Black_Belt_-_October-November_2019

Sparring and Fighting:

There Is a Difference!

In 1972 Jim Niland saw a karate demonstration at his elementary school. The third-grader in Meriden, Connecticut, was hooked from

the first punch to the last kick. There was no doubt in his young mind that he would wear one of those white uniforms someday.

BY TERRY L. WILSON

Ph

oto

Co

ur

tes

y^ o

f^ J

im

N

ila

nd

SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT

myriad of other unexpected things

— not too different from most people

who experience life-interrupted.

WHEN HIS DREAM of taking up karate

was at its lowest point, Niland’s pal

Dave Kremzar entered the picture.

N

ILAND WOULD HAVE TO
WAIT 22 YEARS for an
opportunity to embark on
his journey. It was then, at
age 30, that he finally got his chance
to learn how to tie a square knot on a
white belt.

Why such a long wait? Life got in the

way of his childhood dream of becom-

ing a martial artist. He wound up serv-

ing seven years in the Army National

Guard, earning a degree in criminal

justice, holding down a full-time job

with a power company and doing a

78 BLACKBELTMAG.COM ƒ OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019