High standards help karate club thrive

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This article was published 29/08/2020 (2044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Scott Middleton is in rarified air in the karate world as a sixth degree black belt.

But a big degree of the satisfaction the founder and lead instructor of Traditional Karate of Brandon finds comes from helping people at the very beginning of their journey in what he considers an art rather than a sport.

“I’m extremely passionate about karate and I think that comes out in my instruction,” said Middleton, who started training in 1986, received his first degree black belt in 1991 and began his club in 1992. “I’m not there to have a feeling of punching a clock. I really, truly care about my students and seeing them improve. Their successes are my successes in a lot of ways.”

In that case, Middleton enjoyed a lot of success last weekend when the club hosted the 2020 World Traditional Karate Organization (WTKO) Canada Invitational summer seminar. Three teenagers who are longtime students of Middleton, 15-year-olds Jordan Stewart and Sannelle Engelbrecht, plus Stephan Engelbrecht, who turned 19 today, all earned their first-degree black belts.

“They were kids when they started so to see them succeed and enjoy karate is something that really moves me,” Middleton said. 

In addition, Blair English received his second degree black belt.

Stewart started training six years ago when she was looking for a sport to try. 

“I love karate,” Stewart said. “It’s my absolute favourite thing to do. I think the thing that really kept me there was Scott, my sensei, because he is just so welcoming. He’s so knowledgable about karate, he’s a world-class instructor. He’s funny, he’s kind, he’ll help you with whatever you need. Our classes feel like one big family.”

That might be the case, but it doesn’t make the path to advancing through the belts any easier. (The order is white for beginners, then yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black. There are 10 degrees of black belt.)

Stephan Engelbrecht became part of the club nine years ago to learn self defence and to be active in a club. His sister Sannelle joined him a few months later.

“It’s a hard path,” Engelbrecht said. “Karate is not an easy thing to do. A lot of people expect immediate results but to finally reach this, it took nine years, and when I think back, nine years is a long time to work that hard. Scott really doesn’t go easy on you. If you want something, you need to work for it. It took a lot of time, but I’m glad I made this far, and I want to be an inspiration to others to work just as hard and keep going.”

English had done judo in high school but just never connected with that sport in a meaningful way. The 52-year-old got busy with family and work, and came back to martial arts with karate years later. 

“It was the fitness aspect plus a means of stress relief,” English said. “It’s somewhere you basically have to clear your mind of work stress to focus, because if you can’t do that, you won’t succeed.”

English looked around, saw how Middleton was helping others, and was hooked. He likes to set goals, and said he quickly got addicted to the sport because it fits his personality.

“I’m a perfectionist, and I think you have to be that way a little bit to like karate,” English said. “You’re doing things over and over again so that you have that instantaneous, trained response. The mind, body, spiritual aspect of it tying everything together sold it to me.”

After five years in the sport, he received his first degree black belt in 2015. 

“He’s trained literally thousands of people over the nearly 30 years he’s had his club and the level that he wants people to be at to get (a black belt), it kind of says a lot about the quality,” English said. “He’s not just in the business of handing out black belts if you’ve attended class and you’ve paid your fees.”

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Dr. Peter Pieroni and his two children, Olivia and Domenic, all attained their first-degree black belts through the club. While Pieroni isn’t active anymore because he injured his knees with a previous karate instructor who promoted constant sparring, he still attends some club presentations and seminars.

Because he had trained at other clubs and had poor experiences, he was careful to get a sense of Middleton’s teaching style and approach before he and his children joined. He was especially watching to see if lower belts were essentially used as punching bags by more experienced practitioners.

“Scott doesn’t do that, and initially he didn’t like sparring that much,” Pieroni said. “It was only one or two steps. He fostered a different attitude and paid attention to each individual student. He said we practise together but we progress at our own pace.”

Pieroni, 60, was also impressed that Middleton’s motivation wasn’t financial, something he found elsewhere.

“He was actually after the art of karate and the discipline of karate,” Pieroni said. “Because I had a base to compare to him to others not only in Brandon but Regina, Edmonton and Toronto, and he’s very, very good. His teaching and his philosophy is very good and that’s why we kept going.”

Middleton, who serves as the national director for the WTKO in Canada, was invited by clubs to teach around the world prior to the pandemic. He said it’s important to him that he never lets his grading slip, even if that might mean extra money. His full-time job with the City of Brandon takes care of the bills.

“I never want to cheapen it,” Middleton said. “I teach and I examine students all over the world, so my standard is a professional standard. I would never compromise my own values or my own ideals for any other reason. Students can be very confident that if they achieve their belts under me, that’s kudos to them. They’ve definitely got it and that’s why I was really proud of the students last weekend.”

The club, which has 120 members and a female majority, seldom advertises and has a waiting list to join. Pieroni noted that Middleton always kept his club smaller than it could be, calling him a diamond in the rough.

“I knew it was just a matter of time before he would be discovered,” Pieroni said. “He’s an exceptional teacher.”

Traditional Karate trains at the West End Community Centre on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and the East End Community Centre on Thursdays. In the last 28 years, Middleton has developed 20 black belts. 

“Those 20 people are dear to my heart because they started with me as a white belt and achieved their black belt,” said Middleton, a 48-year-old married father of two. “Many of them still continue, and even if they’re not actively training, I’m still in touch with pretty much every one of those people. It’s steps along my journey too because again, their successes are my successes. You don’t invest 10 years into somebody and not build a relationship.”

That’s not lost on his students. Stewart was thrilled to earn her black belt, and says she’s humbled to be one of the 20 students who has achieved the goal under Middleton’s tutelage. 

“I really connect with him and how he teaches,” Stewart said. “He teaches so diversely. He just knows exactly what to do each class and how to help every student with their specific needs.”

English, who considers Middleton among the top practitioners in the world, chuckles that he considers himself to be in the centre of the karate world in Brandon. English said Middleton definitely knows how to connect with people, and then push them to produce their very best results.

“If you’re a follower of karate, you’re in the right place if you want to learn from one of the best,” English said. “We have it right here in Brandon.”

While the word sensei is traditionally understood to be teacher, Middleton said it actually means one who came before, hinting at his approach as an instructor. He trains a couple times every day and considers it about far more than punching and kicking.

“What you put into it, the sacrifices that you make and the discipline that you have, it all goes toward you,” said Middleton, who added the attempt to achieve perfection in the techniques they study is a manifestation of what they’re trying to create inside. “Even now that still moves me 34 years later.” 

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