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Hero Story

This is my Hero, ordinary or not!

          Do you see a hero as someone with super-powers? It may not be the case, but it sure seems that way. My hero just happens to be one of my friends that was interviewed for karate on this site. His name is Cory Lutkus. Me and Cory are very good friends. In fact, we used to be best friends. As I said, it seems that some hero's have super-powers. I'll explain that to you.

        Cory and I used to compete (well, he still does obviously) on the I.P.P.O.N.E karate circuit I remember my first tournament, which was in Massachusetts. Cory had been competing since he was a green belt (we were both black belts now) and his family drove me up to Massachusetts.

 Cory Lutkus       

         In the tournament, Cory did better than me in Kata, but I did better than him at Weapons. I'm sure I could never beat him in weapons now. Anyway, in Kumite (fighting/sparring) Cory and I got creamed terribly; both 5-1! After Cory's fight, he came up to me, nearly in tears.

         I recall saying, "Cory, what's wrong?"
He replied, "I-I've never been beaten 5-1 before."
I said, "Well, Cory, of course these kids are better than us, they dedicate their lives to karate." This I believed, but inside I was hurting a little too from the 5-1 lost I received.
"That's what I'm going to start doing, then," Cory declared.

         And, WOW, that declaration was like the Declaration Of Independence. To this day, Cory may just be one of the greatest young martial artists on the I.P.P.O.N.E. circuit.
Many would ask,' "How does he get his motivation?" ' 
I'll tell you how. . .from himself. Also his father, mother, and instructor Mr. Andrew D' Amato. Such motivation is a great thing!

         Why is he my hero? Because he said one thing and stuck with it. Many people know that words and actions fall under two completely different categories. Actions is the case here. I hope Cory wins more and more in the future. He's won a lot now as it is! But, nonetheless, I'll be there cheering my hero on whenever I can.

by Zachary Heidorn