Strong Voices

Thirty-four-year-old Tessa Haanen is the first female member of the Downright Dragons to gain her black belt. The Downright Dragons is an inclusive karate programme for young people with intellectual disability that’s been running for 17 years at Wellington’s Seido Dojo.

In karate, a black belt is a symbol of skill, respect and dedication. And it’s not easy to earn – it takes years of hard work and training.

Luckily Tessa Haanen is very fit. As well as karate classes she plays walking netball and is a boxer. She also goes to Shut Up and Dance classes and, along with Mum Heather, joins in with Parkrun – a friendly 5 km community event around Wellinton’s waterfront every Saturday morning. When we chatted, Tessa was getting ready to take part in the Round the Bays run. Tessa also works as a cleaner for Spectrum Care.

Despite her good fitness level Tessa still had to train hard in the six months leading up to her black belt grading. This meant reorganising some of her other activities so she could add in extra karate training sessions.

Instructor Ang Brown, who also trained 2024 Downright Dragon black belts Jevan Walls and Dan Howard, was delighted with how Tessa embraced the rigorous training schedule.

“She actually blew me away,” says Ang. “She’s got so much determination and is really disciplined. I sat down and gave her a training plan at the beginning of the year. And she never backed out of anything. Never complained. Never made any excuses. She just quietly got on with it.”

Fellow Downright Dragon black belts Jevan and Dan were keen to give Tessa some tips. “They did help me a bit,” says Tessa.

Mum Heather is quick to point out that Tessa’s black belt involved a big commitment from a lot of people. “Everyone at the dojo,” she says. “Plus, her Spectrum Care support worker Mamata Dahl also does karate, so she was a huge help. And her instructor Ang of course.”

The turn out at the dojo on the day of Tessa’s grading was a further show of support with a hundred or so members all there to cheer her on.

“I was a bit nervous,” says Tessa about the grading day. “I was the only one doing it.”

For those who are unfamiliar with the world of martial arts, a grading is a big deal. For Tessa, it involved warming up for an hour, then an hour of her repeating a series of movements as part of her syllabus. And finally, an hour of sparring.

“These gradings are cool,” says Ang. “Anybody who is green belt or above lines up to spar.”

“I think Tessa fought 40 people!” exclaims mum Heather.

“Dan and Jevan pushed to the front,” says Ang. “They were really eager to spar with her.”

Part of the grading also involves demonstrating original self-defence sequences, and Tessa created five or six of her own with the help of her support worker, Mamata. “She enjoyed doing them,” Ang says. “It was a chance for her to shine.”

Although the Downright Dragons programme adapts learning where needed, Ang says the karate remains authentic. “The biggest challenge is usually recall, especially since many students train only once a week. But Tessa was training three days a week – her determination stood out.”

After hours of intense effort, surrounded by a dojo full of people who believed in her, Tessa finally got to tie on her black belt. And how did she feel?

“Proud of myself,” she smiles.

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Image: Tessa Haanen demonstrating her karate moves.