Being in the same class room with your parents can seem embarrassing if not downright weird, especially if it is a class where fighting is encouraged. However, members at the Dubuque YMCA are taking a karate class that involves both parents and children.

Instructor Kyle Cox, father of six, first started teaching his own children the art of karate at home. Word spread across the neighborhood as other children wanted to learn. This all lead Cox to approach the Dubuque Y and ask if he could start teaching karate using their facilities.

“The first session we didn’t have a lot of turn out and it was difficult with having just all kids or all adults,” said Cox. “My wife wanted to get back into so we decided why not try a family thing, try a family karate class.”

One of the advertisement strategies used by the Dubuque Y was to host a Girls’ Scout Night to bring in the local area Girls’ Scouts. That is how Alyssa Honey first found out about the event and persuaded her father, Gary, that it was something that they should try together.

“She came home and she was really excited about and wanted to take the class,” said Gary Honey. “We felt that it would be a great thing to do together.”

The class has help out children that may be shyer as they can go along with somebody that they know such as parent or an older sibling. The main challenge of the class is trying to find something that is simple for the children to do but not simple not for the parents to get bored.

“What is really good about it is that parents can go home with the kids and work with the kids, too,” said Cox. “They can practice at home together and the adults pick it up a little quicker than the kids do and they can help the kids at home.”

DUBUQUE, IA -  to appreciate and spend time with your mom and it’s around the corner. Along with many other mothers and daughters; Bobbi Earles and her family has found a unique way of bonding by breaking boards.
“Any time you can spend with your children is a bonus,” says Earles and they find their extra time in the studio at Springer’s Martial Arts Academy.

Master Ben Springer sees many families who join their school create a closer unity amongst their home, “Karate is something that any mother or daughter, dad or son, can develop a close bond during their training. We offer classes where parents can train with their children.”

These class times has made the school family oriented making the classes a large influence on these growing relationships.
For Emma Earles that’s her favorite part about karate she says, “I like how I can be with my mom and my dad and my sister and we can all do a sport as a family.”

The Earles family is only one amongst many mother daughter teams that attend Springer’s academy. Anita Arensdorf and her daughter Angelina have seen the impact this time has left on their relationship. Angelina claimed, “It seems we’ve been making cookies more than we usually do.”

Bobbi Earles mentions that even during those mother-daughter fights, this sport can help take out their frustrations. She says, “During those teenage years where mothers and daughters do a lot of fighting, you can actual do it in the martial arts studio and have a lot of fun with it.”

For these karate moms, the enrollment of their daughters in martial arts brings a comfort to their hearts. “As young females it will be a wonderful thing for them to have in their arsenals as they grow older, so it really brings comfort to me, in a mother’s point of view,” explained Earles.

Arensdorf feels the same, “Although I know she’ll never be completely invulnerable karate has given her the opportunity to not be completely defenseless and as a mom, that feeling is great.”
“I think it’s important in this day and age for women to learn how to defend themselves and not be an object,” states Master Springer as he explains the importance of developing skills that can protect oneself.
It was at age seven when Arensdorf’s daughter, Angelina proved to her that even though a person may be stronger than her daughter, she is far from powerless.

“As her mom I didn’t think she would. I was a lot bigger than her but she grabbed my arm hand and put me to the floor and my hand hurt for three weeks,” said Anita Arensdorf as she told her favorite memory with her daughter.
Both Earles and Arensdorf agree that this experience has been completely worth all the hard work. They’ve seen their family and themselves grow more confident in who they are as individuals and as a family.

Felicia can be contacted at Felicia.Carner@loras.edu