Karate kicking sisters

MARTINSBURG —When Katelyn Tolliver, 14, of Bunker Hill tells people she is in karate, the reaction is usually a double-take.

“They don’t believe me because I’m a girl,” she said.

Erin Tolliver, 15, of Bunker Hill doesn’t experience the same reaction as her eighth-grade sister though. “They say, ‘Really?’ she said, and they ask her what her rank is and if she can demonstrate.

Girls and karate. You might think they don’t go together, but they do. A New York-based research firm, Simmons Market Research, found that in 2002, 39 percent of martial arts students ages 6 to 11 were girls. That same year, 8.7 million kids participated in martial arts, the firm reported.

Both Katelyn and Erin have been in karate for six years and have their black belts. A belt is a measurement of rank in the martial arts. In the style that Katelyn and Erin practice, Tang Soo Do, their rank goes from white being the lowest to black being the highest.

Their instructor, Gary Crim, said girls are welcome in his school, Red Dragon Martial Arts Center in Pikeside. “I encourage it (karate) to everyone, especially girls,” he says.

“It’s important from a self- defense standpoint, to give them confidence,” he adds.

Crim has seen female enrollment increase. “Girls are now encouraged to do everything boys do,” he says.

To read more check out The Journal 

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