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Smithtown Karate
Academy
Another Notch In Her Belt
Kings Park Karate
Champion Marilyn Fierro to be inducted in
N.Y. Jewish Sports Hall at Commack event Sunday.
Chief Instructor: Marilyn
Fierro, 8th Dan
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JEWISH WEEK CORRESPONDENT
 by Jane Linker
Growing up in the East Bronx in the 1950s, Marilyn
Fierro was a self-described "klutz" who certainly had never heard of Hank
Greenberg, Moe Berg or Marty Glickman.
But on Sunday, marking more than two decades of
achievement, Fierro will join that trio in the New York Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
The 54 year-old from Kings Park—who with a
seventh-degree black belt in Isshinryu karate, the highest-ranking woman in the world
–will become the second woman to be honored among the 31 greats who have been
enshrined since the hall was founded in 1993. German track star Margaret Lambert,
prevented by Hitler from competing in the 1936 Olympics, was named two years ago.
Joining Fierro as inductees will be Bill Mazer,
"The Amazing," a TV and radio sportscaster known for his encyclopedic knowledge;
Harry Danning, all-star catcher for the New York Giants in the late 1930s; and Red
Sarachek, basketball coach at Yeshiva College from 1941 to 1980. All are expected to
attend the ceremony. Honored posthumously will be Barney Ross, the first professional
boxer to hold lightweight and welterweight crowns simultaneously.
Also being honored is the Scholastic Athlete of the
Year, Chad Levitt of Cornell University. Levitt, a running back, was the ECAC Division
I-AA Football Player of the Year and the Ivy League Player of the Year.
A panel discussion will be held following the induction
ceremonies, and the former St. John’s University basketball coach Lou Carnesecca will
hold a clinic.
Fierro took up karate when she was about 30, "the
age when you want to find out what you’re about." She was married with two young
children when she began studying tae kwon do, a Korean martial art distinguished by its
flying kicks. After that class disbanded, Fierro sought other martial arts classes but was
discouraged by many schools because they weren’t accustomed to female students.
Then Fierro discovered a teacher of Isshinryu karate
willing to accept her. She felt an immediate affinity for the Okinawan-style karate, which
encourages comfortable stances and strives to maximize natural body strength. Fierro
master’s exhibitions here and in Japan.
"It provided a wonderful centering for me, kind of
like the high runners get," Fierro recalled. "At the time I began, it was very
uncommon for woman to study. I was lucky I found the right teacher."
For 24 years Fierro has studied with that teacher, Nick
Adler of Holbrook Karate Academy, even
after she opened her own karate school in Smithtown in 1978. She has studied also under
Angi Uezu, an Okinawan master. Fierro’s
school has turned out 13 black belts.
Fierro has been affiliated with the Suffolk Y Jewish
Community Center in Commack for more than 15 years, helping start its karate program and
bringing a team to the Maccabi Games in 1992.
"That was one of the most thrilling experiences of
my life, walking into the stadium under the American flag," Fierro recalls. She is
also proud of her achievement in pioneering women’s self-defense programs in 11 Long
Island high schools.
The Jewish Sports Hall of Fame was created to show young
people the rich history of Jews in sports, says Alan Freedman, JCC program director of the
Hall of Fame Committee. The hall has received several thousand visitors annually since its
opening.
"We really value the educational aspect of the Hall
of Fame," said Freedman, who often lectures on Jews in sports. "Too often Jews
are stereotyped as non-athletic and we wanted to break down those prejudices."
Since the Sports Hall of Fame opened, inductees have
included baseball, basketball and football greats such as Red Auerbach, Ernie Grunfeld,
Sandy Koufax and Art Sharnsky, as well as broadcasters Marv Albert and Mel Allen.
Nominations come from across the country, says Freedman.
They are evaluated by an in-house committee that includes Newsday sportswriters Steve
Jacobson and Stan Isaacs.
When the hall opened, inductees tended to be nationally
known figures in popular sports. Nominees now are being proposed in lesser known sports.
Honorees receive a plaque that sits in the permanent exhibit alongside a variety of sports
memorabilia, including Hank Greenberg’s Detroit Tigers jacket.
On hand Sunday will be Neil Keller, exhibiting his
collection of trading cards and autographs of famous Jews. With more than 6,000 items,
Keller claims his is probably the largest collection of its kind. A silent auction, Art of
the Game, featuring sports memorabilia, will also take place.
For Fierro, Sunday’s ceremony will highlight a
25-year journey from a non-athletic childhood to the top-ranked woman in the world in
Isshinryu.
"Karate gives you all the tools you need to
accomplish whatever you want. Once you understand the concept that it is in your hands,
you will achieve the balance you need to handle whatever life hands you," she says.
"I’ve been a minority all my life—as a
Jew, as a woman, even in the style of karate I practice. It’s wonderful to be
recognized for all these things."
The induction ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at the Suffolk
Y JCC on Hauppauge Road in Commack. There is a $5 charge; children and seniors are free.
Call (516) 462-9800.
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