Faces
Teacher gets kick out of life—for 30-plus years N
o one would be surprised to see 67-year-old Roberta Cochran- Zavitz walking around Dav- enport, Iowa. But they might raise an eyebrow if they saw her kicking or chopping an opponent in a karate studio.
Cochran-Zavitz is a seventh-
degree black belt in Okinawan karate, which she said makes her the top-ranking female practitio- ner in the world of this style of self-defense. The member of St. Paul Lutheran, Davenport, had no plans to hold such a prestigious honor, which few members of her congregation knew about until this year. In fact, her karate came in a roundabout way from a doctor’s orders.
100 plus 103: Frances Whitney, Trinity, Love- land, Colo.; Marguerite Smith, Para- dise, Treasure Island, Fla. 102: Minerva Franek, St. Mark, Fargo, N.D.; Leo Kressley, Weisenberg, New Trip- oli, Pa. 101: Bessie Donnell, St. Luke, Campbell Hill, Ill.; Valda Schaefer, Shepherd of the Hills, Tiburon, Calif. 100: Irma Lucille Berseth, Our Savior, Stanley, Wis.; Viola Christensen, St. Paul, Penn Yan, N.Y.; Helen Fossum, St. Stephen, Palmdale, Calif.; Pearl Garnaas, Lord of Love, Omaha, Neb.; Evelyn Hanson, Bethel, Green Bay, Wis.; Sigrid Kynell, Faith, Walworth, Wis.; Lila Strand, Kviteseid, Milan, Minn.; Irene Williams, Faith, Wind- ham, Maine; Lorraine Zimowske, Lord of Life, Schaumburg, Ill.
Share your accomplishments, awards and 100+ members in “Faces.” Send to:
lutheran@thelutheran.org or “Faces,” The Lutheran, 8765 W. Hig gins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.
COURTESY OF ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH, DAVENPORT, IOWA Roberta Cochran-Zavitz sees her practice of Okinawan karate as a gift from God.
“I had been teaching junior high school for about three years, and I had so much tension from working in overcrowded classrooms that it was more than my body wanted to bear,” she said. “The doctor said to me, ‘If your arm or leg was broken we could fix it, but you have this tension because you never relax all the way. You need to find an activity away from the stress of the classroom. I don’t care what it is as long as it makes you sweat.’ ” Five blocks from her apartment she saw a karate studio. She walked in, and from then onward—more than 30 years—she has practiced martial arts. In 1981 her practice took an unexpected turn when she met a teacher from Okinawa whose style she wanted to emulate. “I was with him all this time, until he passed away earlier this year,” she said. “We’re trying to keep going with all that he taught us.” Beyond practice, Cochran-Zavitz began competing. At first she was “pet-
rified” to put on gloves and a mask and get in the ring against an opponent. But she summoned the strength to be brave and give it her all. Karate not only relieved the stress, but it made Cochran-Zavitz feel more
confident in her strength and more comfortable when she lived alone in a neighborhood that she said wasn’t always safe at night. Last year the karate expert helped lead a workshop on using martial arts to help spiritual wellness and to show the ways it can bless body, mind and soul.
Cochran-Zavitz considers her practice a gift from God. At the moment when she most needed something to help with her debilitating stress, she found karate. “I believe that with my whole heart,” she said. As for whether she plans to stop karate now that she’s nearing 70, Cochran-Zavitz said no: “As long as I enjoy it and I’m limber enough to do it, I think it’s a good idea to keep going.”
Jeff Favre Favre is a contributing editor of The Lutheran.
December 2012 43
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