Sensei’s martial artists thinking big

There’s a lot more being taught at Focus Martial Arts and Fitness in Lake in the Hills than just fighting moves.

The experience at the dojo, located at 9342 Virginia Road, encompasses the body, mind and spirit. Often, winning championships comes along with the territory.

“One of the main reasons elite athletes do not reach their goals is because the pressure is so great,” said Jim O’Hara, owner and sensei of Focus. “We believe in developing our athletes physically, but also mentally. The brain is one of the most important muscles in the body.”

O’Hara, who also requires his athletes to do well in school, has his group of 66 athletes from Focus thinking big as they head into one of the biggest events of the year.

The tourney host is expected to compete for a number of national titles when the team takes part in the AAU Karate National Championships from today to Saturday at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.

Because karate is not an Olympic sport, the AAU Karate National Championships – being held locally for the first time – is one of the sport’s premier showcase events.

The first- and second-place finishers from the advanced (black belt) divisions have a chance to qualify for the U.S. national team.

“This is probably one of the biggest nationals that we’ve had in many years,” said O’Hara, who also serves as head coach of the U.S. National Karate Team. “I’ve been told there will be somewhere from 1,600 to 2,000 competitors from all over the country and internationally as well.”

O’Hara, who grew up in Arlington Heights and has lived in Cary for the past 20 years, holds a fourth-degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of shotokan karate and has earned several state, regional, national and All-American titles.

As an assistant coach with the U.S. National Karate Team, O’Hara claimed the World Karate Organization kumite (sparring) title in 1996 in Hamilton, Ontario. He took over as the head coach of the national team the next season.

O’Hara, who has been inducted into the AAU Karate Hall of Fame, has coached eight world championship teams for the WKO/USA (World Karate Organization) and the WKC/USA (World Karate Confederation).

“The biggest thrill is getting to see the fruits of your labor,” said O’Hara, who started his own dojo in 1992 and moved to the current location in ’97. “We have coaches now who have been with us since they began training as 4-year-olds. I feel like we’re developing people who are going to be the next generation of leaders.”

This year’s roster includes several defending national champions and five athletes – Delaney Lebedun, Rebecca Fishman, Katie Gordon, Kent Endo and Zack Ernst – who traveled to Italy to compete in the WKC Junior World Championships in 2010.

After 10 grueling months of training and preparations, the time finally has arrived for Focus – which includes athletes from ages 7 to older than 50 – to rise to the occasion at the AAU National Championships.

“It’s not about going out and kicking someone’s butt,” O’Hara said. “It’s about them kicking their own butts to move beyond their own comfort zones in order to achieve great things.”