She gets a kick out of karate

The 69-year-old doesn't accept excuses about why people don't take karate.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- When Dorothy Harrell saw the ad in a local newspaper a little more than three years ago, she thought to herself, "Why not?"
Ad in hand, she walked into Jim Bundy's Freestyle Karate Studio in Niles Park Plaza and signed up. Along with other new students, she started training, learning self-defense moves and working her way up in rank.
The hard work paid off today. The 69-year-old Warren woman was awarded her black belt in karate.
"When people hear I take karate classes, they tell me, 'Hey, that's wonderful, that's really great,'" she said.
"Then they ask me where I get the energy. I tell them I don't really know, I just do it."
Harrell, a child-care worker who supervised problematic teenagers between 15 and 18, took some self-defense classes several years ago and decided the exercise would be good for her.
"I had quit smoking and gained a few pounds, so I figured what the hey, I would give it a shot," she said.
Made progress
Jim Bundy, her trainer since she started, said Harrell hadn't been doing much exercise at all when she joined the classes, but progressed just as well as other students.
"She achieved her black belt in about the same time any other student would, about 31/2 years," he said.
Black belt is the highest rank in karate.
Bundy said the course is not the high-flying, jumping and kicking karate movies are made of, but more focused on self-defense moves that would be practical for anyone to use out on the street.
He admits he was surprised when Harrell decided to join; she's at least 20 years older than any of his other students.
Harrell said she's come to love the other students and instructors as if they were family.
"The people there are just fantastic," she said. "The people really welcome you."
A family affair
She's so enthused about her lessons, which she attends two or three times a week, she even encouraged her children to join.
Her daughter, Gwen Jennings, takes karate while son, Ken, is a student in the cardio class.
She also encourages her co-workers to follow her lead, but admits they often give her all kinds of excuses on why they can't take up the sport.
She's not buying any of it.
"I think a lot of people are afraid of making fools out of themselves, but these people really make you believe you can do it," she said.
Bundy, who is 27 and has taught karate professionally for 91/2 years, considers Harrell one of his star pupils.
"To look at her, you would never guess how old she is," he said.
"And she plans to keep working, getting the different degrees in black belt. She's not going anywhere, trust me."
slshaulis@vindy.com