Photo courtesy of Tommy Garner
Noah Garner
Noah is a 15-year-old, 10th grader at Hillcrest Academy. He takes Karate at Chris Welbon’s Karate Club. He won gold in three events at a tournament in West Palm Beach, including:
Kobudo (weapons)
Kata (forms)
Kumite (sparring)
How long have you been attending Chris Welbon’s Karate Club?
I have been attending Chris Welbon’s Karate Club for 5 years.
What’s your favorite thing about being at the Karate Club?
My favorite thing about the dojo is the people there. It is where I’ve made 90% of my friends and met my best friends.
What was your favorite moment or memory from the tournament in West Palm Beach?
My favorite memory from the WPB tournament is winning gold in Kobudo (weapons). I just started weapons training about a year and a half ago and have been training hard to learn this new skill.
Congrats on getting gold in all three events. Which of the three were you the least
confident in, going into the tournament?
Thank you. I was least confident in Kobudo because that’s the event I’ve spent the least amount of training in. I just learned this bo staff kata less than two months ago. I got my highest score by one full point.
In terms of what you enjoy the most, how would you rank those three events and why?
I would say Kobudo is my third favorite because I’m least confident in this event. Kata would be second. It’s what I’m most confident in and put a lot of training time into. My favorite event is Kumite (sparring). It’s fun to strategically kick or punch people while trying to stay out of the way of their kicks/punches.
Has doing Karate taught you any life
lessons? If so, what are they?
Answer: Absolutely. Karate has taught me to respect elders, seniors, my parents, fellow classmates, and teachers, as well as our Shihan and Sempai.
If someone wanted to join the club, what advice would you give them if it’s their first time?
Go slow. You don’t need to be the best at everything. You just have to first get the basics, then go into the more advanced stuff. A good example would be to master a good front kick first, then work on spin kicks or flying kicks.
If you’re not doing karate, what are you
doing in your free time?
I do a lot of karate practice, but when I’m not, I like to write, play with my Siberian Husky, work in the sound booth at church, and spend time with family or friends.
Is there an area of karate that you want to improve in? If so, what is it and why?
Kumite (sparring). It’s kind of like a chess game but physical. I want to work on sparring more strategically.
Do you have any future goals that you’re working towards with karate?
My goal is to teach karate one day. Maybe I’ll own a dojo or even teach here at Chris Welbon Karate Club.
