A world champion in karate is spreading his knowledge of mixed martial arts to kids in The Bronx. NY1's Roger Clark filed the following report.
Yohan Alverado, 17, can kick and punch with the best of them. And he will tell you that there is no cruising through a session with Jadi Tention.
"If you want to do Ju Jitsu, you get a nice arm workout. If you want to do karate, we get a good sweat in. Every day," says Alverado.
Tention is a six-time Karate world champion, teaching hundreds of kids mixed martial arts at his school on Webster Avenue in the Bronx.
The kids call him sensei, the Japanese word for teacher.
"What we do is a careful selection of what works, that's what we kind of tell everyone," says Tention. "It's a modern martial arts but with traditional values."
But before the punches and kicks start flying here, the kids prepare their bodies for a tough workout.
"Just the running, the exercising, the jumping, the push-ups, the sit-ups, the jumping rope, being fit just gives you that extra boost, that extra energy, the extra confidence," says Tention.
The young people may walk out of a session pretty tired, but they say it's worth it.
"It's a really good feeling. It's probably one of the best feelings in the world," says Sabir Lyons, a Tention Championship Karate student.
"It's a good workout because whenever you are doing your exercises, sensei pushes you to keep going. You have to keep going," says Claudia Gidney, a Tention Championship Karate student.
For more information on all of the kids programs at Tention Championship Karate, visit tckmma.com.
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