The Superior Martial Artist

When Christina Allen, MD, was a small child growing up in Connecticut, the wordtaekwondo was as foreign to her as the country of its origin. The Korean martial art, which loosely translates to “the way of the hand and foot,” was not a popular sport in her community during the 1960s.

“I didn’t know anything about taekwondo,” said Allen, an orthopaedic surgeon at the UCSF Orthopaedic Institute at Mission Bay. “I grew up playing soccer and football with my brothers.”

Some 40 years later, Allen is the team physician for the U.S. Olympics Taekwondo Team and will accompany them to the 2012 London Olympics this summer.

“It’s just a great opportunity,” she said. “I think for people who enjoy sports, going to watch the Olympics is on their bucket list. And to go and actually participate and interact with the athletes, and interact with other physicians from other countries, is a huge opportunity.”

Allen has distinct memories of being captivated by gymnasts Nadia Comaneci in the 1976 Montreal Games and Mary Lou Retton in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

A Natural Athlete

Like many children, Allen also harbored her own Olympic dreams when she was about 11 years old. She would race around the track, while a friend — her “coach” — would time her with a stopwatch. Her times didn’t inspire Allen to continue with track and field, but she later discovered she excelled at basketball and soccer in high school. She continued in college, becoming a soccer standout at Duke University. A bad knee injury ended her soccer career, but put her on a path to orthopaedic surgery.

That’s part of the reason why she bonds with her sports injury patients at UCSF. Allen specializes in the treatment of knee and shoulder injuries at the Orthopaedic Institute at Mission Bay. She has been at UCSF for almost 10 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering at Duke University before attending medical school at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Allen has been involved with the U.S. soccer team for almost a decade. She was handpicked as the soccer team physician for the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of the approval process, she spent two weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado to make sure the trainers felt comfortable with her knowledge base and that she got along with members of the team.

Learning About Taekwondo

“While I was there, they had an Olympic qualifier event at the training center for taekwondo,” Allen said. “I thought, ‘Wow. There’s a sport that needs a doctor.’ There’s a very high probability of concussions; head shots get you the highest scores. They also break a lot of bones and they blow out their knees.”

Soon after, Allen volunteered at a collegiate taekwondo tournament at UC Berkeley.

“The next thing I know, I get sucked into their world,” she said. “I’m going to regional qualifiers; I’m going to their nationals, just one event after another. They kept flying me all over the place.”

Allen’s training as an orthopaedic surgeon comes in handy. At every national competition, she treats a laundry list of injuries: fractures, concussions, dislocations.

“People say, ‘Wow that’s really cool. You get to go these cool places, and I’m like, ‘No, I’m working until about 10 p.m. every event,’” Allen said.

Soon after, Allen began accompanying the U.S. Taekwondo Team to international competitions, including trips to China, Mexico and Azerbaijan.

Her next international trip will be to London for the 2012 Summer Games.

“It’s pretty exciting. Hopefully nobody gets hurt badly,” she said. “My job basically is if someone has something wrong, try to figure out how to get them better as quickly as possible and manage it so they can perform their best.

“It’s a tremendous honor to take care of these Olympic athletes. In a small way, I finally get to live out my Olympic dream.”

From teacher and mentor to life saver, the leap wasn’t too great when Johnny Watley, owner of Unified Martial Arts Training Center, helped save 22-year-old Willie Ward’s life a year ago. Now the center is reaching out to help Willie again.

The families at United Martial Arts Training Center are planning a garage sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at their center, 803 S. Kelly.

“We will be holding the sale rain or shine,” Watley said. “If we have to move indoors, no problem.”

Watley said hot dogs and hamburgers will be on the grill with a martial arts presentation at 11 a.m.

The majority of bills faced by Ward, a University of Central Oklahoma student, have been paid for by charity, Watley added, but there are still some outstanding bills that need to be covered.

“We consider the students and their families that come to our center our family,” Watley said, “and if we are a family then we need to help when we see a need.”

Watley and his wife, Charlene, own the martial arts center where Ward was sparring during a class, when he was struck in the upper chest and lost consciousness.

Watley, Wana Self, a nurse and student at the center, and a parent, Dennis McKee, started performing CPR on Ward while waiting for firefighters to arrive.

Watley said after the completion of the first round of chest compressions, Willie started to gasp for air, but then he lost a pulse and stopped breathing.

The three resumed CPR.

In September the three were recognized by Edmond Fire Chief Gil Harryman for their quick action that saved Ward’s life and were awarded Citizen Life Saver Award certificates.

Ward has recovered thanks to the team effort of the three first responders and the three firefighters that arrived to help.

“I told Willie that God is not through with him yet, so he needs to find God’s purpose for his life,” said Watley, who is also the fitness coordinator at UCO’s Wellness Center.

Watley said the center is a forum in which he can mentor.

“Along my way someone helped me to get where I am,” Watley said, “and I want to be a positive role model for young people.”

The center also provides gift baskets of food at Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as toys for children who may not receive any.

Tammy Clements’ daughter is enrolled in Tai Kwan Do at the center.

“I can’t say enough about Mr. and Mrs. Watley,” Clements said. “They are always there if someone needs them. At Christmas my family received a food basket. I have three grandchildren who wouldn’t have had food or gifts had it not been for the Watleys.

“I couldn’t ask for better people as role models for my children.”

UMATC facilitates student advancement through positive mentoring, discipline, goal setting and positive reinforcement resulting in improved health and increased self-esteem, Watley said.

“We want to provide a health-related facility where one mentors to the Edmond-area youth,” Watley added. “The facility will maintain a positive environment and consistent, positive role model for reinforcing family values.”

One of the students, Krissy Knoch said, “Saturday’s fundraiser will not only help this young man but will also help provide groceries, pay bills, provide uniforms, tournament entry fees and assistance to those that are in need.”

JU JITSU fighter John Black has become the first Scot in the martial arts hall of fame – at the age of 70.

The grandad-of-three was also named international ju jitsu coach of the year and international supreme grandmaster of the year by the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame, who oversee the sport internationally.

He was presented with the honours at a ceremony in Newark, New Jersey.

John, from Greenock, said: “It’s absolutely brilliant. I’m so pleased that I have left my mark on the sport after so many years.

“I’m never going to be an old man happy in an armchair, wearing my slippers. Ju jitsu is a part of who I am and as long as I’m upright on my two legs I’ll be doing it.”

John, a retired diver, began practicing martial arts aged nine under the tuition of his dad Conn, who learned them in a Singapore prison camp in World War II.

At 18, after two years in the Merchant Navy, he moved to Japan for two years to develop his skills.

He earned his black belt 10th Dan, the highest grade in the world, earlier this year.

And he won two gold medals at the Freedom Games in Cancun, Mexico, last year.

Sergeant Major Timothy Drysdale struggled to share his story of Iraq.

He was shot at close range multiple times. The artery in his right leg was severed, his femur bone was shattered and he suffered shrapnel wounds to his left leg and lower body. Paramedics dragged him on a plastic litter over a mile under heavy gunfire to a helicopter. Drysdale went unconscious from blood loss. When paramedics couldn’t find a pulse, he was resuscitated multiple times during his transport to the field hospital.

He was finally transferred to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for 9 weeks. A volunteer from the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) visited him every single day he was there.

Today, Drysdale has a prosthetic leg. However, you would never know it when he is practicing ju jitsu. Drysdale believes that his martial arts training with local sensei Bill Oliver is a vital part of his rehabilitation.

Oliver is particularly sensitive to the needs of veterans since he was a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces and former Ranger. He has practiced multiple forms of martial arts including karate, wing chun, judo and taekwondo but prefers aiki ju jitsu because of its practical application to real life situations.

Oliver spearheaded the first Naples ju jitsu fundraiser for the WWP with a martial arts seminar at his dojo. The fundraiser was open to the public and ju jitsu masters from all over the United States came to demonstrate at the weekend seminar. The fundraiser held special meaning to the masters as they have each had personal experience with the WWP. All of the masters are members of the Special Forces unit in the military and have used martial arts in combat.

The WWP began when wounded service members returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. Severely injured service members faced overwhelming obstacles in the civilian world. Family and other veterans formed the WWP to provide the assistance that the wounded service members desperately needed. The program provides comprehensive assistance from the moment of injury to total rehabilitation and re-entry to civilian life. For many of the wounded service members, martial arts training has become the most effective form of therapy in their recovery.

It’s not often that you see adults brutally punch each other and then immediately hug, however, the ju jitsu weekend seminar was filled with injuries followed by a warm embrace.

“Aiki ju jitsu is effective because the difference in size between opponents is irrelevant. That’s why it’s good even for women as a method of self-defense. Anyone can be trained to disable an assailant,” Oliver said.

The seminar was a mysterious mix of group therapy and aggressive real life self-defense training. Oliver communicates the mission of the WWP: “To honor and empower wounded warriors” through his methodology of instruction. He helps his students to regain confidence by building physical strength. He encourages mental control by requiring discipline and the students have an opportunity to release their anger using forceful combat moves.

“From day one you get hugged. Sensei Oliver is a big guy and his heart is twice as big,” Drysdale said.

The ju jitsu fundraising seminar was filled to capacity with the audience spilling out of the dojo onto the sidewalk and street. The ju jitsu masters, audience and students all donated to the WWP. However, the real gift to the WWP was not the donation, it was the help Oliver provided to those in need.

The WWP is currently headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. Additional information can be found at www.woundedwarriorproject.org. For more information or to participate in future fundraising seminars at the dojo, log onto www.naplesaikijujitsu.com