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Students earn black
belts
Tony Caputo and Stephanie
Oye have years before they're adults, but they have
already earned their third degree black belts from Sung
Hang Do.
Caputo, 13, and Oye, 12,
started training at the school's Maple Ridge location
when they were six, said instructor Dave Kinney, who
himself has a six-degree black belt.
"It's like being a proud
parent, you know," Kinney said while Otto and Caputo
lead a group of four-, five- and six-year-old kids.
"They can run the whole
class" of younger children, he said.
The martial arts system
they have learned, which the school's grand master Jin
Kang founded, includes blocking, punching, kicking and
weapons techniques. Instructors also teach students
about the body's pressure points and joints. The goal is
a healthy body, mind and spirit.
Kinney said they both have
the strong work ethic and physical skills needed to do
well in the martial art, he said.
The two friends have
expressed an interest in taking instructor classes so
that they can both teach on a part-time or full-time
basis at the school, said Kinney.
Unlike some kids, they
don't mind practice.
"It never seems to get
boring," said Caputo. "We're always learning."
Their training has been
challenging, they said, and Kinney is "a strict teacher
- for good reasons."
Caputo and Otto, friends
since pre-school, also have friendly competitions
against each other from time to time, and that
competition spurs them both on to do better.
"It's good practice," said
Caputo.
They will have to practise
for a few years before having a chance to earn their
fourth degree belts, as they said they need to wait
three years before they can go for it.
published on 06/06/2006
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