Page 52 - PC Living Jan-Feb 2017

told us that the rst thing she asked in the morning when she got up was if she would have karate that day. I suggested that our Yoshukai would create a special needs division and we did.Barbara Croley: Jimmy started the special needs division in Yoshukai. We just had a tournament in Dothan where special needs dojos from other areas participated.PC Living: Do people remark on women in the sport? Barbara Croley: Oh, yeah.Jimmy Croley: Well, just through the years.PC Living: What do you tell them?Barbara Croley: I've fought them all. They don't want to ght me. (laughs) Jimmy Croley: One of my instructors, actually my rst instructor’s wife, was mySensei. She outranked me. I have the highest respect for women in this sport. Barbara Croley: Originally, women were not allowed in karate. Our grandmaster'swife in Japan practiced karate all her life and their daughters as well. She runs a dojo in Japan right now. I think it's changed a little bit.PC Living: If you think back, being a couple, doing this together, what advantage does that give you?Jimmy Croley: I taught quite a lot longer than Barbara and I might know more than her, but still, she sees things sometimes that I don't see. Items that I am not noticing.Barbara Croley: Well, four eyes see more than two. Jimmy Croley: It makes it so much easier.Barbara Croley: Being married for 40 years, you know, we are not in competition. We love working with people and the kids and we take pride in teaching karate and take it very seriously. But we still have fun. We have parents who tell us, "Y'all need to have a reality show. We would watch it."Jimmy Croley: If I were to teach by myself, because there are so many di erent ranks, you might neglect the upper rank. At lower levels they're learning basics52 • January - February 2017 • www.PanamaCityLiving.com