THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410050155
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: E12A EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOVE WIMBISH, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Faster than a teenager eating pizza, more powerful than a kick with an oversized Nike, able to leap tall karate students at a single bound, Lee and Charles Ledford, ages 14 and 10, respectively, are Chesapeake's answer to Superman.
Last month, after only three years of karate training and a two-day exam in front of 50 Korean karate masters, the two brothers were awarded the highest ranking in their sport, the black belt, at a ceremony in their Virginia Beach karate studio, King Tiger Martial Arts.
According to the older Ledford, the exam was the culmination of weeks of intensive physical and mental preparation.
``There was a lot of stress on us and a lot of work constantly coming every day and practicing, but it was worth it,'' said Lee Ledford, a Crestwood Middle School eighth grader. ``Getting a black belt has changed my life. It affects how I look at other people and act toward them, and I am also more patient.''
Ledford said that the exam, timed to coincide with the masters' visit to the United States for an international tournament, came sooner in their training than is usual. The boys had just been promoted from brown to junior black belts and weren't due to attempt to earn their black belt for another six months. But their instructor, owner Geoff Cielo, thought they could do it. So they decided to try.
``I had just turned 8 a little before I first started, and I thought I'd be learning how to fight better and how to defend myself and beat up bad guys,'' said Charles Ledford, a Crestwood Elementary fifth-grader. ``As a black belt, I realize that karate isn't about beating people up; it's about becoming a better person, always respecting your elders and listening to others, even if they're an underbelt, and having responsibility about other people.''
``Say I'm in school, and somebody missed a day of school, and he doesn't know anything about the other day. As a black belt, I feel like I should go over everything with him and give what he needs to know, but still give him as much respect as I can. They are looking up to me now, and I try to show them that having a black belt isn't everything.''
Lee Ledford agreed.
``It's not the black belt that is important; it's the learning and the friendship that you build up through the process,'' he said. ``I was awful shy when I first came to the studio, and Mr. Cielo helped me out a lot, not only on my forms and my kicks, but with my shyness. Now he's my friend. He will always be my teacher until I die, but he is also my friend.''
His goal is to become a karate master and to open his own studio. His brother has the same ambitions.
``This isn't the end; it's just the beginning,'' said the elder Ledford. ``My future scope is to go on and become a higher degree and start teaching at my own school with my brother. Karate has brought us closer together.''
``Most families grow up and move to other parts of the country, but maybe this will help us still be part of the same big family and not be apart so much.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DOVE WIMBISH
Lee Ledford, left, and his brother, Charles, were awarded the black
belt last month at a ceremony in their karate studio, King Tiger
Martial Arts.
by CNB