Middle school martial artist

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

Discipline, focus and maturity are not terms ordinarily associated with a middle school student, but Abby Cockrell is no ordinary 12-year-old.

On June 5, the Whitefish Middle School seventh-grader became the youngest student and the first girl at the Sawbuck Do Jang in Whitefish to attain a black belt in karate.

Earning a black belt in any martial art normally takes years of hard work, scrutiny and intense study, which is why there aren't many 12-year-old black belts walking around. Cockrell began studying karate when she was just five, and her instructor knew she was special right away.

"She's just about 10 years ahead of her age. She comes across as not silly, very calm, very focused, enthusiastic and greatly respectful," said her karate instructor, Andy Hamer. "She's had a profound effect on the other students as well as myself."

To earn her black belt, Cockrell had to travel to the Grand Canyon to perform in front of a highly formal testing board. She had to perform moving basics, wrist grabs and a jumping spinning back-kick to break a pine board, among other things.

"It was really awesome, but in the middle of it, my toe started to bleed, so I got really nervous," she said.

Her nerves must not have affected her performance, however, because she learned three weeks later she had passed the test.

Cockrell credits her interest in karate to her father and her older brother Chase, whom she now spars with in the family living room. When she started taking classes, she began to stand out from her peers immediately.

"It didn't take long to see that she's definitely gifted," said Hamer, a black belt himself. "She's very coordinated for someone so young."

There are 11 belts in karate leading up to black belt, so Abby has been practicing her technique for about three or more hours a week for the last seven years. She also hopes to attain the next step, which is a second-degree black belt.

"Our black belt is actually midnight blue, because it represents the start of a new day, rather than the color black, which symbolizes completion," said Hamer.

Although karate is partly about self-defense and smashing boards with bare feet, Hamer says there's much more to it than that.

"We're much more into philosophy and the art in martial art, the beauty of motion," he said. "It's about finding a stronger sense of self. It's being respectful to people, finding internal strengths."

Cockrell says she has never had to defend herself, but she is more than capable should she ever need to.

"A lot of my friends say, 'Oh my gosh, you're a black belt,' and a lot of them think it's pretty cool," she said. "But it's more of an art form for me."