Arvin's very own 'Karate Kid,' Isiah Lopez
-
1 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
Isiah Lopez finishes up his karate practice in Arvin, center, by putting on a sweatshirt. His brother Rafael Pantoja, left, also takes karate and his step father Rafael Pantoja, right, gets ready to take him home.
click to collapse -
2 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
One of Sensei Craig Garrett's Arvin karate classes, (center rear). He has been teaching karate in the Arvin/Lamont area for the past 38 years and also has his students compete regularly in karate tournaments in other cities. Garrett also host a tournament in Arvin each year and is well respected and well known in the karate circles. Isiah Lopez is in the very center of the photo.
click to collapse -
3 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
Karate student Isiah Lopez, 13, is a fast learner according to his instructor, or sensei, Craig Garrett.
click to collapse -
4 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
Fifth degree black belt karate instructor Craig Garrett leads a class with Isiah Lopez in the class. Lopez has Down syndrome and is a fast learner. Garrett wants to encourage others with similar disabilities to learn karate. He is afraid most parents will stay away from this type of contact sport if their child has any issues like Isaiah.
click to collapse -
5 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
Isiah, left, works out during karate class with other students, some black belts, brown belts, green, etc. He has been taking classes for five months along with two of his brothers. Longtime sensei in the Arvin/Lamont area, Craig Garrett, leads the class.
click to collapse -
6 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
Fifth degree black belt karate instructor Craig Garrett helps one of his students, Isiah Lopez, which direction to turn while sparring with another student.
click to collapse -
7 of 7By Casey Christie / The Californian
Parents and family members can sit in the school cafeteria in Arvin and watch their children's karate lessons in Arvin. Here Isiah Lopez, gets ready to spar with a fellow karate student in Craig Garrett's Contemporary Go-Ju Karate class in Arvin.
click to collapse
BY CASEY CHRISTIE Californian staff photographer cchristie@bakersfield.com
He's not a black belt yet, but he has tested twice in seven months in his karate class and is moving up the ranks.
Isiah Lopez, 13, may have a tougher time than most learning karate from longtime sensei (karate instructor) Craig Garrett, but you would never know it.
Isiah has Down syndrome, a little mental retardation and ADHD, attention deficit hyper-disorder, according to his mother, Margarita Cabanillas. But he is an excellent karate student and is progressing right along.
"He is able to stay occupied, gets to relieve pressure and is able to focus on his behavior," Cabanillas said.
She has five children and three of them are enrolled in the karate class with Garrett.
"It's a great class for him, and I recommend it," she said.
Isiah has been taking karate in Arvin at the Bear Mountain Elementary School on Hood Street from Garrett for more than seven months.
He is currently still a white belt, but has already received two stripes after the last two tests he has taken.
During a class in December Lopez seemed to fully concentrate on his karate skills including much time spent sparring with other students.
"The experience with Isiah has caused me to look at the word 'normal' again," Garrett said. "I wished I had more students like Isiah.
"He's made me re-evaluate normality. I'd take five students like him in a heartbeat, because he does what he is asked to do," Garrett said.
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
The death of a man in custody following a prolonged struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers and the subsequent fracas over confiscated witness cellphones have gained international attention and raised concerns here that the incidents could tarnish the county's emerging...
A forceful Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood announced at a tense press conference Thursday that David Sal Silva, whose death earlier this month raised questions about use of force by deputies, died as a result of hypertensive heart disease and was not only intoxicated but had methamphetamine...
The Kern County Sheriff's Office is out of control. That's one conclusion many people will draw based on the events of the past two weeks and in the context of recent years.
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Kern Medical Center and the Mary K. Shell Mental Health Center seeking medical records to find possible reasons for David Sal Silva’s behavior prior to and during his encounter with law enforcement, The Californian learned Friday.
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
Classes were canceled at Bakersfield High School Monday after three small bottle bomb explosions struck campus, authorities said.
David Sal Silva’s screams seem like they will never stop.
Ridgeview High School star quarterback Kamari Cotton-Moya, 18, was shot in the arm just after midnight Sunday morning when gunfire broke out at a large party in east Bakersfield.