THE EPHRATA REVIEW WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011 B3

Domenic Desimone displays his love for wado-ryu

Student strives in martial arts

In any dictionary, the word karate can be ex-plained as “a method developed in Japan of de-fending oneself without the use of weapons; a sport based off of self defense.” For junior Do-menic Desimone, however, karate is one way of participating in an art form where individuals can express themselves in a number of ways.

“It all started when my grandmother got me a coupon for a free class at my dojo, and I haven’t looked back since,” said Desimone.

A dojo is simply a place or school to practice and learn martial arts.

“Bruce Lee actually inspired me to join karate. I grew up watching him and his movies. I was little, too, so that helped,” said Desimone.

Many individuals may believe that masters of karate intend to hurt who they are fighting against, however, in most cases this story is not true.

“What really intrigued me about karate was the fact that it teaches you how to control your body in a way that isn’t common, yet it can help you save a life,” said Desimone.

While there are many forms and styles of ka-rate, the style that Desimone participates in is called wado-ryu. Translated, wado-ryu means “way of peace”.

In this certain style, participants are motivat-ed to concentrate on peace and protection, not fighting.

“The Zen aspect also intrigued me; Zen en-

courages you to be at peace with your inner self, and it also motivates you to find yourself in or-der to channel that energy to the task at hand,” said Desimone.

Desimone takes his classes at the Adamstown YMCA and has been taking them for four years now. Some moves involved in karate include jinzuki, which is a front punch, yakazuki, which is a rear hand punch, megari, which is a front kick, and gedan uke, which is a low block.

“We believe in simplicity and we demonstrate that not so much in a number of moves, but, by our technique, which we aim to better at every class. Sometimes I get a little carried away and turn into Bruce Lee, though,” said Desimone.

Desimone sometimes gets the opportunity to teach younger children, too.

“I help teach kids sometimes. It gets tough though because they tend to be all over the wall a lot,” said Desimone.

Learning karate also gives individuals an op-portunity to expand and diversify what they know about karate’s homeland, Japan.

“We count in Japanese in class and it’s also a very laid back class. We have formal things such as bowing when a sensei walks in; we also treat our opponents and partners with respect… just simple etiquette,” said Desimone.

Karate has 47 forms. Each form has a different requirement for each belt. In each form, how-ever, the black belt is the most prestigious.

by Keegan Woyurka

Disatrous situations, ridiculous amounts of money and psycho tourists create this showActors prepare for this year’s quirky fall play ‘Schuylersville.com’

“Maggie! Oh, Maggie! Where are you, Maggie!” screams nutty Nannette Bodine, played by Aubree Robitzer, a senior, as she frantically runs on stage.

She then confesses to Martin Schuyler, better known as sophomore, Ian Brady, about her horrible omens.

As the scene unfolds, the crazy chaos of this year’s fall play, Schuylersville.com, begins.

“The play is about a small town of quirky people who have the opportunity to inherit a lot of money, but first they must make a website about themselves and record their lives,” said Emily Sensenig, who plays Rebecca Smith.

Rebecca is a sneaky, two-faced relative who is will-ing to ruin the lives of those of Schuylersville in order to receive fifty million dollars.

Schuylersville is full of unique and downright weird people.

For disastrous situations, simply add in ridiculous amounts of money, 24/7 video cameras, and psycho tourists.

“Kris McKinney, Cassandra Aminto (juniors), and Alex Kupp (senior) are hilarious tourists,” said Sensenig.

For the play, the actors were carefully matched up to their characters.

“This year was definitely type casted. Everyone brings their own personalities onto the stage,” said Robitzer.

Despite having many different types of people in the show, the cast is still very close.

“We are all really close to each other. I love spending time with everyone and getting to know other people better,” said Sensenig.

While many students try out for the play, not every-one can be in the show. However, this shouldn’t stop anyone from taking a shot at it.

“More people should try out. It’s such a great expe-

rience. You work on your public speaking skills and get to tap into a creative side you wouldn’t get to any-where else,” said Robitzer.

The actors in the play get to experience the chemis-try of working with others on the stage.

“Being in the play is like participating in a sport; you become a family with your cast,” said Robitzer.

“Schuylersville.com” is an excellent play suitable for the entire family.

“The play has a good message and has a lot of funny

moments, especially if you bring your friends along,” said Robitzer.

“Schuylersville.com” will be performed on Decem-ber 2nd and 3rd at 7 p.m. and on December 4th at 2 p.m.

Tickets are five dollars at the door.Spaghetti DinnerOn Sunday, December 4th, before the show people

have the opportunity to enjoy a delicious spaghetti dinner in the Cocalico High School Cafeteria.

“This is something new that the student fundraising group is organizing,” said Mrs. Audrey Stoner, athletic director.

To help raise money for the new fitness center at Co-calico High School, Mrs. Stoner was given the sugges-tion of having a spaghetti dinner.

“It will help create the new weight room and cardio room for the school’s gymnasium,” said Mrs. Stoner.

This event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tick-ets are being sold at the Cocalico High School’s atten-dance office and the central office. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for ages 4-10 and free for ages 3 amd under.

“Hopefully it will raise a lot of money,” said Mrs. Stoner.

Art ShowWhen people are not busy watching this year’s fall

play, they can feel free to walk around the halls of Co-calico High School to experience the Art Show. Many students have been working hard all year to create unique things to display at the show.

“I am excited to show everything I’ve done to my family,” said Sam Bates, a senior.

The art show will be held on December 2nd and 3rd at 6 p.m. and on December 4th at 1 p.m.

by Jenna Weachter & Emily Bowman

Gillian Diestel (senior), Aubree Robitzer (senior), Emily Sensenig (sophomore), and Lauren Bacon (senior) rehearse a scene during play practice. The upcoming fall play is “Schuylersville.com;” it will be performed on Dec. 2 and 3 at

7 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 2 p.m.

photo provided by Playmakers

As junior and senior year rolls around, students are given information regarding the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center (CTC). Haileigh Lanning, a senior, chose to focus her school year at CTC on one of her passions, photography. The above picture displays one of the many photographs Lanning has taken and edited during her time at CTC this school year.

“I enjoy the creativity in photography and seeing others’ reactions to my photos,” said Lanning.To some, photography may seem as simple as snapping a picture; however Lanning is exploring all of the elements

that go into capturing great photos. For example, in the above photo, Lanning took different pictures and added them together to create one creative photo.

Photo provided by Haileigh Lanning