The slogan, ‘We build strong kids, strong families and strong communities’ is brightly painted on the walls of the CLC YMCA in Damariscotta. Flanking the slogan are four key words representing the character the Y strives to build, including responsibility, honesty, caring and respect.
Of the dozens of programs available at the Y, karate rises to the top in achieving those objectives, and building a healthy spirit, mind and body.
Nancy Ault has been teaching karate at the CLC YMCA for 13 years. She took her first karate course at the Y 15 years ago as a “40 year old housewife. I really loved it right from the get go. I was in pretty good shape and it was a challenge,” Ault said of why she stayed with it.
The discipline of karate that Ault practices is Goju-Ryu. It is a contact martial art teaching self-defense using soft and hard techniques in the traditional Okinawan style of karate.
Goju literally translates “hard and soft.” Go (hard) uses closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks with hands and feet. Ju (soft) is open hand techniques and circular movements, and includes blocks, and controlling opponent with locks, grappling, takedowns and throws.
Ault said many people try karate for the first time, for self-defense and to get in shape. “Rarely do people walk in and know anything about it. The kids start thinking they’ll be flying ninjas at the end of the night,” Ault said.
She has seen good results with children who have attention deficit disorder, or who have disruptive issues in school. “I’ve had parents warn me that their child may be disruptive. But they never are. It’s a caring atmosphere with a mixture of kids and adults. There is nothing more humbling than having a 10-year-old kid in his first year teach a 40- to 50-year-old adult. But it works – you give a kid responsibility and they usually step up to the plate,” Ault added.
The emphasis of Goju-Ryu is on strengthening the body and the mind with supplemental exercises.
In the first half-hour of the class, students perform strengthening and stretching exercises, then spend the remaining hour learning about karate. Ault said karate builds “character and learning to be patient. It’s a journey of building. Karate involves a lot of repetition to learn the skills, and that takes a lot of patience.
Karate is also about “learning to be a better person. It’s not for the playground. If anything, it is learning to walk away. I tell the kids that if they did use it misappropriately (sic) that I would have to ask them to leave my class.”
Ault has never had to use her karate skills, but she has been in situations that alarmed her. Karate “teaches you to be aware of your surroundings, and to get out” of the situation. “Being aware is the first thing.”
Ault said she would recommend karate to all ages. “We have a really good mix,” Ault said of the ages of her students. “I encourage parents to do it, too. It is one of the few programs at the Y that is truly a family program.”
“We have a good group that has been with me for a number of years. They are a wonderful group. They are like family,” Ault said.
A group of 13 including Ault traveled to Toledo, Ohio to attend a seminar with people from around the world practicing the same discipline. The CLC Y won an award for the highest percentage of students in attendance.
She estimates half of those who sign up for karate do so for self-defense. Once they get into it, they realize the true benefits of the program.
“It really is a journey. The kata, which translates “empty hand,” is a series of offensive and defensive moves. The grand master of the old style of Okinawan teaches how to fight and how to defend without weapons.” There are 12-20 katas to learn to achieve black belt. “You not only have to learn them, you have to understand what they mean,” Ault said.
Students of karate advance as they learn the skills. There are four levels, progressing from white, green, brown to black belts. At the lower three levels, students earn three stripes in each, and the highest level of black belt, there are 10 degrees. Ault is a third degree black belt and plans to test for the fourth degree later this year.
Ault travels to Philadelphia, Penn., Toledo, Ohio, and Tulsa, Okla., to train. “I never thought I’d be teaching and here I am. I never thought I’d find my calling at 40.
Ault, a past board member, is a volunteer instructor at the CLC Y. One of the requirements of Goju-Ryu is that instructors teach for non-profit. Teachers are not allowed to charge for lessons. “It is a way to keep us humble. It is a way for me to give back to the Y, for me to make a commitment and give back to the community,” Ault added.
The CLC Y offers karate classes on Tues./Thurs. nights from 6:30-8 p.m. There is also an optional class on Saturday from 9-11 a.m. Ault’s classes have an open enrollment, and anyone can join the class on the first Tuesday of each month.