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3 3 | Thursday D e ce m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | w w w .in s id e h a lto n .c o m Kevin Nagel, O akville Beaver Sports E d itor, knagel@ burlingtonpost.com Sports "Connected to your Community " y e a rs of m artial arts By Kevin Nagel Beaver sports editor Kim Dunn, a firefighter in Toronto for more than three decades before retir ing, joins eight other black belts who were inducted this year. | A l Poulis photo E ighth dan karate black b elt Kim D u n n su p p osed ly retired m ore than three years ago. T he 64-year-old O akville martial arts instructor w h o has lived in B urlington the past 3 1/2 years is busier than ever. D u n n retired after a 33-year career as a firefighter in E tobicoke and Toronto, the last eight years as a captain. It' s h is accom p lish m en ts in martial arts, how ever, that to o k centre stage last m on th w h e n he w as o n e o f n in e in d ucted into the Canadian Black Belt Hall o f Fam e in Gatin eau, Que. "I'm still sh o ck ed by the w h o le th in g," he says. "I'm glad they th ou gh t o f m e ." T he national h on ou r co in cid es w ith the 50th anniversary o f D u n n taking up the sport as a 13-year-old in M ississauga. By the age o f 18 h e w as in stru cting others in traditional karate. "T he style I brought up through w as sh o to k a n ," h e says. "It is practised in al m o st every country o n the p lanet." T he hall o f fam e voters annually ch oose b etw een six -to -n in e recipients in a vari ety o f martial arts styles based on career ach ievem en ts and con trib u tions to the art. D u n n has studied m u ay thai, taekw ondo and even k u n g fu, and incorporates parts o f th ose arts in h is classes, b ut traditional karate is h is bread and butter. H e says four o f the nin e in d u cted in to the hall this year w ere karate black belts. D u n n says he inherited the m ore passive nature o f h is m other, but w as introduced to self defence by h is Scottish father, "a bit o f a scrapper." As a youngster, D u n n w as sh o w n a cou p le o f jiu-jitsu m oves h is father had learned from a friend and it piqued h is in terest in martial arts. O nly on ce in the past five decades has he b een forced to u se h is skills in a confronta tion, dialing d o w n an attacker' s aggression w ith a pointed k ick that ju st tou ch ed the com batant' s ear. "I told him the n ex t on e w as go in g to hurt, and he backed off," says D u n n , w h o w as taught, like m o st martial artists, to avoid confrontations if at all possible. H is com petitive accom plishm ents in clude representing Canada at international events in San F rancisco and Egypt, w in n in g three golds, a silver and bronze at national black belt cham p ion sh ip tourna m en ts and h old in g the provincial black belt kata ch am pionship from 1 9 8 4-87, re tiring undefeated. D u n n has also enjoyed su ccess as an in structor, picked in 1993 to co-coach the Ontario black belt team that w o n national titles four con secu tive years. D u n n still instructs, form ing Traditional Karate Arts o f Canada (TKAC) w ith col league Tom Okura. T hey currently teach o u t o f O akville N ational F itness on Iro quois Shore Road am ong other sites in and around the GTA. "I love w h at I do and have a great pas sion for it," h e says. Kim Dunn was one of nine inductees into the Canadian Black Belt Hall of Fame when ceremonies were held in Ottawa last month. Dunn, an Oakville martial arts instructor who lives in Burlington, has won many world and Canadian champion iM tAM M ships in karate competitions in the 50 years he has been involved in martial arts. The re tired firefighter is still teaching classes at the age of 64. | subm itted photo Belt C X N X D iX NB L X C KB E L TH X L LO FF X M S s tm o w o e n u .tawt.tuaL 'tE w r ic L tr r r