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from karate an immense amount of life, energy, and ability to cope.

This is what gives her the strength to succeed in everything that she

does."
Kluger, fifty, senior karate coach and owner of the long-established

school "Karate Du" in Petach Tikva, has been involved in martial arts for
years. His two children, Gilad, age 23 (black belt ran 3 and world

champion) and Noa, breathed karate from a young age. Despite her
medical problems, Noa joined, at a young age, family trips to training

camps and to karate competitions throughout the world. For days she

observed her father and his students training. At the age of 4 1/2 she
started to train herself. Her mother, Nava, a karate teacher as well, was

her first teacher, and at the age of 12 she moved over to train by her

father. "It was always clear to me that I would be involved in karate,"
Noa tells. "It seems to me the most natural thing in the world."

- Did you put in a lot of effort from the beginning?
- "I put in a lot of effort, but the effort paid off. I practiced at first

twice a week; today I practice every day. It never seems too much to
me. I always enjoyed it, and today I just want more and more."

- When did you start to stand out?
- "I don't know if I was better than others. I was just like everyone and

I didn't have any breaks because I was my father's daughter. The
opposite: they always demanded more of me."

When she was in third grade, she won second place in the National

Competition. "I was very excited. Today I do karate to improve myself
and not to compete with other people. To win is not the goal."

- What did this do to your self-confidence?
- "A lot. When I was a child my face was distorted for some time

because of my problems, and it was very hard for me with the
children in school. Here I felt that they accepted me, that I wasn't

some alien. I learned not to give in to the stigmas of society.

Because of karate, I understood that there is no reason I should sit and
hide at home."

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