Typically when one thinks of martial arts, taekwondo usually comes to mind. For Senior Nathalie Schrans, her choice of martial arts is American kenpo karate.
Schrans has taken kenpo lessons for over 12 years and was able to earn the title of junior fourth degree black belt when she was just 13 years old.
“One of thing I love most about kenpo that it is, at its core, self-defense,” Schrans said. “A lot of other martial arts popular in the U.S. have been developed for competition and showmanship, but kenpo focuses on the main purpose of martial arts: defending yourself, kenpo prepares you for real-life situations.”
Kenpo karate originated in Japan and was brought to the United States after James Mitose introduced the form to Hawaii. Then Ed Parker studied and developed the American version of this martial art form and brought it to a studio in Pasadena.
“I’ve had two primary private instructors in my time at the studio, and I was very close with my first one I had known when I was very young, so he was like a father figure to me,” Schrans said. “I started working with my current instructor about four years ago, but I have known him just as long as my first one.”
Schrans has been going to Rick Jeffcoat’s American kenpo karate studio since August of 2001. Schrans is one of the few teenagers at the studio who have been able to achieve the status of a fourth degree black belt. When practicing katas, which are kenpo martial art forms, Schrans has noticed that the techniques and behavior she has developed at the studio have transferred into her daily life.
“Learning how a technique could take down an attacker helped me understand how my actions and words affect others,” Schrans said. “In kenpo, an inch could mean the difference between evading an opponent or having your belly sliced open by a knife; in life, one word could either help or hurt someone.”
Aside from learning key self defense tactics, Schrans has also been able to gain personal experience from others at her kenpo studio.
“At a certain rank, one of the katas we learn uses a bo staff,” Schrans said. “My old instructor does a lot of woodworking so he made me a staff with a design burned into the wood by hand. It was a very personal gift because that kata was part of an important step in my training.”
Schrans is currently working on a kata called long form four and it is the longest form in American kenpo and it is turning into one of her favorite forms because it provides her with a good cardio workout.