Still room for winter session participants
Jan 27, 2010 - 10:41 AM
By Chris Hall
PORT PERRY -- Sitting alone in an R.H. Cornish Public School gymnasium on a recent Monday evening, Maria Laura Flamengo talks excitedly about teaching her next karate class.
The students are wonderful, gushes the veteran sensei. They're so much fun to be around and so adorable, she adds, as the first young student arrives with his mother.
As the instructor for the Port Perry YMCA's youth karate program, Ms. Flamengo, 22, sometimes sees herself in her young apprentices.
"When you see a six-year-old doing something you did when you were six, you just want to pass on (your knowledge), you want to help them out," explains Ms. Flamengo.
Each Monday, between 6 and 7 p.m., she teaches up to 20 students between the ages of six and 12 as part of the local YMCA's activity programs.
Now a second-degree black-belt, Ms. Flamengo has been teaching shotokan style karate for the Port Perry YMCA for five years. She picked up the sport about 15 years ago.
"You know, watching movies, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jackie Chan movies," explains Ms. Flamengo, an Oshawa resident.
When not instructing in Port Perry or at an Oshawa community hall, or demonstrating for referee clinics, the tiny teacher is honing her own skills as a member of the Ontario women's kata team and preparing for the national championships, slated to be held in Toronto in March.
"When you find something you're absolutely in love with, it's hard to pull away from it," says Ms. Flamengo of her dedication to karate.
Playing sports such as basketball or soccer can be picked up by most people, she notes. Karate takes patience and a keen interest.
"As much as it's a sport, it's a traditional art," says Ms. Flamengo.
The program, which runs either eight or 11 weeks, depending on the season, is geared towards teaching youth self-defense and building their confidence.
"We go through the drills on how to defend themselves and how to steer them away from fights," says Ms. Flamengo. "I like teaching anyone who's here because they want to learn."
The Port Perry YMCA's youth karate program began Jan. 11, but participants are still welcome to register. There is a $62 fee for the winter program.
For more information on the youth karate program or any of the YMCA's other activities, call 905-985-2824. The YMCA offices are located at 158 Casimir St.
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