The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, March 26, 19873
Feature
American Heart Association
WERE FIGHTING FOR OUR LIFE
s
He gets a
kick from
karate
By BOVEM VANDERDERRY
Staff Writer
He strides slowly out onto the mat,
his eyes gleaming as he bows to his
opponent.
The crowd hushes. The unmistak
able black belt which encircles his
waist and the sheen of his blond hair
are the only splashes of color against
the starched white of his uniform.
The referee signals the beginning of
the match. There's no question in his
mind who will win: The Silent
Warrior.
No,- this is not the showdown
between Ralph Macchio and his new
nemesis in the final scene of a Karate
Kid sequel. The Silent Warrior really
does exist; his name is Tommy
Margrave, a 17-year-old living in
Durham. Margrave holds a black
belt in karate; he also just happens
to be deaf.
Sounds like your average story
plot: young kid overcomes handicap
and goes on to accomplish great
things. Margrave's hearing loss was
apparent at birth. Despite this
setback, he took up karate at age 10
and within three years attained black
belt status, a feat which normally
takes at least five years. So far so
good for accomplishing great things.
So what makes Margrave's story
different? Not only does he practice
karate and compete in tournaments
regularly, but he also teaches karate
to other enthusiasts and plans to lead
a class for other hearine-imDaired
youngsters in the near future. Karate
isn't his only sport. He also plays
soccer and wrestles for Athens High
School in Durham.
It all began April 22, 1980. That
was the day Margrave took his first
karate class at the insistence of his
mother and grandmother.
Tommy had always just accepted
the hearing loss with grace," Mar
grave's grandmother, Teddy Tidbal.
said. He never questioned why he
was different from the other kids."
But his classmates began to tease
Margrave about his handicap; they
stole his hearing aid and mocked him.
Margrave changed from a gentle and
accepting person to someone that his
relatives couldn't control. When he
began to get into numerous skir
mishes at school, his mother and
grandmother gave him a choice: he
could take either karate or
gymnastics.
44 We felt that he needed some outlet
for his anger at the world," Tidbal
said. "In karate, Tommy found a way
to focus all of his energy." And at
the age of 13, Margrave became the
youngest black belt in North Carol
ina. He has since collected over 100
trophies, medals and ribbons.
But it wasn't enough for Margrave
to simply become accomplished in
the sport; he wanted others to be able
to share in all that he had found in
karate. And so he began teaching.
But how could a deaf person
instruct others without being able to
speak? According to Kevin Gurga
nus, head instructor of the Durham
branch of Karate International where
Margrave teaches, karate 7
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Karate instructor Tommy Margrave, a 17-year-old blacR belt,
shows 15-y ear-old Joshua O'Briant some holding techniques
just a physical thing. The way in
which it trains your mind is just as
important, if not more so, than the
physical aspect of it."
Because of the mental emphasis
and the fact that karate is mainly a
demonstrated sport, words are rarely
necessary. My eyes can say a lot
more than my mouth ever could!"
Margrave said, using sign language.
Gurganus says Margrave's deaf
ness may actually be an asset to his
teaching technique. According to
IP IE fA
RESTAURANT
W. FRANKLIN CHAPEL
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V.'"
Gurganus, Margrave is far more
sensitive to body language than most
instructors and much more patient
with the beginning students, for he
too knows how difficult it is to pick
up something foreign. "He's just got
a real good way of dealing with
people," Gurganus said.
Margrave's life outside of the
karate studio is much like that of any
other 1 7-year-old student. He is one
See KARATE page 5
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