Santoni delivers surprise gold medal
Burlington club member wins national intermediate kata title
Herb Garbutt
Published on Jul 16, 2008
Kal Helppi still remembers the first time the Shikomu Karate Club's first national champion walked into his class.
"She'll last two weeks and she's gone," he thought.
Two weeks later, Theresa Santoni was still there. In fact, she was at the Plains Road West club every day, never missing a class.
Five years after that first class, the 46-year-old found herself standing with fellow competitors and listening to announcement of the medal winners in the intermediate women's kata division at the National Karate Championships in Saint John, N.B.
She had been working with Helppi for six months for this one event, putting in long hours of training and then driving 1,500 kilometres for the event. Still, her goals were modest.
"I really just wanted the experience," she said. "I thought if I was lucky enough to medal, it would be a bronze."
So when the bronze, then the silver, were announced, she thought her chances of bringing home medal were finished. She was pleased to know she had delivered the strong performance she had been working toward.
"You put your heart and soul into it," she said, "and sometimes you're on your game and everything comes out right. That's how it was that day."
Still, for a mother who had taken up karate after watching her son Joseph's class, she never even entertained the thought of what she was about to hear.
When the gold medal was announced, Santoni heard her name and immediately thought, "Did I hear that right?"
She did.
"It was thrilling. I was amazed -- over the top. It was just amazing. I'm still in shock," she said a week after hearing the announcement.
For Helppi, it wasn't as much of a surprise. He had soon realized after his initial assessment that Santoni "was a keeper."
"She's got a spirit that won't quit," he said. "She trained through injuries and pain. It was all self induced. She's so driven. It really shows what the spirit can do if the body is willing."
Santoni's initial impression of karate also missed the mark after watching her son's class.
"I thought it looked fun. I thought it looked easy," she said. "I was half right."
Santoni signed up for an adult class and soon learned that easy was not the right adjective.
She also began to feel a great sense of accomplishment. For someone who never considered herself to be an athletic person, she found she had a knack for karate.
"I enjoy the fact that it's challenging, that there is always something new to learn. The camaraderie between people all trying to achieve the same thing and you're learning from everyone, the white belts, the yellow belts."
Santoni has worked her way up to brown belt, though Helppi believes it won't be long before she trades that in for a black belt.
"She's an inspiration to others," he said.
