Chris Welbon is best-known in Plant City for teaching Shotokan karate, but he’s also a black belt in summer camps.
Welbon says the annual camp series, which runs six weeks, makes karate lessons more rewarding for both students and instructors. Through longer training periods and an increase in fun and games, he says students develop stronger friendships with each other and connect with their instructors.
“It gives them a longer period of time to be able to train,” Welbon says. “It allows us to sharpen their skills.”
Campers take part in two to three hours of karate each day, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or 1 p.m. for half-day campers). They’ll also make crafts, play on a playground, watch movies, go bowling and play other games in the Collins Street school. One of the camps’ most popular games is Battlefield: Swords, where kids play what’s best described as a cross between dodgeball and tag with foam weapons.
For 2017, Welbon added themes to the camp to keep things fresh. This summer’s themes included Star Wars Week, SuperHero Week and Ninja Warrior, as well as a pair of “Belt Promotion Camps” designed to give students the opportunity to test for a higher rank by the end of each designated week.
Each theme affected certain lessons and activities. Ninja Warrior, which is inspired by the American Ninja Warrior television series, features a field trip to Lakeland’s 2Infinity Extreme Air Sports center and has training drills inspired by the show. Star Wars Week featured a “Jedi versus Sith” spin on Battlefield: Swords. SuperHero Week let kids create their own hero masks and emulate their favorite Marvel and DC comic book characters.
“We just try to do something fun,” Welbon says. “We try to make it exciting and make it a lot of fun for the kids. It’s all about them.”