Karate students spar in the Ultimate graduation

When 35 students in red Dogis stepped into the spotlight at the James River High School gymnasium on May 15, they were completing five years of intense training and ready to show their friends and family what they had learned in that time.

As they punched, leapt and kicked, they commanded the audience’s attention and held it for two-and-a-half spellbinding hours.

The program provided the final test for the students, who were earning their karate black belts from Ultimate Karate Academy, and condensed their five years of work into one brief afternoon. There they showcased everything from the first steps of a karate white-belt student up to black-belt sparring with a partner.

In addition, the students performed two Katas, which are a sort of ballet performed through the martial arts movements.

Ultimate Karate Academy Chief Executive Officer Mike Florence promised that the students – ranging in age from middle school through adult – were in the best physical shape of their lives.

“They go through a final four months of specific black belt training,” Florence said as images of the students during the special training flipped through the digital photo frame sitting on his desk. “What goes on in those classes is more than just cleaning up their skills. We’re out in the back parking lot, we’re running wind sprints, we’re doing lap after lap around this building. They’re in the best shape of their lives because on Saturday, we want them to look their best. In essence, this is their day to shine … You don’t want to run out of gas at the end.

“I was 49-years-old when I got my black belt, and I was in the best shape of my life,” Florence chuckled. “I was doing stuff I had never done in my life, but that’s the purpose of the final four months of this training. They are tip-top on that day.”

Each belt presents new time and skill challenges. The process begins with the baseline kicks and punches and then moves forward through relentless drills before advancing into sparring.

Ultimate Karate Academy is a full contact school. By the time students reach the upper levels, they are practicing real-time punches and kicks with a partner and are able to fluidly move between offense and defense.

At the same time the students learn discipline.

“The idea [behind karate] is to offer students a short term goal that they can go for,” Florence said. “They’re here to learn how to use self-discipline, self-control to accomplish difficult tasks. We use martial arts as a means to make that example.”

Graduations are a positive reinforcement for reaching the goal.

For each new level a student reaches, a special graduation ceremony is held at the Ultimate Karate Academy studios located on Alverser Drive. But the black belt graduation is the graduation of all graduations. Held at James River High School, special lighting and sound is brought in to make the show as spectacular as possible for the students and for the audience.

Black belt graduations are held every two years “simply because I want to have a large group,” Florence said. “If I did it every year, I’d be putting on a graduation for 9 or 10 students and we want to make a big deal out of it … They don’t mind waiting. It’s all part of the journey.”

Many of the students will go on to teach at the school and also to enter the black belt degree program. All of the instructors at Ultimate Karate Academy are former and current students, who studied under Chief Operating Officer and fifth-degree black belt Erick Easter.

“He is a fifth-degree black belt under [World Heavyweight Champion] Joe Lewis, and we are all black belts under Erick,” Florence said. “We don’t go out and hire instructors. We grow them up through our system. That’s how we maintain consistency and quality in what we teach.”

Founded in 2001 by Florence and Easter, Ultimate Karate Academy has grown to include kickboxing fitness classes in addition to karate training classes for youth and adults. Originally located in the Ivymont Shopping Center, the school relocated to its larger Alverser Drive location last October.

Those earning their black belt degrees this year include: Cole McClanahan, Alexandria Markiewicz, Russell Lutge, Zoe Kendall, Paul Covert, Alec Bourginon, Zach Greer, Thomas Domer, Rachael Bailey, Clay Lowery, Dylan Atkins, Darrell Golding, Chas Holtman, Austin Michaelis, Maddie Michaelis, Jack Rigler, Rachael Waldo, Graham Shama, Connor Johnson, Brian O’Keefe, Donna Johnson, Shanna Waldo, Cheyenne Neblett, Alan O’Kefee, Fredrick Shashaty, David Waldo, Traci Waldo, Robbie Newsome, Morgan Wood, Susan King, Robert Needham, R.J. Shashaty, Dave Lodge, Scott Michaelis and Bugsy King.