Whooping Llama

This is my latest article for the Boone Standard, printed in this week’s edition. (Click on images to enlarge.)

COMFORT—Of all the things you might expect to find in this small, unincorporated town, a karate school probably isn’t one of them. Still, every Friday night the Tumble Time Training Center in Comfort, WV becomes a dojo for a group of almost twenty kids and their sensei (or teacher), Mark Pettry.

Clad in white robes with colored belts around their waists, the students head onto the floor and begin class. After leaning the mats from the previous night’s tumbling class against a wall, they spread out. More experienced students go off and do their warm-ups on their own, while those with white and yellow belts, the newest students, stay and warm-up with Pettry.

Mark Pettry, who (by day) works as a district manager for Nationwide Insurance, was once a student here himself. He and his two sons signed up for karate after the Tumble Time Training Center began providing classes in fall of 2005. At that time Robert St. Clair, a fifth degree black belt in Shotokan karate, taught the class. Soon Mark was enamored with the sport, and began private training with St. Clair.

“We started working out at his house every Saturday morning, starting at 6 in the morning. I’d have to get up at 4 in the morning and drive to Oak Hill to work out for four hours at a time” says Pettry.

This grueling schedule eventually paid off, because Pettry accomplished in two years what most people require up to five years to do: he earned his black belt. This much-coveted ranking allowed him to teach a class of his own, and in early August he took over the Tumble Time Training Center karate classes.

After several sets of exercises meant to build strength and increase flexibility, Pettry spends some time teaching his less experienced students the proper way to execute a front kick. This is a part of karate known as kihon, where students are taught the “moves of karate”, as the Pettry puts it. Slipping sparring pads over his hands, he has the kids lift their left knee and then project their foot forward into the cushioned pad.

It’s almost a scene from some martial arts movie. The students start out wobbly and unsure of themselves but again and again they kick, until something finally connects the link between motion and mind. With occasional corrections of stance and technique from their sensei, the kids are soon kicking like little Bruce Lee’s.

According to Pettry, this building up of skill and confidence is what karate’s all about. “We try to instill in them confidence” he says. “We try to teach them what they can achieve.”

Eventually the two groups of students are joined together and lined up against a wall. They go up and down the floor this way, kicking and punching as their instructor calls out. Pettry then walks over and picks up another sparring pad, similar to the ones he used in kicking practice but much bigger. “Are we blitzing?” one student asks. Mark nods, and the students beam. Soon I see why.

Various combinations of punches, kicks, and head butts start flying against the giant pad Pettry holds in front of him. He braces himself against the hail of attacks, works them down the floor, and goes back for the next student. It goes on, one by one, until they’re all on the other side of the room again.

Judging from the students’ reactions, this sort of controlled foam-core violence is clearly very enjoyable, indulging harbored Power Rangers fantasies and teaching speed and coordination at the same time. Rest assured, however, these bouts against glorified beanbag chairs are as violent as Pettry’s classes get. “[Most people] think karate is like you see in the movies, people getting broken necks and all that stuff. It’s nothing of the sort. We try and teach them karate is not to be used in any offensive manner. We don’t let the kids touch each other.”

After blitzing, the white and yellow belts are dismissed from class. The blue and purple belts that remain stay to practice kata, another fundamental of karate that combines punches and kicks into a preset sequence, almost like a dance. After running through an astonishingly long sequence of moves once or twice (a sequence which students must memorize for their next belt test), they’re dismissed as well. Winded and perspiring, the students slip on their shoes and pile into their parents cars. It was a difficult workout and they’re worn out, but every one is still smiling.

“I think the most important thing is to not be afraid of karate. If you’ve seen it and you think you might have fun, come in and give it a shot” says Pettry, wrapping up our interview. “It’s just a good time with a lot of different kids from a lot of different areas.” After watching the kids that just left the Training Center, that’s certainly a fair summarization.

Classes are held every Friday at the Tumble Time Training Center in Comfort, beginning at 6:30. You must be at least 7 years old to take the class. For more information, call the Training Center at (304) 837-8625

Here’s a feature story I did for The Eagle back in January…

At some point in their lives, many American girls will slip a diamond ring on their finger. It will be at the request of a significant other who carefully selected the cut, color, and carat of the rock and then wrote the biggest check of their life on the glass jeweler’s counter. The stone is meant to be a symbol of undying love, showing that both parties are willing to make the relationship last until the very end. It is difficult to imagine that in Africa, where many of these gems originate, the sentiments toward them are significantly less warm and fuzzy.

In several parts of Africa diamond mining is a way of life, but has contributed to the death of millions. Illegitimately-mined diamonds have become a very popular way to fund civil wars and other armed conflicts in war-torn parts of the continent. These gems are known as “conflict” or “blood” diamonds. The wars they helped fund in Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo killed 3.7 million people in the ‘90s, according to Amnesty International.

The problem of conflict diamonds has lessened considerably since then, thanks to peace in Sierra Leone and Angola, and a quieting of the conflict in the DRC. Legislation has also been passed in many countries (including the United States) as part of the Kimberley Process, which was set up in 2003 to keep conflict diamonds off the market.

Before the Process, conflict diamonds would be sold to suppliers and, being completely unmarked, blend in with clean gems. They would make their way into jewelry stores and onto ring fingers, all virtually untraceable. Now every diamond sold must be shipped in a tamper-resistant container and accompanied by a Kimberly Process certificate that states its origin. This is supposed to keep the politically-questionable rocks out of the picture by keeping conflict diamond-producing areas out of the diamond trade, but there are substantial loopholes in the system.

Conflict diamonds are still entering the global market through places like Mali and Ghana. They come from countries not sanctioned by the Kimberley Process like Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia that cannot legally export diamonds, so the stones must be smuggled into neighboring countries. Due to their extremely portable size, smuggling a diamond can be as easy as a short canoe trip across a river.

Rest assured. Blood diamonds hardly dominate the market. In fact, their abundance in the diamond world is quite small. The World Diamond Council says they represent less than one percent the world’s diamond production. Still, that’s pretty substantial when one considers that in 2005, $33.7 billion worth of diamonds were sold in U.S. alone.

I realize this all sounds pretty devastating if you’re in the market for a diamond (Valentine’s Day’s coming up, you know). Most people wouldn’t want to think that their princess-cut, Tiffany-set, one-and-a-half carat bank account-buster helped to buy a rebel warlord’s latest M-16. But can the individual consumer really do anything about this problem? Well, Amnesty International and Global Witness advise jewelry buyers to ask their jeweler for a written guarantee from their diamond supplier stating that the diamond being purchased is conflict-free. Sounds easy enough, right?

When I asked about her company’s policy on conflict diamonds, a saleslady at Kay Jewelers quickly assured me that I “can be confident that concrete and comprehensive measures are being taken to ensure the products we sell do not include conflict diamonds.” An eloquent response, yes, but it’s a lot less impressive when you see her reading from the brochure. The pamphlet says diamond suppliers provide Kay with a written guarantee regarding the origin of their product, but it’s unclear whether or not the consumer receives such a warranty. The lady behind the counter wouldn’t answer any further questions on the subject.

Roger’s Jewelers provided a bit more information. When asked if they supply customers with written guarantees that their diamonds are conflict-free, the salesperson gave a less-than-assuring “I’m sure we could.” She did say the store “hand-selects all our diamonds and we buy from diamond houses that are governed by the Kimberley Process.”

That’s about as good as guarantees get from jewelry stores. The real problems in the diamond industry come at the higher levels, where the blood diamonds slip in. Until the Kimberley Process is completely patched up (which they’re working on), this is going to keep happening. So where does that leave you if you’re planning on popping the question? Probably shelling out three months’ pay.