thedrifter
10-23-07, 07:56 AM
To Teach, Lead: Martial-arts teacher interested in how students are doing overall
By Melissa Hall
JOURNAL REPORTER
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Time and wounds from the Vietnam War have slowed Charles Davis, but he still has a passion for helping people and guiding children in the right direction.
“I want kids to be right,” he said.
Davis, 60, has been teaching martial arts for more than 40 years. He was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966-70 and taught hand-to-hand combat to Marines at Camp Geiger, which is part of Camp Lejeune, and in Hawaii.
Most of his time in the military was spent in Southeast Asia, and he served a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he was wounded twice.
“The first time they patched me up and sent me back,” he said.
The second time was more serious. Davis and his squad were on patrol when a firefight broke out and a squad member ran toward a minefield. Davis went after him to stop him, but before he could stop him the man stepped on a mine.
“It all went black,” Davis said. “It makes you wonder what you could have done.”
After he was wounded, he went to Okinawa for treatment, and he saw local practitioners of karate. He eventually came home to Winston-Salem, where he had grown up in Happy Hill Gardens and graduated from Anderson High School.
Davis enrolled in Saint Andrews Presbyterian College and graduated with a degree in sociology and anthropology. He is retired from the State of North Carolina as a veterans’ counselor.
His first love is teaching martial arts. He teaches classes two nights a week at Sedge Garden Recreation Center and teaches at a school in Concord. Most of his students are between 5 and 12, although he also teaches adults.
Mary Keith is Davis’s teaching assistant. She and Davis have been friends for about 20 years. She started training with Davis when her children started taking lessons from him.
Keith said that many people mistakenly believe that karate is about fighting.
“It gives them the confidence to know they don’t have to,” she said.
Pedro Espino’s son, Matthew, has been studying with Davis for about seven months.
“He (Davis) is great with kids, they respond really well to him. It’s been good for Matthew,” Espino said.
Espino said that Matthew, 6, is more focused and disciplined at school.
Davis is interested in how his students are doing overall, not just in the karate class. His younger students are expected to keep up their grades and school work. If their grades start to fall, he offers to tutor them to get their grades back up. Davis said he will not tolerate having bullies in his classes and refuses to teach them.
As the students grapple on the floor, Davis shouts encouragement and suggestions to them.
“James, don’t you give up on me,” he tells James Giles, 5. “Lilly, keep her off you,” he later told James’ sister, Lilly Giles, 9.
Davis stopped competing in 2000. By then, he had won so many trophies that he almost filled up the basement of his mother’s house. He said he started having mini-tournaments and awarding the trophies that he had won.
Davis was honored in late September by the Universal Marital Arts Association. He was named grandmaster of the year and inducted into its hall of fame. He said that grandmasters do not teach children, but that he has a reason for continuing to teach them.
“I try to give back, in doing that I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot,” he said.
■ Melissa Hall can be reached at 996-6601 or mhall@wsjournal.com.
About Charles Davis
• AGE: 60.
• HOMETOWN / BIRTHPLACE: Winston-Salem.
• EDUCATION: Graduate of Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian College.
• EXPERIENCE: Martial-arts teacher, retired veterans’ counselor for the State of North Carolina.
• FAMILY: Wife, Deve. Children, Charles and Amber.
• QUOTE/PHILOSOPHY: “I try to give back - in doing that I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot.”
Ellie
By Melissa Hall
JOURNAL REPORTER
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Time and wounds from the Vietnam War have slowed Charles Davis, but he still has a passion for helping people and guiding children in the right direction.
“I want kids to be right,” he said.
Davis, 60, has been teaching martial arts for more than 40 years. He was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966-70 and taught hand-to-hand combat to Marines at Camp Geiger, which is part of Camp Lejeune, and in Hawaii.
Most of his time in the military was spent in Southeast Asia, and he served a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he was wounded twice.
“The first time they patched me up and sent me back,” he said.
The second time was more serious. Davis and his squad were on patrol when a firefight broke out and a squad member ran toward a minefield. Davis went after him to stop him, but before he could stop him the man stepped on a mine.
“It all went black,” Davis said. “It makes you wonder what you could have done.”
After he was wounded, he went to Okinawa for treatment, and he saw local practitioners of karate. He eventually came home to Winston-Salem, where he had grown up in Happy Hill Gardens and graduated from Anderson High School.
Davis enrolled in Saint Andrews Presbyterian College and graduated with a degree in sociology and anthropology. He is retired from the State of North Carolina as a veterans’ counselor.
His first love is teaching martial arts. He teaches classes two nights a week at Sedge Garden Recreation Center and teaches at a school in Concord. Most of his students are between 5 and 12, although he also teaches adults.
Mary Keith is Davis’s teaching assistant. She and Davis have been friends for about 20 years. She started training with Davis when her children started taking lessons from him.
Keith said that many people mistakenly believe that karate is about fighting.
“It gives them the confidence to know they don’t have to,” she said.
Pedro Espino’s son, Matthew, has been studying with Davis for about seven months.
“He (Davis) is great with kids, they respond really well to him. It’s been good for Matthew,” Espino said.
Espino said that Matthew, 6, is more focused and disciplined at school.
Davis is interested in how his students are doing overall, not just in the karate class. His younger students are expected to keep up their grades and school work. If their grades start to fall, he offers to tutor them to get their grades back up. Davis said he will not tolerate having bullies in his classes and refuses to teach them.
As the students grapple on the floor, Davis shouts encouragement and suggestions to them.
“James, don’t you give up on me,” he tells James Giles, 5. “Lilly, keep her off you,” he later told James’ sister, Lilly Giles, 9.
Davis stopped competing in 2000. By then, he had won so many trophies that he almost filled up the basement of his mother’s house. He said he started having mini-tournaments and awarding the trophies that he had won.
Davis was honored in late September by the Universal Marital Arts Association. He was named grandmaster of the year and inducted into its hall of fame. He said that grandmasters do not teach children, but that he has a reason for continuing to teach them.
“I try to give back, in doing that I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot,” he said.
■ Melissa Hall can be reached at 996-6601 or mhall@wsjournal.com.
About Charles Davis
• AGE: 60.
• HOMETOWN / BIRTHPLACE: Winston-Salem.
• EDUCATION: Graduate of Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian College.
• EXPERIENCE: Martial-arts teacher, retired veterans’ counselor for the State of North Carolina.
• FAMILY: Wife, Deve. Children, Charles and Amber.
• QUOTE/PHILOSOPHY: “I try to give back - in doing that I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot.”
Ellie