Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Scott McLaughlin, 8, a first-degree green belt, and Pavel Klier, 6, a second-degree blue belt, both from Sunnyvale, practice their kicks at the O'Kaigan Shotokan Karate studio in Saratoga. Klier said he likes karate because 'I get to test out my back kicks and side kicks,' he said.
Local karate studio grows into salon space next door
By Rebecca Ray
The Saratoga Beauty Salon shut down in December, and the karate studio next door is kicking down the wall that separates the spaces and moving in.
The O'Kaigan dojo, which is Japanese for "a place where you train in karate," at 12361 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, will expand into the salon space in about one month, said owner and chief instructor Mary Crawford. The dojo, which occupies 1,000 square feet, will grow by 700 square feet.
Crawford, a third-degree black belt, teaches 65 or so students at the dojo in shotokan karate, which uses blocks, punches, kicks, strikes, grabs, practice forms and sparring techniques. Crawford offers classes for students of all belt levels, from white to black, and ages 4 and up, including junior classes for 4 to 6 year olds. Class sizes range from eight to 15 students.
"It's fun. It's self-defense. It's some way to get away from bad guys who want to hurt you," said David Krikorian, 12, a green belt from Sunnyvale.
At the O'Kaigan Dojo, the belt levels for students ages 6 and above, from beginning to advanced, are white, yellow, blue, green, purple, brown and black. Students choose whether to compete in tournaments and whether to compete in kata (practice forms), kumite, (sparring), or both. A kata is similar to a dance routine where there are predetermined moves, said second-degree brown belt and assistant instructor Mason Lancaster, 16, of Sunnyvale.
First-degree purple belt Dianne LaVerne of Sunnyvale only competes in kata. "[Karate] makes me struggle to be my best," she said.
LaVerne, a music specialist who teaches preschoolers through eighth-graders, teaches the junior classes at the dojo. In these classes, students prepare for yellow belt by going through five other belt levels. LaVerne and her husband, David, a black belt and senior assistant instructor at the dojo, work as emergency responders on the medical team at tournaments. David LaVerne also judges competitions.
David Krikorian's mother, Susan, an associate director of clinical data for a biotech company and a nurse, has also worked on the medical team and helped out with scoring at competitions. Susan Krikorian, a purple belt and assistant instructor, started to take karate so that she could help David, and became addicted. "I think I've learned enough that I can go out to my car at night, and other than [against] someone with a gun, I feel like I can protect myself," she said.
Susan Krikorian isn't the only student who started karate because of a family member. Crawford's 8-year-old daughter, Kaila, has competed since the age of 4. Kaila, a first-degree blue belt, won the bronze medal in kumite in the last Junior Olympics.
Mason Lancaster and his 13-year-old brother, Grant, have taken karate from Crawford since they were 7. Mason won a gold medal at the nationals in July, the gold medal in kata and kumite at the Junior Olympics in November and the gold in kata at the Junior Olympics two years ago. Grant, a purple belt, took first place at the Northern California championships in kata.
Crawford has been training in Totoku karate for 16 years and has been teaching it for almost 14 years. She had a studio at a recreational building in Serra Park in Sunnyvale, which she rented for three years, before she moved to her current location at Saratoga Center four years ago.
Crawford, a national judge for the U.S.A. National Karate Federation, also teaches karate with the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department and at schools in Cupertino and Sunnyvale. She hosts an invitational karate tournament each year.
Outside of karate, Crawford, a former physical education teacher, has a home-based business that hires physical education instructors for school districts.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
