Mixed martial arts – the cage fighting you see on TV - might be kicking the spotlight away from the traditional form of the sport, but karate school owner Carl Byrd says there are still places in Gastonia where you can learn the traditional, Korean-style karate.
Body Quest Karate, Byrd’s school, is one of those places.
Body Quest Karate moved from a spot at Piedmont Community Charter School to a third-floor office at St. Stephens A.M.E. Zion Church, 201 E. Franklin St.
Byrd started training in karate in 1985. He began under Charles Burris of Burris Academy of Karate and Tae Kwon Do.
Byrd teaches tae kwon do, Korean style karate.
“I put in a little bit of mixture of my style with a little bit of aikido Japanese style (karate),” Byrd said.
Body Quest Karate has 10 students ranging from ages 3 to 42, he said. Students can work their way up from beginning white-belt levels to professional black belt, a rank Byrd holds.
The school’s open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Byrd hopes he’ll be able to eventually have the school open every day of the week.
For now, he balances his day jobs as a bail bondsman, part-time exterminator and part-time funeral assistant.
Byrd teaches students self-defense techniques. He also stresses that students shouldn’t use martial arts to start a fight.
“It’s more of a defense than it is an offense, than an attack,” Byrd said. “We do more defending than attacking.”
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