Misawa children get defensive learning kajukenbo

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sasha A. Navarro-Schmidt
  • Det. 12, Air Force News Agency
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNEWS) --  Military children have lots of unique opportunities available to them simply because their military parents are required to move around, and one of those opportunities is a kajukenbo karate class offered on Misawa Air Base.

Kajukenbo is a hybrid martial art that combines karate, judo, jujutsu, kenpo and kung-fu.

It traces its origins to 1940s Oahu, Hawaii, where locals came up with the fighting style in order to defend themselves against drunken sailors. At Misawa AB, the various reasons people take the class might not include drunken sailors, but children ages 6 and up come Tuesdays and Thursdays to work with Russell Sparks, the class leader.

"It's a mixed-martial arts class," he said. "We have mostly kids in here, but we also have a few adults that are in the class too."

Together, they work on different kata's, or hand-to-hand defensive movements that all have specific purposes. Kajukenbo is a defensive discipline, designed to aid students if they encounter a bad situation.

Ariel Planck and Jarrell Abram are students in the class, and both have their own reason for taking the class.

According to Ariel, she takes the class because, "I like the sparring part."

Jarrell has lost 10 pounds while taking the class. Previously diagnosed as pre-diabetic, all those worries are gone, and he said he's happy he's practicing kajukenbo.
"I was thinking about doing tae kwon do, but instead I did kajukenbo, and I'm glad that I chose it," Jarrell said. 

"I think it's important parents and the military all realize we have a lot of kids here and we need to have programs that help support them and help them to better their self-esteem and their own abilities they have," Sibak Sparks said.

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