By Brian Zanzonico
The 14-year-old Elmont Memorial High School student was practicing bo kata, gracefully poking and jabbing an invisible opponent with a chestnut-colored staff longer than Julian is tall. With perspiration dotted across his brow and the collar of his gi, or karate uniform, soaked with sweat, Julian displayed the concentration and precision that has made him a world-class athlete.
Studying karate and kobudo, an ancient form of martial arts, with his father, renowned martial artist Serge Clark, since age 4, Julian has learned more than 70 forms of kata, a series of punches and kicks in the air. After an impressive performance at the United States of America National Karate-do Federation (USA-NKF) national championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last month, he earned a berth in the Pan-American Games Youth Championship in September. Julian will take part in kumite (sparring) in the under-40 kilo division.
In addition to training Julian, his father, who owns the Okinawa Karate Kobudo Kai dojo in Elmont and has hundreds of local students, has trained his four other children, Kohei, 5, Seiji, 7, and Joiyeux, 10, students at Gotham Avenue School, and Anjolie, 13, who attends Elmont High School. He said that introducing his children to martial arts was as much about teaching them how to carry themselves off the mat as it was about how they perform on it.
"I want them to have wings, per se," Serge said. "[Julian] works hard and earned it. I'm proud, but our family, we celebrate in silence. Every corner of our home is filled with medals and trophies. But I look at it like, what's next? What did I learn from the tournament that I can improve on? What skills did I learn for next time? Most importantly, what did I learn that I can apply to life? Winning medals and trophies don't mean as much as lessons learned."
Born to Bahamian and Haitian parents, Serge spent his early years in Brooklyn before the family moved to Pompano Beach, Fla., when he was in middle school. Always athletic, Clark was nudged into wrestling in high school by a friend who secretly signed him up. "The next thing I know, the wrestling coach is looking all over the school for Serge Clark, who joined his team and didn't show," Clark recalled.
To help with his balance on the mat, he began taking karate lessons. He grew fascinated with the grace of martial arts and its history, which dates back to the fourth century. With the help of karate, Clark impressed college scouts with his grit as a 138-pound wrestler, and he earned a partial scholarship to William Penn University in Iowa.
In his second year of college, Clark wanted to continue studying karate, so he told a Navy recruiter that he would enlist if he was guaranteed an assignment in Japan. Upon arriving there in 1982, he was set to train with Sensei Masaaki Hatumi, a headmaster in the art of ninjitsu. But the school was way up north in Nagano, and Clark was stationed in Yokoska, down south. Instead, he trained on his own and later at a school near the base.
From 1985 to 1989, he was stationed in Hawaii, where he met his wife, Satoe, who was from Ibaraki, Japan.
In Hawaii Clark studied martial arts under Sensei Joe Bunch. For weeks at a time, he would return to Japan and studied shotokan, the most popular style of karate. To earn a living in Hawaii, he had three karate schools and a limousine business. In 1990 opened his first school in Waikiki Beach, charging $15 to $40 a month for karate lessons. "But with 100 students, karate doesn't pay the bills," Clark said.
In 1997, the Hawaiian economy crashed when Hong Kong was returned to China after 150 years of British rule. "Before the crash, I wanted to buy five more cars so I could bid on contracts," Clark said. "But I couldn't come up with $200,000, so I bailed out."
He sold two of his Cadillacs to black belts he trained, and other companies bought his stretch limos. With the money from the sale of the cars, Clark was able to pay off his bills and move his young family to Hempstead in 1997, where he moved in with relatives.
"I said I didn't care if I had to wash dishes, we had to go there," he said.
Instead Clark took the commercial driver's license exam and began driving a school bus. Meanwhile, with Percy Jackson Gym down the block, he was able to lease space three days a week for lessons. He saved enough money between driving and giving lessons that he was able to open a dojo on Elmont Road five years ago.
"I followed what my father did," Julian said about dedicating himself to martial arts. "I saw how others trained and I wanted to do it."
An honor student, Julian manages to maintain high grades while training several days a week. School always comes first, he said, a discipline instilled in him by his mother and father.
The Clark children all seem uncomfortable when asked to talk about themselves, a sign of humility that is yet another example of their father's influence. Serge downplays his resume, which includes Hawaiian state championships in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993, his rank of godan (fifth-degree black belt) in Okinawan Kenpo karate and his membership in the USA National Karate Federation, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union.
"For Julian and his family, karate is a family affair," said Assemblyman Tom Alfano. "His father is a role model to hundreds of young people in Elmont. His dojo has produced some of the very best students in the country. I'm proud to call the family my friends."
The Pan American Games do not begin until Sept. 21, but Julian already has an eye on Curacao, where the tournament will be held.
"I'm a little nervous about it," Julian said. "I've got to motivate myself, which is easy because I'll be representing our country. Physically, I want to come in with intensity. I was happy to make the team, but I want to do a lot more. These are the best of the best."
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