Wednesday, April 27, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
Sisters
youths
earn black
belts
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
PHOTO PROVIDED
Ken Ruettgers.
Sisters to hold prayer
day event May 5
Sisters Christian Academy
is sponsoring the fourth
annual Sisters event associ-
ated with the National Day of
Prayer.
The event is scheduled
for Thursday, May 5, with
doors opening at 6:45 a.m. A
continental breakfast will be
served.
The event will be held at
Sisters Community Church,
1307 W. McKenzie Hwy.
The theme of the National
Day of Prayer is “Wake
Up America.” The keynote
speaker is Ken Ruettgers.
The Sisters resident is a
Super Bowl champion with
the Green Bay Packers and
has a place in the team’s
Hall of Fame. He is a hus-
band, father, mentor and
author — and a professor at
Central Oregon Community
College.
Individual tickets and
table sponsorships are avail-
able. Advance reservations
are preferred. For more
information call Sisters
Christian Academy at 541-
549-4133 or Peter Storton at
541-549-2500.
Attaining the black belt is
a significant milestone in the
development of a martial art-
ist, and three Sisters youths
have marked that accomplish-
ment at Outlaw Martial Arts.
Twelve-year-olds Conner
Bell and Jaxon Barry earned
their black belt, while
11-year-old Shawn Kelm
achieved second-degree
black belt status. While the
black belt is in taekwondo,
Master Marty Kaczmarek
(Master K) notes that the
black belt requirements
include boxing skills; hubud
drills (a Filipino martial
art); judo; and jiu jitsu. The
breadth of study is designed
to create a proficient martial
artist.
“It means a lot to me,” said
Kelm of his second-degree
ranking. “I’ve been with this
program about six years, I
think. It’s about the second-
hardest thing I’ve done in my
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Jaxon Barry, Shawn Kelm and Conner Bell are black belts.
life.”
The hardest, he says, was
earning his black belt in the
first place.
The young martial artist is
especially proficient in poom-
sae (taekwondo forms).
“I enjoy poomsae compe-
tition,” he said. “You get to
see all different styles of your
form.”
He believes that his mar-
tial arts practice has had ben-
efits across his life.
“It can apply to almost
anything,” he said. He says he
is “more disciplined in school,
I think. More outspoken.”
He says he is determined
to “keep working and get that
third degree.”
Conner Bell says that
earning his black belt “has
been a dream of mine for the
last six years, ever since I
started. It’s cool to have two
friends to be a black belt,
too.”
Bell likes the intensity of
board-breaking and sparring.
“Conner really stands out
for sure in the fighting part
of it, the sparring,” Master K
said. “He’s not afraid to mix
it up.”
For Jaxon Barry, earning
the black belt “means I’ve
accomplished my biggest
goal in life.”
Board-breaking is his best
skill.
Outlaw Martial Arts has
moved to a new facility in the
Three Wind Shopping Center.