Student Profiles

Growing up in Northern Virginia, Dyer was an overweight and out-of-shape kid. He dreamed about practicing martial arts, like his oldest brother, but he never had the opportunity to take classes. The closest he got was donning his brother’s yellow belt and running around the house, a make-believe kung fu master.

A couple decades later, Dyer returned to Northern Virginia from a year studying art renaissance history in Italy. Having succumbed to the Italian cuisine, and not having had a regular workout schedule, Dyer was 40 pounds overweight and again, out of shape.

Now armed with an English degree and not-so-dreamy day job (while seeking work at a museum), Dyer decided to make good on his childhood wish and explore the world of Kempo.

“I remember almost throwing up in my first lesson,” Dyer says. “I was so inflexible I couldn’t reach the kick bag, which was a foot off the floor. I realized I really needed to get in shape.”

 

Once Dyer made the decision, he was committed to the practice and worked hard to improve. Within a couple months, he says he was so in love with Kempo that he changed his goal; now, he wanted to train to become an instructor. He joined the Academy, a volunteer program for students who want to teach, and before long, he was begging Master Santillo for a full-time job as an instructor.

“They were taking on instructors, and from what I remember, there were not a lot of positions open,” Dyer says. “But I’d made it clear that I was looking to do it.” In 2008, just eight months after he first arrived at the dojo, he left his day job and found himself working for Master Santillo, putting in long weeks teaching Kempo.

These days, Dyer is among the hardest-training students in the dojo. He teaches instructors and some of the most advanced students. Each week includes teaching five group classes and as many as 30 private lessons. He also helps in what he calls “behind-the-scenes,” with ideas to improve the program, training methods and drills.

So who teaches one of the top teachers? That job falls to Master Santillo. “One of the most important things Master Santillo has taught instructors is that there is always something to work on,” Dyer says. “He’s a good example of that. It’s something I take seriously. I’m in the dojo 60 hours a week and put in a couple hours of training on my days off. The thing about martial arts is that once you understand it, you can apply it. It’s a never-ending process.”

Currently, for example, he is working on timing his weight shift into every move and maintaining longer and deeper stances. He also learns by comparing notes with his middle brother, who – coincidently – also did not practice martial arts as a child but today teaches the discipline in Georgia.

Dyer earned his Third Degree Black Belt last summer, in a private test administered on the mountains overlooking the Shaolin Temple in northern China. He will return this summer, as the guest of the family of two of his students, who will be testing for Junior Brown and Junior Black Belts.

Looking back, Dyer can see clearly what a different life he leads today. The obvious are his flexibility (“I don’t worry about busting my toe on the base of the kick bag anymore; I can kick over my head”), and he has lost a significant amount of weight and reached a healthy body fat percentage. The last time his heart rate was checked, the nurse had the doctor double-check it — because it was so low.

But the less obvious changes have to do with Dyer’s lifestyle. He and his wife eat all organic, all local food, and the discipline he has learned in Kempo has helped him manage his non-healthy urges. “You still have cravings for things, but with the discipline you can say, ‘I should probably stop eating this now,’ or ‘This is probably better for me than a cream-filled pastry.’” He says after a while of eating healthy, his body began craving different things. “The other day, I was sitting around the house, and I said, ‘I really want a carrot.’”

Dyer says Kempo has even helped in the way he communicates and how he carries himself around others. “I have worked very hard, and I think that’s inspiring to people,” he says. One of the most rewarding parts of reaching such a high level in his practice is that he knows people see how far he has come, and they can gain from it. “I think my experience getting in shape gets other people excited,” he says. “Being able to spread the enthusiasm for health and fitness is incredibly important and powerful.”

When Brianne moved to Washington after college, she decided to accompany a friend at a kempo class. The first thing she learned is just how out of shape she was. The second thing she learned – when she continued going to classes – is that there wasn’t going to be an easy out.

“I’d never been part of something that was such a shared experience with so many people,” she says. “I was embarrassed because I was so out of shape, but people would say, ‘We were all there at some point!’ And they would say, ‘See you Monday!’ If I wasn’t there, they would say, ‘We missed you Monday!’ And that’s what keeps me going back.” [Read more…] about Student Profile: Brianne

Kempo is sometimes compared to boot camp and occasionally likened to CrossFit. But it’s not often that you hear “Kempo” in the same breath as “Law School.”

Yet for Mike and Lisa Zarlenga, the correlation is clear.

“You go to law school for three years, but it’s not until you graduate that you start learning the law,” Mike says. “That’s kind of how Kempo is – up until Black Belt, there’s all this basic preparatory material, like how to punch and how to kick. It’s not until you get into higher ranks that you really feel like you’re doing Kempo. Master Santillo always says, ‘It’s not until you are a Black Belt that I can actually teach you anything.’” [Read more…] about Student Profile: Mike & Lisa

I have now been training in Kempo for a little over four years and cannot say enough about how much I enjoy it. I have done other styles of martial arts, but feel I have found my niche with Kempo. There are multiple benefits to martial arts training. The most obvious benefit is knowledge of self-defense. But for me it goes well beyond that. I am a military man and have served for over 18 years. In the military and in martial arts, values such as discipline, honor, and integrity are at the forefront. Both the military and the martial arts sides of my life are intertwined and complement each other.

I also train in martial arts for the fitness benefits as well. Training has greatly improved my cardiovascular fitness and — at 40 — put me in the best shape of my life. My strength has increased from the calisthenics usually employed within training but in a more practical, usable manner than just lifting weights. The techniques I have been taught have shown me how to use my strength more effectively. [Read more…] about Kempo Essay: Nick

Once upon a time, George – a 5’10” network engineer who sat in front of a computer all day and a TV all night – weighed in at 265 pounds. On top of being grossly overweight, he was a heavy drinker, and as he neared his 40th birthday, he couldn’t help but worry about his health.

“I was wasting away,” he says. “I really was feeling my mortality. I figured I had to do something, or I wouldn’t last too long.”

Fortunately, George had an angel in his life, who happened to be his wife – and who also happened to be a fitness instructor. George saw first-hand how she had improved her health through fitness, and that inspired him to change.   [Read more…] about Student Profile: George

In 2006, when Cheryl was a busy working mother, she often found herself at the dojo – dropping off and picking up her son for class at Potomac Kempo. One day, Master Chris Santillo stopped her.

“When are you coming in?” he asked.

His question caught Cheryl off guard. All she ever saw at the dojo were the youth classes, and she had a hard time imagining herself in her son’s class. “I didn’t really think about adults doing karate,” she says. And by that point, she had all but forgotten about a karate class she had taken in college, at the University of South Alabama.

“I decided to take that class as an elective, and I ended up loving everything about it,” she says. “Then I got into physical therapy school, and I didn’t have time for anything extracurricular. Then it was graduating, getting a job, having kids… And I didn’t think about it again until my son showed interest.”

Not too long before Master Santillo’s question, Cheryl had been at her job – at a geriatric rehabilitation center in Alexandria, working with a physical therapy patient. They were working with the parallel bars, and Cheryl was on the floor. She went to stand up, and she had to pull herself off the floor, using the bar. “I felt so weak,” she says. “I was looking for something to help change that.”

Once Cheryl realized there were separate classes for adults, she agreed to give Kempo a shot. “ I forgot how challenging it was. My first group class, I did one push-up, and I thought I was going to die,” she says. “And I realized, this is such a good idea. I don’t want to end up like one of my patients when I am 80.”

Now in her seventh year of Kempo, Cheryl, 50, is a second degree black belt. She looks forward to training and finds that the practice has benefited her in countless ways. She has never struggled with weight issues, but she knows that her balance, flexibility, overall muscle tone and posture have all improved. “I think I carry myself better,” she says. “I definitely feel more confident.”

She has even become more comfortable speaking in front of a group, thanks to all the practice speaking to students. “I was always terrified of that, and it has really improved,” she says. I feel myself not getting red from the face up now.”

Kempo has also helped Cheryl manage her time better. She used to be a workaholic and had trouble getting everything done during normal work hours. Because nothing at her job was ever really finished, she would often stay late. Now, going to class is a priority for her. “I have to manage my day better to get there,” she says. “And one of the things I love about it is that it’s fun and doesn’t feel like work – like going to the gym and doing the same old thing. I don’t want to leave work and go do what feels like more work.”

Cheryl’s son – now 21 – made it to the black belt level as a teenager. In their house, the entertainment room turned into the family dojo – with swords, katanas, a punching bag and a makiwara board. On family vacations, they often practiced on the beach in the sand. When they went to Ireland last summer, Cheryl practiced her moves underwater in the pool and found that the water resistance offered a new challenge. “The Irish people didn’t know what to make of me,” she says, laughing. “But Sensei tells us that whatever you need to do can be done in whatever space is available. There is enough space in a hotel room to do a Kempo, no problem.”

Cheryl goes to group classes three days a week, with instructor training and her private lesson on Tuesday and on Saturdays she teaches. Most challenging are the physical demands. “And that’s a good thing,” she says. “You want to try to take yourself to another level. But you have to be smart about it. I’m not 20 anymore… Everyone has to set their own goals.”

She says one of the reasons she gets excited about training is that she loves interacting with other students. Even though each persons’ experience with Kempo is individual, Cheryl enjoys the camaraderie and says everyone is encouraging and supportive. The biggest misconception, she says, is that the sport is only for elite athletes or those in the military.

“It doesn’t matter what your shape is,” she says. “And no matter what your goal – confidence, weight loss or even speaking ability – it’s a terrific sport. I’m just a normal average mom, and I can’t believe where it has taken me.”