Ron Curran believes that “the best self-defense is kindness.” But that doesn’t mean he’ll compromise when testing his students as they progress toward their black belt in karate. The owner of Curran’s Karate in downtown Maple Ridge believes in challenging kids to do their best, to achieve their personal goals, and he doesn’t believe in giving out participation ribbons. “We don’t celebrate mediocrity,” Ron says about his karate school. “I just care that you deliver me your best.”
Kids will learn focus, discipline, balance and coordination at Curran’s Karate, but it is also a self-defense discipline, Ron points out. “A lot of people think karate is about fighting and others forget karate is about fighting,” Ron says. However, he adds, self-defense isn't necessarily needed as much today as when it was developed hundreds of years ago in Japan. Ron teaches his students to walk away from a fight if they can; it is only if they are really threatened that they can call on the self-defense skills they learn in his classes.
