Stephen Hilson, sensei at NZ Disability Karate Association, before a class. Photo: Pretoria Gordon
Stephen Hilson has dedicated years to teaching karate to people living with disabilities - and he is about to see his students compete in their first tournament.
Hilson - also known as sensei - has been running a karate club in Wellington since 2018.
But this is not just any karate club. This is the New Zealand Disability Karate Association - the first specifically for people with access needs.
"We make the karate fit the person, not the person fit the karate," he said.
Stephen Hilson, left facing camera, leads a class at NZ Disability Karate Association in Khandallah Photo: Pretoria Gordon
"The people who are the experts on the disability are the people living with it, so our philosophy is [to] listen to what they need from us."
Hilson - whose day job is in the public sector - said it did not matter if someone was neurodivergent, had a physical impairment, or no disability at all - everyone was welcome to join the club.
"My goal is to normalise disability, to make sure that it is just something that is accepted in society, given that 25 percent of New Zealanders have a disability."
Club members practising at a NZ Disability Karate Association class in Khandallah Photo: Pretoria Gordon
Everything is free here - from membership, to classes, uniform and more.
One of his students, Nathaniel Robson, has a vision impairment.
"That can make things a bit challenging, you know... to follow what the instructor is explaining," he said.
"In this kind of environment, you can just go up to the instructor and say, 'How do you do that?' [or] 'What way do you have your hand?'"
Stephen Hilson, left, spars with a young member at NZ Disability Karate Association in Khandallah Photo: Pretoria Gordon
Another student, Molly Tebo, joined the club with her family.
"Unexpectedly, I think my partner and I are getting a lot more out of it than we thought we would," she said.
"Sensei is just the most patient man I know.
"I've tried other martial arts, and it just hasn't clicked in the same way, but I think because sensei is so patient, and so passionate about it, it's just been a really fantastic experience."
A class at NZ Disability Karate Association in Khandallah Photo: Pretoria Gordon
Hilson had been working with the Special Olympics - in Japan, New Zealand, as well as in the UK - to work out a way for his students to compete.
Now, six years after it was established, the club is sending them to their first tournament on 13 July.
The NZ Disability Karate Association banner on display at Khandallah Town Hall. Photo: Pretoria Gordon
After that, Hilson wants to award his first black belt.
"I am so excited about that."
He also aims to develop the club, and open in more locations. Membership doubled to 60 last year after Hilson promoted it at Armageddon Expo.
On top of his day job, he runs hour-long classes every Wednesday at 6pm and 7pm in the Khandallah Town Hall, 30-minute Zoom classes on the first Sunday of the month, and Manaaki Ability Trust classes in Lower Hutt every Friday at 1pm.
Hilson is writing a book for other instructors to help them support people with a disability.
And he has even written a series of children books - Rainbro's Karate Adventures - about a rainbow trout who joins the local karate club. The final book, Rainbro's Black Belt, will be published in November.
