Kick, block, strike.

It’s not every day you meet a student who has mastered the martial art of karate.

Alex Szuba, a sophomore wildlife science major at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, is a member of Syracuse University’s Shotokan club, which practices the traditional Shotokan style of karate.

Szuba was encouraged to join the Shotokan club by the instructor, Brian Kellogg, who knows Szuba’s sensei from Webster, New York.

“I think one of my favorite moments (practicing karate) was when my sensei was telling all the other kids I was teaching that day that I would be testing for my black belt,” Szuba said. “He made it sound like I had already achieved it.”

Szuba has been training in the Shotokan style since he was 7 years old. Now, he has a black belt and works as a kids’ karate instructor at Bay View Family YMCA in Webster.

Throughout his years of training, Karate has taught Szuba several life lessons. He said both teaching and learning have helped him understand respect and responsibility. He emphasized the importance of responsibility in karate because of the dangerous nature of the sport.

“You’re picking up all these techniques that in a sense are used to hurt people, but you use them in a way that you’re avoiding hurting people,” Szuba said.

Another thing Szuba learned specifically from teaching karate is the importance of teaching to each student’s unique learning style.

“Everyone learns differently,” Szuba said. “When working with the kids, some of them get it right way. Others, you have to show them and walk them through the movements. And others you have to come at them so their face lights up, and they go ‘Oh, that’s why I’m doing that move.’”

In the future, Szuba hopes to continue teaching, increase the degree of his black belt and try learning different styles of karate.

Published on October 13, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu