Shorin Ryu Minnesota in St. Anthony is home to two new AAU Karate National champions. Sophia Soriano and Iris Luz Hernandez both took home gold medals in Shorin Ryu Kata division.
Shorin Ryu Minnesota is owned and led by Sensei Dieter von der Marwitz who also took home two gold medals at the WUKF World Championships and a silver medal in Shorin Ryu Kata at the AAU Karate National Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., over the July 4 weekend. von der Marwitz, originally from South Africa, opened the dojo (school or practice hall) in St. Anthony in 2003 and has been teaching ever since. He is a 5th dan karate and 2nd dan kobudo black belt. He became the Grand South African Champion in 2000.
“I think every kid should do martial arts, even if they don’t get a black belt. It’s more than just self-defense. It’s about being able to stand up and be confident and have a voice. Not every kid that walks into my studio is going to be a black belt. But whether it’s my dojo or another, it helps to create structure, confidence and also the physical parts and emotional parts of their life,” explained von der Marwitz. For some, karate is all about self-defense, for others it’s about controlling their emotions. von der Marwitz said he often has parents enroll their kids in karate saying, “I need my kid to learn how to focus.”
Iris Luz Hernandez, 15, was one of those kids whose parents wanted something that could help her focus more. “My parents said you are such a hyper child we need to get that energy out somewhere!” Hernandez started at a different dojo that she hated but her parents made her go. Eventually that dojo shut down and at 11 she started taking karate at Shorin Ryu Minnesota. “It’s such a different experience here. I love coming here!” When asked what’s different here, Hernandez responded, “One of the things is they didn’t compete at my old dojo. They also treated the younger students as though they just didn’t have as much potential.” Her previous dojo had the younger students work on the same technique over and over again despite Hernandez feeling she was ready to move on and learn more. “It felt like I was just running in place and not going anywhere.”
At the new dojo, Hernandez feels she was able to prove herself, advance and move up in belts quickly. Winning a gold medal is great, but karate has been much more rewarding for her than her medal. “It’s helped me become more determined and focused on my goals. When I don’t have a specific goal, I get off track and start stressing. At karate you have this ‘thing’ and you need to learn it and perfect it. Once I figured out how that worked in karate, I realized I could apply it to a lot of other things in my life. I discovered if I just had that same mindset to focus on this one thing, and repeat it until you figure it out and you get it right — I feel like it just simplifies so many other aspects in my life.”
Sophia Soriano,16, started taking karate lessons at the age of 5. “My family’s super big on being active. They said I have to do something active. My uncle (Sensei Dieter) owned a dojo and my mom said you also have to support your family business so you should do that. I ended up liking it a lot. It keeps me physical, it keeps me active. There’s a lot of things it does for me mentally as well. It’s like when I don’t have anything, I at least know I have karate.”
Soriano said karate has helped her succeed academically as well. “It’s helped me focus more. I was generally a horrible student but karate helped me to not just slide by.” It has also taught Soriano patience and to see things on a deeper level.
Sensei Dieter’s brother, Keoshi Karl von der Marwitz, is also a karate champion. Their family had them start lessons when they were very young at a small dojo in Port Elizabeth called Charlo Dojo. Karl von der Marwitz now runs Charlo Dojo but also travels back to Minnesota from time to time to help teach at Shorin Ryu Minnesota.
He said the benefits of karate are more than just self-defense. “I’ve had children with anger management issues in my dojo and one thing that this does is help children to cope. I’ve seen such success stories in my own dojo. I am also a 5th grade teacher and see it in my classroom. I’ve never seen anything do as much for children in terms of emotion and coping with emotion as martial arts. It teaches you those skills and coping mechanisms.”
His brother Dieter agreed, “If you have a kid that struggles emotionally or struggles with focus, I would encourage any parent to do some sort of martial arts just to create that structure.”
Below: Top photo, from left: Iris Luz Hernandez, head instructor Sensei Dieter von der Marwitz, guest instructor and brother of Dieter, Karl von der Marwitz, and Sophia Soriano. Middle photo, Iris Luz Hernandez and Sophia Soriano run through a combination of forms during class. Lower photo, Sophia Soriano and Iris Luz Hernandez were all smiles discussing winning gold medals at the 2022 AAU Karate National Championships in Florida this summer. (Photos by Mike Madison)
