Beau Potter and his daughter Temperance (3).
Camera IconBeau Potter and his daughter Temperance (3). Credit: Supplied/Marcelo Palacios

Beau packs a punch

Julian WrightComment News

Mr Potter holds lessons in martial arts at the Jack Healey Centre in Kalamunda.

Mr Potter uses a wheelchair, as a combination of muscular dystrophy and atrophy affects his legs.

He said this had made him an ‘easy target’.

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‘I came across groups of 13 or more people who would try to get street cred by attempting to mug me,’ he said.

‘After all my training I came across the same group and just wheeled past them, they said a couple of things to me but they could see that I could handle myself now,

‘It is all about confidence,’ he said.

Mr Potter said when he wanted to take up martial arts lessons four years ago, no one seemed to know how to teach a wheelchair-user.

‘I did find a teacher, Kevin Hawthorne, and ended up going through the lessons like everyone else; I can still use my legs to defend myself ” although they are not as powerful as other people’s, I just use them to prevent my attacker from coming forward.

‘I also focus on my upper body.’

Mr Potter, who has a black belt, volunteers as a self-defence trainer at Kevin Hawthorne’s Ninja Schools five times a week, with his Friday evening class at the Jack Healey Centre in Kalamunda specifically aimed at helping people with disabilities.

For more information or to book, call 0413 393 842, email infowa@khninja.com or visit khninja.com