CRESTVIEW — Three candidates ascended to the rank of black belt in taekwondo Friday night. It took hard work and discipline to at last participate in the solemn candlelight ceremony, but for one artist, the challenges were even greater.
Scott Williams, 38, achieved a lifelong dream when Master Nathan Carroll of Palmer ATA Taekwondo tied the coveted black belt around his waist as he, Ryan Bourke and Caleb Phillips reached the milestone.
Williams’ challenges didn’t just come from having a couple decades on the other guys. He’s also deaf and severely visually impaired.
“I asked the teacher how I’d communicate with me being deaf and everything, how would that work?” Williams said. “The teacher, Paul Carroll, said, ‘I will show you and you copy me.’
“That’s what I did. I found it easy to copy the moves. I was really excited that I could do it.”
NEW FAMILY
Williams, who was born deaf, said he has found a new family at Palmer ATA, not just among the instructors but with his fellow students, though most are young enough to be his children.
“It feels great being with Mr. Williams,” Mike Smith, 13, said. “I never experienced having a friend like him. I look up to him. He teaches me things.”
“It’s definitely really neat having Scott in our program,” Senior Master Darrin Palmer said. “He’s had the dedication to hang in there and train over the last couple years.
“For someone with a disability, it’d be easy to give up. It’s hard enough to learn martial arts in addition to being deaf and legally blind. It’s fun to teach him.”
Williams isn’t letting his disabilities stand in the way of mastering an art that fascinated ever since he saw “The Karate Kid” as a child.
“As a child I thought being deaf would hold me back,” Williams said. “One of the lessons I learned (in ATA Taekwando) is I can do it!”
‘YOU CAN DO IT’
“I developed many good friends during my time I’ve been there,” Williams said. “They’re very supportive. They respect me and I respect them. They have never encountered a person like me.”
As for his masters, “They didn’t see a disability. They said, ‘you can do it.’ They are very good friends.”
Joseph Hust, a certified trainer, helped Williams through his black belt testing.
“Earning a black belt at any age is outstanding, but for him, it’s even more amazing because of his disabilities,” Hust said.
“The pain is temporary, but a black belt lives forever.”
“Scott is very determined and he works hard,” Palmer said. “He’s a neat person.”
“God made me, so I am who I am,” Williams said. “Being disabled doesn’t matter.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Deaf, nearly blind Crestview man achieves martial arts black belt