When Daniel LaRusso defeated the Cobra Kai with an impressive-looking crane kick in 1984 it forever secured a place for martial arts in pop culture and made millions of boys and girls suddenly want to become karate kids.
Although Daniel used his skills to fight back against a group of bullies, sensei Dean Lirette of West Vancouver Martial Arts says the sport has a lot more to offer.
“A lot of people associate martial arts with fighting,” explains Dean. “But there’s so much more to it. There are so many different things that you can excel at: being focused, controlling your temper, co-ordination, fitness, being motivated or setting goals, those are big things that martial arts can help you with.”
Dean started training when he was 12 years old and is now in his 21st year of martial arts. He was inspired to start by his brother Blake who earned his black belt, and later earned B.C., Canadian, North American, and world title belts in styles including karate, kickboxing, boxing, and Muay Thai.
The brothers opened their West Vancouver club in 2011 and are both instructors there.
Dean says he loves the fitness and co-ordination aspects of martial arts and explains that it offers many benefits, especially for kids.
Although anyone can start learning martial arts at any age (his own parents started when they were 55), Dean says the younger you start, the sooner you reap the benefits. Participants in their regular programs start as young as three years old, while the adult beginner class hosts karate “kids” who are old enough to remember watching the original movie in a theatre.
This summer, West Vancouver Martial Arts is offering a series of five-day camps for kids ages seven to 12 who want to give martial arts a try.
Dean notes that the summer camps are more geared toward fun and are not as disciplined as the regular classes.
“They get a taste of martial arts and what it is, and learn some moves,” he says.
Campers learn some basic skills, as well as a routine known as a musical kata. They spend time outdoors at Ambleside, which is just across the street, and have one big field trip each week of camp to places such as Extreme Air Park in Richmond or the Vancouver Aquarium.
Dean describes their school’s curriculum as a mixture between traditional and modern styles that includes skills from traditional karate, taekwondo, kickboxing and boxing.
He says the hardest parts of martial arts for kids to learn are repetition, focus and being present and in tune with their bodies when learning various new techniques, but every kid has the potential to become a good student.
Some kids who start a martial arts program already possess a lot of self-discipline and can easily follow instructions, and some kids not so much. But most kids come around quickly and even those who struggled in the beginning have become some of their best students, says Dean.
“Our biggest focus is challenging yourself to do your best, pushing yourself to do your best, setting goals (and) being disciplined.”
For more information about summer camp programs visit the website at westvancouvermartialarts.com.
This story originally appeared in the North Shore News Summer Camps special section, which highlights local summer camps for kids.
