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.
It is amazing how young athletes are made.
Aviya Aaron became a champ because she was ill.
Aviya, 12 years old and a sixth grader at Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood, was born 13 weeks premature, weighing 2 pounds, 5 ounces and suffered from weakness in her upper and lower limbs in the left side of her body. At 3 years old, Aviya’s parents, Ksenia and Sagiv Aaron, steered their daughter to learn karate when the family was living in Palo Alto, Calif., as a way to develop her muscles. Three years later, Aviya was mastering kicks and blocks.
“She has what was like cerebral palsy,” Sagiv Aaron told the Cleveland Jewish News. “Then her weakness disappeared, and now she is a pretty strong child. She really works on her balance and strength. You would never believe that she had any type of issue.”
Why karate in particular?
“It uses each side of the body very equally, so when you focus on one side of the body, you equally focus on the other side,” Ksenia Aaron told the CJN. “It trains your whole body to be equally strong.”
Aviya said she likes the sport because “You get to learn how to defend yourself and in life, it’s how you need to use what you learn against an opponent.”
As her training progressed, not only did Aviya’s body get stronger, she began to do exceptionally well in competitions.
At age 6, she competed at the World Budo Karate Championship in the Czech Republic, a world championship for children competing in traditional karate. In May, she won the kata championship at the U.S. Budo National Tournament in Phoenix. Kata means being in a karate competition that can either be an individual or team of three events.
“It was really cool,” Aviya said of the significant win. “Amazing.”
Aviya’s coach, Larry Rothenberg of the Cleveland Shotokan Karate Club, has been amazed at Aviya’s progress since the Aaron family moved to the Cleveland area three years ago.
“She’s very determined and very coachable,” Rothenberg said. “She’s very, very dedicated.”
Aviya’s success has rubbed off on the rest of the family. Aviya’s brother Amichai, 8, has a purple belt. The third grader at Fuchs placed third in kata and third in sparring at the Phoenix event. He and Aviya combined to place second in the team kata competition.