Born 13 weeks premature, 10-year-old becomes karate champion
Courtney Byrnes | Cleveland Jewish News
Aviya Aaron, 10, won first place in kata and her brother, Amichai, 6, took third in sparring and fourth in kata for their age and rank divisions at the International Goodwill Karate Tournament Nov. 20 in Philadelphia.
For 10-year-old brown belt Aviya Aaron, karate started out as a form of therapy to overcome a weakness in her left side, but then she became passionate about her training to a point where she has competed on the world stage.
Last year, when her family moved to Beachwood, Aviya and her mother, Dr. Ksenia Aaron, began training with the Cleveland Shotokan Karate Club run by Larry Rothenberg at Heights Jewish Center Synagogue in University Heights.
“Aviya is very determined and focused and diligent in her training,” Rothenberg, a board member of Beachwood Kehilla, told the Cleveland Jewish News. “She’s very curious and eager to learn. She’s very respectful, and she has a joyful nature that lifts the class, and she’s always thinking beyond what is being taught for other applications and a deeper meaning to the techniques.”
Born 13 weeks premature in Valhalla, N.Y., Aviya weighed 2 pounds, 5 ounces and went through extensive physical, occupational and speech therapy as a young child. At 3-years-old, she began training in Shotokan Karate in Los Angeles under the mentorship of sensei Avi Rokah and sensei Ruth Rokah as karate uses every part of your body, her mother said.
“Karate is good for anyone at any age with any ability,” said Rothenberg, a resident of Beachwood. “It’s a good experience developing mentally and physically in every way.”