Our Black Belts

Ariel Miller Ariel is in the twelfth grade at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. She began training in 2003 at the age of six and earned her Shodan under Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa of Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) June 2010. Ariel is of our best technicians and is working on several advanced kata.

Nick Breed Nick is in the eleventh grade at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. He began training in 2003 at the age of five and earned his Shodan under Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa of Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) June 2010. Nick continues to train enthusiastically and is working on several advanced kata.

Max Varela Max is in the eighth grade at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine. He began training in 2005 at the age of four and earned his Shodan under Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa of Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) July 2011. Max continues to train enthusiastically and has successfully competed in several internationally sanctioned tournaments (first place kata in the Ozawa cup).

Josh Thibeault

Josh is in the ninth grade at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. He began training in 2005 at the age of five and earned his Shodan-ho (junior first-degree black belt) in May 2010 at Waikoloa Karate Academy (SKA). Josh continues to train enthusiastically and is working on advanced kata.

In addition to his passion for karate Josh has many other talents. In May 2013 Josh won first place at the Robot Track Meet sponsored by Maine Robotics. Josh built and programmed a robot to clear eight cans from a table three times in a row. He did it by integrating sensors into the program/robot.

Kyle Heatley

Kyle is in the tenth grade student at Brunswick High School. He began his karate training in 2006 at the age of seven and earned his Shodan (black belt) in December 2013 at Waikoloa Karate Academy. He trains very enthusiastically and is currently working on the kata Enpi. Also, year after year, Kyle is one of the most respectful students (of any age) in Waikoloa Karate Academy.

In addition to his passion for karate Kyle is an avid sports fan. He enjoys playing soccer, basketball and baseball, and loves to root on his Boston Bruins and New York Yankees.

Alex Sciacca

Alex began his karate training in 2006 at the age of eleven. He earned his first degree black belt (shodan) under Kancho Hirokazu Kanazawa of Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) June 2012. Alex began attending Norwich University (Vermont) in the fall of 2013 for computer engineering. He plans on joining the Air Force when he graduates, hopefully as an officer.

His hobbies include building and fixing computers as well as karate. Alex enjoys spending time with his friends and playing video games. He also plays guitar, bass, drums, some piano and is currently learning to play violin.

Abbey MacDonald

Abbey has been studying karate under Sensei Nelson since she was 11 (and had the nickname “Cheetah”). Abbey is a junior at the University of Maine in Orono, studying finance and management. She earned her black belt with Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) in December of 2011 after testing under Sensei Seamus O’Dowd in Rochester, NH.

Aside from karate, Abbey enjoys theater, time with friends, and music. She loves karate and would highly recommend it to anyone. Abbey is a very busy young lady as she has been working full time at Dunkin’ Donuts as well as waitressing, and taking a summer class….Whew!!

Joe is an eleventh grader at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. He began training at SKA in 2005 at the age of seven, and was awarded his first degree black belt (shodan) under Sensei Paul Walker of Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) in 2012. Joe has trained in Kyudo (Japanese archery), has practiced Aikido, and enjoys playing basketball.

Tyler Norko

Tyler began training at Waikoloa Karate Academy in 2006 at the age of eleven. He earned his shodan in June 2013 at SKA in Topsham. It was a good year for Tyler because in March 2013 he also earned his Eagle Scout from Troop 639 in Bowdoin, Maine. Tyler played football for four years in high school and enjoys being outdoors, hunting, fishing, and hanging out with his friends.

Tyler spends his free time fixing and performing maintenance on a variety of things including trucks, cars, small engines, chainsaws, generators, and boats. He just graduated from Mt. Ararat High School and is an incoming freshman at Southern Maine Community College. When our karate school gets new heavy bags quite often they are too firm for many of our younger students. It is then Tyler’s responsibility to “soften them up.”

William Goller

William is an eleventh grade student at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. He began training in 2006 at the age of eight and earned his first degree black belt (shodan) under Shihan Manabu Murakami of Waikoloa Karate International Federation (SKIF) December 2013. William is fast and strong, is our round house kick demonstrator and enjoys several other sports.

Rebecca Bate

Becky’s dedication is an excellent example of why karate parents can (and perhaps should) forego watching from the sidelines while their child enjoys karate lessons. Becky began training in 2009 and set her sights on black belt right from the beginning. Her hard work and perseverance did indeed pay off as she earned her first degree black belt (shodan) with Waikoloa Karate Academy (SKA) in November 2014. Becky is a wonderful role model for other karate parents who may be considering taking classes, or who have already joined the adult class.

Brewster Chard

Brewster is an eighth grade student at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine. He began his karate training in 2007 at the age of six. He earned his first degree black belt (shodan) with Waikoloa Karate Academy (SKA) in November 2014. Brewster has sharp snappy technique and trains with 100% effort each and every class. Brewster is one of the most polite karate kids ever and can do more fingertip push-ups than anyone else in the dojo.

Simone Lee-Lynch

Simone is an eleventh grade student at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine. She began training in Tae Kwon Do at the age of seven and transferred to Waikoloa in 2007. She earned her first degree black belt (shodan) with Waikoloa Karate Academy (SKA) in November 2014. Simone continues to train with great enthusiasm, runs an excellent warm-up and has an outstanding front kick (not to mention a very audible kiai).

Hayden Libby

Hayden is an eighth grade student at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine. He began his karate training in 2007 at the age of six. He earned his first degree black belt (shodan) with Waikoloa Karate Academy (SKA) in November 2014. Hayden is one of the best technicians in the dojo and continues to train year after year with a gracious sincerity and a warm smile that we all could learn from.

Sebastian Varela

Sebastian is fifth grade student at Woodside Elementary School in Topsham, Maine. He began training in 2008 at the age of four and was outstanding right from the beginning. Sebastian earned his first degree black belt (shodan) with Waikoloa Karate Academy (SKA) in November 2014. His technical execution is among the best in the country, for his age group, and he is an impressive role model for the younger karate kids to emulate.