By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — White Crane Martial Arts student Karrah Lowe, age 15, recently became the first student in the 48-year history of the club to earn three black belts in one testing session.
Lowe earned black belts in taekwondo, soo bahk do and the Korean sword art of gumdo.
Grandmaster Robert Nicholls said it is often hard for students to learn these different arts because the stances are opposite.
In taekwondo, a person must keep their weight centered and the back heel down for thrusting power, but with a sword, that person wants to keep their weight forward and rear heel up so the sword is closer to the opponent and quickly move back in the event of an attack.
Lowe said that it took her two years of practice and instruction to earn the black belt.
“I go for an hour a day four or five days a week,” she said.
Lowe said that she likes martial arts “because it’s a great stress reliever.”
Add another black belt
She said she was pretty nervous heading into her testing, but was happy with earning the black belts. She would like to next try to get a black belt in karate.
Karrah’s brother Alex, 8, also earned a junior black belt in taekwondo at the same testing.
White Crane has been in Port Angeles for 10 years and programs have grown to include six instructors teaching different martial arts.
