’t necessarily want to get a black belt… they just want to have fun,” she said.