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Kindergartner one of the youngest whose sights
are set on martial arts
By Bill Meredith, Palm Beach Post
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Ask a 5-year-old what they want to be when they grow up, and you may
get a response like fireman, cowboy, doctor or astronaut. Not so
with Port St. Lucie resident Sara Baum, a kindergartner at Port St.
Lucie Elementary. But then again, she turns 6 on Saturday.
"She says she wants to be a karate sensei," said Fred LaSala, who
instructs Baum in a combination of martial arts disciplines at
LaSala's Dojo/Karate for Christ Ministries in Fort Pierce. "And my
daughter Stacey has become her idol."
Sara Baum, 5, practices her martial arts at White City United
Methodist Church in Fort Pierce. She has graduated from the
introductory white belt, past yellow belt, to her current rank of
orange belt, and has several first-place finishes in tournaments.
Baum's role model choices prove that she's ahead of her years.
LaSala is a three-time world breaking champion who'll be inducted
into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame in San Antonio in May.
Stacey LaSala also became a world champion last summer, when she won
the 18-and-under self-defense title at the U.S. Open Martial Arts
World Championships at age 16.
Baum gets instruction from both, and her mother says that the
youngster's choice of martial arts was purely her own.
"She started about a year-and-a-half ago at age 4," said Madeline
Baum, a home-based human resources consultant. "She was in
pre-kindergarten at Treasure Coast Christian Academy, and the LaSala
family came in to teach classes. Sara loved it, so she's attended
ever since, even though they don't usually start kids at age 4."
"Before that, Stacey was the only one who started so young," LaSala
said.
Sara has graduated from the introductory white belt, and past
yellow, to her current rank of orange belt. Despite her angelic
appearance and 3-foot-9, 75-pound frame, she's more imposing than
she looks. At the Florida Palm Coast Karate Kick Off in Jupiter two
months ago, she had third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishes in
points fighting, kata and self-defense against older competition.
"Stacey was our first karate princess, but Sara's next," LaSala
said.
"She's already had first-place finishes in self-defense on
tournaments on the west coast of Florida."
As Sara works her way toward her next level - green belt - her
father fights a more difficult battle. But like his only child,
38-year-old Lou Baum is also winning. An employee of a Walgreens
distribution center in Jupiter, he's been on leave while undergoing
chemotherapy for testicular cancer that spread to his lymph nodes.
"He's doing very well, and is in his last week of treatment,"
Madeline said. "The prognosis is excellent. His cancer markers have
come way down.
He'll have a CAT scan, and if that goes well, he shouldn't need any
more treatment."
According to her mother, Sara has developed a firm grasp of her
father's condition.
"She knows that her father has been sick and had chemotherapy,"
Madeline said.
"She understands what that is, and knows that it's helping him to
get better. Lou was first diagnosed last August, and had surgery,
but they found that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes in
January. So we've been through 12 weeks of chemotherapy at Martin
Memorial North.
But Sara is a very spiritual kid, and has a great relationship with
the Lord. She knows he'll take care of us, so she hasn't really
worried. She's had a great attitude."
Madeline says that the LaSala family has provided Sara with role
models that extend beyond martial arts.
"Since Sara became involved with Karate for Christ, she's become one
of the best and most well-behaved students in her class," she said.
"She's constantly winning awards at school. The LaSalas have taken
us in as part of their family, especially through my husband's
illness. I don't know what we'd do without them. It's meant so much
to us."
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