Karate school hoping to gain interest

With the growing interest in martial arts here, Wado Kai, the local karate school, has decided to try and appeal to a younger audience.
“Really, what this is, is a fun night for the kids,” enthused Lew Kempf. “While they are playing games and having fun, they will be learning karate.”
Children aged five to nine can join the “sidekicks” program, which will be held Tuesday evenings for the next 10 weeks at St. Francis School for $25.
Kempf noted Chris Bazinet, who will be the lead instructor, and Claude Boucher, who will be the chief instructor for the “sidekicks” program, have a motto that must be followed during the sessions.
“Say what you mean, mean what you say, and don’t say it mean,” noted Kempf.
“We don’t want to scare the kids off,” he stressed. “We want them to have fun because later in the program, we want them to go to the full-time.”
Kempf noted youngsters will learn how to count in Japanese, as well as some of the proper stances, how to make a proper fist, and the basic karate techniques.
He said once the 10 weeks is up, a second program may be run but that is only if the turnout is decent. Although Kempf isn’t sure how many kids will sign up, he said there’s room for around 10.
And Kempf said parents who bring their kids may become interested in karate. “It is possible we will get an adult following from this,” he enthused.
Meanwhile, regular karate classes still will be held. “Our regular class is intense. It is not a joke or a game, it is serious,” said Kempf, adding participants range in age from seven to 48.
“In the regular class, we would like to have 10 years old and up but we are not going to stop someone from coming out,” he noted.
The regular class runs for 90 minutes twice a week.
“The first half of the class is workouts ranging from cardio, stretching, and Tae Bo type work out,” Kempf explained. “The second part is technique and the third part of the class is a half-hour of sparring or forms.”
Kempf said there’s a lot of repetition in karate, and that the competitors need to learn it, improve it, and perfect it.
“You get out of it what you put into it,” he reasoned. “A person’s progress depends on what you put into it and how often they work on it.”
He also noted individuals take it for many different reasons.
“It is a real mixed bag. Some people take it because it is easy to learn and others take it for a work-out, to stay fit, or to get in shape,” Kempf said.
“But once you are in it a while, it becomes a real passion–it becomes a way of life, just like any other sport,” he enthused.