Martial arts instructor finds ways to include everyone
A West Kelowna martial arts instructor who wouldn’t sit kids on the bench has been recognized by the Rick Hanson Foundation for making a difference in the life of a student with cerebral palsy.
Michael Smith, long-time owner and instructor of Westside Tae Kwon Do, was presented the 2021 Difference Maker of the Year award for British Columbia by the Rick Hanson Foundation School Program, which recognizes educators and students making a difference in inclusion and accessibility.
Mihai Covaser, one of Smith’s students, nominated his instructor as a way to say thank you for changing his life under his teaching.
Covaser has spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. The muscles in his legs are strung tighter than they should be, which affects his gait, walking pattern and mobility.
As a passionate advocate for inclusivity, Covaser’s message is there are ways to make each sport or activity accessible to any group of people with a little bit of creative thinking.
The award came as a complete surprise to Smith, who didn’t consider he was doing anything extraordinary with Covaser.
“We just figured it out as we went along,” said Smith.
Covaser was 10 years old when Smith came to George Pringle Elementary School to demonstrate taekwondo and found a way to include the boy in the class.
This was in contrast to a school karate demonstration the previous year, which Covaser spent on a bench.
“He complained and I cried,” recalled his mother Ana-Maria. “I knew that would mark him forever, but it made him the advocate he is now.”
Seeing Covaser’s interest in taekwondo, Smith invited the family to his school, ready to take on the challenge of making the martial art accessible.
“He sees every student of his for what they are, what they can do and for the potential that they have,” said AnaMaria. “He changed our life as a family.”
Working with Smith, Covaser thrived in the inclusive training program the instructor developed for him.
“You shouldn’t have to be a Rembrandt to enjoy drawing and you shouldn’t have to be an Olympian to enjoy taekwondo,” said Smith.
Initially Covaser studied hand techniques, and then with help from Smith, he began to use the canes that helped him walk as makeshift weapons.
After Covaser snapped a few pairs of canes, they came up with the idea of inserting rattan short staffs into the canes where they had broken.
“We were a couple of real MacGyvers,” said Covaser.
As Covaser trained and became stronger, he no longer needed canes to get around and switched first to short staffs and then a six-foot bow staff, continuing to substitute staff techniques for kicking.
Covaser has become a formidable force with the staffs, with the tips of his short staff clocked at 85 kilometres per hour.
Now 17 years old and recently graduated from the French immersion program at Kelowna Secondary School, Covaser is a red belt and will soon be getting a black stripe, the last step before black belt.
Thanks to instruction and support from Smith, Covaser, who is unable to kick things, is almost a black belt in a sport that is 80% kicking.
With his never-give-up attitude, Covaser has become an inspiration to everyone in the dojang.
Along with the benefit of learning self defence, Covaser enjoys taekwondo as a challenge for his mind as well as his body as he worked with Smith to adapt the martial art.
Receiving the award has made Smith realize how much work there is to do to make sports accessible.
“No kid should sit on the bench, ever,” he said. “I don’t care what sport. If they show an interest in the sport, we can figure a way to make something happen.”