The Orillia Academy of Karate is the home to a unique mother-and-daughter duo who have worked their way to earning their brown and black belts.
Theresa Felgner, 47, got her start in karate six years ago when she and her family moved to Moonstone from Huntsville. Theresa’s daughter, Kyra, started just a couple of months later.
“I had always wanted to get into martial arts as a child,” Theresa explained. “I saw the class posting and decided to go for it.”
Kyra, 14, always thought doing martial arts would be a good experience.
“When my mom would come home from karate she would say a lot of great things about it,” she explained. “I decided to follow in her footsteps of joining.”
For Theresa, it was the challenge that hooked her right away.
“I was an athletic person already, but this is a different type of athleticism,” she said. “I really liked the focus on the physical and mental coordination.”
Theresa says karate helps her relieve stress mentally, and physically it has made her more coordinated. Overall, she explained, it just makes her feel good.
Kyra has enjoyed the uniqueness of the sport.
“I really like learning self-defence,” she said. “I enjoy the movement and being in the moment.”
Orillia Academy of Karate chief instructor, Gerry Ramsay, and sensei Bert Freeman have been inspiring the Felgners on their karate journey.
“They really gave me the motivation to keep going,” Theresa said. “It does get challenging which makes me want to work harder.”
On a daily basis, karate helps the Felgners with things like memory, focus, and coordination.
“It allows me to focus on one thing at a time,” Theresa said. “In stressful situations, it has taught me to breathe. It’s made me feel mentally and physically strong.”
For Kyra, an Orillia Secondary School student, karate has helped her with cardio and reflexes.
“It’s helped a lot with discipline as well,” she said. “It teaches you to be nice to other people and to remember to thank people.”
Karate has also helped build a strong bond between the mother and daughter.
“It has really helped to have my mom be one level above me,” Kyra said. “When we are training together, we can always help each other, and she can always teach me.”
Theresa says it’s been a joy watching her daughter grow through the sport.
“She started when she was eight years old,” she said. “It has been really fascinating to see Kyra grow physically, mentally, and socially in a positive way. For me, It has been very fulfilling.”
Both Theresa and Kyra recommend other parents and children join karate together.
“I think it’s rare these days where parents and kids can do something physical like that together," said Theresa, who especially encourages girls and women to get involved.
“It builds confidence within yourself,” she said. “The self-defence part of it gives you a little bit of reinsurance in today’s society when you need to be really aware of your surroundings.”
Theresa and Kyra plan on doing karate together for the foreseeable future.
“This is something that has become a part of our life,” Theresa said. “I don’t see us ever really giving it up.”
Kyra has her sights set on getting her black belt soon. From there the goal for her and her mother is to always be learning.
“We still have so much more to learn and improve on,” Theresa said. “I think we are always learning regardless of what colour belt we are.”
