Grandma Gets Black Belt

Most grandmothers get their kicks spending time with their grandchildren. Annie Carter gets her kicks by literally kicking with hers.

Carter got her black belt in Choi Kwang Do in March at the age of 69. That’s something that Michael Wilson with ’s Martial Arts dojo said is unusual.

“People over 50 really buy into the stereotypes that they really can’t do certain things because the media and their friends and their family tell them, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that,’” Wilson said. “Mentally, they think they can’t.”

Carter’s accomplishment has made her an inspiration to people all over the world. Visitors from the United Kingdom were in town for a seminar and were ecstatic to see her and watch her test, Wilson said.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Wilson said. “It’s a testament to perseverance. It’s a testament to her age. It’s a testament to her own spirit as well. Parents and students look up to her and see her as a beacon of inspiration.”

It typically takes three to five years to achieve black belt status. Carter got hers in three years. Now, three generations of her family have their black belts. Her son and two grandsons have received theirs, and her granddaughter is expected to get her black belt in June.

“She’s very dedicated,” Wilson said. “It’s absolutely amazing. I wish we had 10 more Miss Annie’s to go around. The people in the senior bracket, they need to know that sitting on the couch and doing what people say they can do is not helping their life span. It’s giving them a poorer quality of life.”

Carter became interested in the martial art while watching her grandchildren’s lessons.

“Since I was sitting here anyway, I said, ‘I think I’m going to try this myself,’” she said. “Once I started it, I fell in love with it, and I just kept on. I just stayed with it until I got my black belt.”

Carter said she loves the exercise, camaraderie and support from instructors.

“They’re very supportive, and they just back you up 100 percent,” she said. “You get encouragement, and you’re not pushed beyond your limits. You can go at your own pace.”

And, her grandchildren think she’s pretty cool.

“Grandma’s alright,” Carter said with a chuckle.

Another motivator for Carter was to show her grandchildren how to commit to something.

“Once you make a commitment, you follow through,” she said. “It makes me feel wonderful. I really feel like I have accomplished something.”

Carter’s next goal is to get her second-degree black belt, something she hopes to accomplish by the time she’s 71.

“I’m going to go for it,” she said. “My mother always said to me, there’s no such word as I can’t. What you’re actually saying is I won’t. In Proverbs, it say, ‘As you speak, so are you.’ You can speak things into being. If I say I can’t do it, I won’t do it. If I say I can do it, I will do it.”