Author: TSMA Page 185 of 202

In light of the recent car jackings that have been happening on the east end of Slidell dating back to early December, many local citizens are wondering what they should do in order to steer clear of the perpetrator.

According to owner of Rick Weems’ Martial Arts, Jude Grayson, a fourth-degree black belt and seven-time National Champion in Tae Kwon Do—the key to dealing with a bad confrontation such as a car jacking is to be alert and not fearful.

“When things like that happen, force down the fear,” said Grayson. “The time to be afraid is maybe after it when everything is over with. The time to be alert is when you are in danger.”
Grayson has been teaching at Rick Weems gym for years and believes everyone should attend at least one self-defense class because it not only helps build knowledge in physical defense, but also helps people become more mentally proactive.

“Always carry you keys between your knuckles because they can become a weapon, most importantly even if it’s not at my school, everyone needs to get into a self-defense class,” said Grayson.

According to Grayson there are several things young women can do to avoid a situation with a perpetrator before a weapon or confrontation has begun including: choosing a remote parking spot, having company out in public, carrying a cell phone, and being aware of where they are.

The particular suspect who has been committing abductions in Slidell seems to hide in-between cars and catches vulnerable women in the early 20’s off guard late at night.

“This is a time that I think is a time to not be careless. No one should be shopping at night right now. Wal-Mart always has police detail. If you have to shop, be smart about where you shop, be smart about where you park, park underneath the light,” said Grayson.

Also, Grayson recommended anyone who is leaving a grocery store or shopping mall at night should be walked to their car by a store employee, clerk, or manager.

These are all steps that can be taken before a robbery occurs, but Grayson also had advice for those wanting to know how to defend themselves upon meeting armed intruders including concealing a stun gun in.

“Everybody should have a taser,” said Grayson. “It’s a legal thing and you don’t have to pay attention to your real feelings on gun control. Tasers are safe, just keep them in your purse.”

Grayson’s gym will be hosting a street self-defense class starting Thursday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Rick Weem’s Martial Arts gym on 2145 Gause Blvd. The event is free to the public.

As each child enters the room for karate class, they bow, as a sign of respect. They do the same when they leave. In between, master instructor Willie Coleman imparts a few other lessons.

About discipline. About responsibility. About leadership.

The karate class is one of the many programs offered at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church designed to reach out to the community. And it seems to be working.

Coleman said that students who have had trouble in school with attitude and anger management problems have improved in the four months they’ve been taking the karate course.

“They went from getting D’s to B’s to A’s,” he said as he kept a watchful eye on the dozen or so students in attendance one recent night. “The attitude change was tremendous.”

More than just grades have improved. The discipline and exercise have helped some of the students who were at risk for diabetes improve their sugar levels, he said. Attitudes also have improved. Thirteen-year-old Jarren Hunley, who has earned his second belt since starting the class, was a self-described bully. What he learned in karate class changed all that.

“It helped,” he said. “I learned how to stop being a bully. I learned about respect.”

Coleman said that students who bully others are penalized by having to fight three others in class. “They see what it’s like to face a bully,” he said.

Coleman started the class with another instructor, Bruce Daniels, and has been working with St. Philip’s to bring the program to the Fernhill Road church’s East Side neighborhood for a very modest voluntary fee. Parents and grandparents are often on hand. Jeremiah Jones, who comes to watch his grandson, 12-year-old Niles, called it “a great experience for the kids.”

“It keeps them out of trouble. It gives them something positive to participate in. They get a lot out of it,” he said.

The Rev. Gloria Payne-Carter, pastor of the historic church, said the karate program took an empty space at the church and filled it with energy and children.

The class is just one of the many ways St. Philip’s is reaching out to its community.

“This past summer, we ran a summer program through the parish center engaging about 20 young people, ages 10 to 17,” Payne-Carter said.

She said the focus of that program was to encourage the young people to provide service in their immediate community. They did so by cleaning people’s yards, cutting their grass, planting flowers and visiting the City Mission.

“We wanted to instill in them the principles of Martin Luther King,” she said. “To give back to the community.”

The centerpiece of the community outreach, she said, is the food pantry, with distribution on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

OLYMPIC medallist Sarah Stevenson has been crowned Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year following an emotional few months.

The tae kwon do ace who tragically lost both her parents to cancer within weeks of each other said she was shocked to receive the prestigious accolade.

Sarah said: “I’m more used to handing out these awards, not receiving them.

“I just never expected to win so it’s an amazing honour for me and also for tae kwon do.”

The award follows public outrage after no women made the shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

The 2008 bronze medallist had recently taken time out to care for her parents Diana, 63, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in January and died last month, and her father Roy, 63, who died from a brain tumour in July.

But despite dealing with her parents illness, in May Sarah went on to win a gold medal at the World championships – dedicating it to her mum and dad.

The 28-year-old received the prestigious trophy ahead of swimmers, Keri-Anne Payne and Rebecca Adlington plus Hayley Turner, the first woman to win two Grade One races.

Dorothy Tyler, 91, who won the first of her two Olympic high jump silver medals at the 1936 ‘Hitler’ Olympics in Berlin, presented Sarah with her award at the paper’s Wapping headquarters.

It rounded off a memorable day for Sarah who earlier collected the SJA Committee Award from the Sports Journalists’ Association.

“It’s quite apt at the moment that so many great women are being recognised for the effort and hard work they have put in to their sport.

“I am really grateful and this award is for all the women out there who have achieved great things but maybe not have been recognised.”

“I just really appreciate being given this honour,” added Sarah whose trophy was presented in front of an audience including London 2012 chief, Sebastian Coe.

“And to collect it from a lady like Dorothy who competed in an era when sportswomen were treated even less favourably was something I’ll never forget.”

Sarah, who has opted not to compete at the French Open in Paris this weekend, is the 24th recipient of the Sunday Times accolade.

Past champions include Dame Kelly Holmes, Dame Ellen MacArthur and Victoria Pendleton.

And despite the deaths of parents the former Don Valley pupil is determined to focus on her dream to become Olympic champion in London next year.

“I wouldn’t go there for anything else,” she said. “I will go there to do my very best to get that gold.”

A diabetic for the past 15 years, Al Cammarono, 45, has struggled to lose weight and maintain a healthy diet. Two years ago Cammarono began training at Iannuzzo’s Karate School, and today he is proud to unveil a new body, 60 pounds lighter. Along with the physical benefits he has gained through training, Cammarono has also received nutrition counseling from the instructors at the karate school.

Iannuzzo’s Karate School is proud to unveil a recent student success story of a man struggling with diabetes who successfully lost 60 pounds through martial arts training.

Al Cammarono, 45, has been a student at Iannuzzo’s Karate School in Central New York for the past two years. Before training at Iannuzzo’s, Cammarono took between eight to ten different pills a day because of his diabetic condition. As a truck driver, Cammarono was on a busy schedule that also required a lot of physical work and heavy lifting. He struggled to lose weight and eat healthy foods because of the kind of food that was available to him while traveling. He made attempts to lose weight through different exercise techniques and diet changes and was unsuccessful until he started training at Iannuzzo’s.

Although he didn’t immediately see results, Cammarono said that after he started training he began to feel better. After several months of training, Cammarono began to see results and was pleased with his progress. “I never realized how out of shape I was until I started training,” he said. “I look back at pictures from then and there’s no comparison, I lost sixty pounds.”

Cammarono set a goal to lose weight when he began training and that was his main focus. “In the beginning I didn’t care about earning the belts but the more you work and the more effort you put in the more results you see and the better you feel,” he said. “It then became a goal and I figured I might as well see it through, it was a personal goal to succeed and now I feel like I can do anything.”

Along with the physical training at Iannuzzo’s, Cammarono also receives nutritional counseling from Rick and Julia Iannuzzo. Cammarono believes there is a balance between diet and exercise that he needed in order to stay healthy.

“The exercise is awesome, but it’s definitely a marriage between the diet and the exercise,”Cammarono said. Cammarono says he’s been able to create a balance between diet and exercise while traveling constantly because of the Iannuzzo’s help. While he’s on the road, Cammarono often calls Rick and Julia for nutritional advice and for answers to some questions he may have while out of town.

Two years after he began training, Cammarono is now down to taking one pill a day and is considered pre-diabetic. His training at Iannuzzo’s has created a total lifestyle change for himself. Not only has he lost a significant amount of weight, Cammarono has also increased his flexibility and maintained his balance, two things that typically begin to decrease over time.

Cammarono hopes that his story can motivate others to make the same lifestyle change that he has made. “If my positive words will help somebody else then I think that’s just awesome,” he said. “If I can help one person better his or her life than it’s well worth it.”

Iannuzzo’s Karate School has also developed an online program, http://www.internationalkarateschool.com, for those beyond the Central New York span who want to train. Internationalkarateschool.com is designed for men, women and children of all ages. The program enables Martial Arts enthusiasts to earn black belts in the comfort of their own home and on their own time. To learn more about the online karate programs available please visit internationalkarateschool.com