Martial arts school builds confidence
Staff writer
What started as a college curiosity has grown into more than a decade of martial arts instruction in Hillsboro for sensei Mervin Lare.
Lare teaches Dàyǒu Dào, a traditional system focused on self-defense, confidence, and persistence.
He began martial arts in 2006 while attending Kansas State University.
“The name was weird sounding, and I was like, ‘I want to go do that,’” Lare said.
Teaching came later as his training deepened and he found himself learning more by helping others learn.
“I just kind of fell into the teaching aspect of it,” Lare said. “As I teach, I discover new things about the katas and forms that I didn’t realize when I was first learning them.”
Lare has been teaching in Hillsboro since 2013, he said. His Dàyǒu Dào School of Martial Arts emphasizes traditional Chinese martial arts rather than more modern, sport-centered systems.
Traditional instruction still offers effective self-defense and fighting technique along with discipline when taught correctly, he said.
“I think there’s a lot of good knowledge that gets lost when you’re trying to open it up for a much broader audience,” Lare said of more commercialized approaches.
Dàyǒu Dào roughly translates to “bountiful harvest way,” a name tied to the idea that hard work and diligence bring bounty, Lare said.
The style also stands apart from many Kansas programs because it offers a softer approach than karate and taekwondo schools more commonly found in the state.
Classes are built around kata, waza, and kumite, which teach movements, application, and pressure-testing in sparring.
“Kata gives you the movements,” Lare said. “Waza is the application, and kumite allows you to pressure test it.”
Beyond self-defense, martial arts helps children and adults build confidence and body awareness, he said.
“Most kids don’t have that body awareness,” Lare said. “It teaches them, OK, I can actually move my hand and my foot in two different directions and make it work.”
Persistence matters more than natural athleticism in the long run.
“It’s always the ones that are persistent — they always come to class — that slowly but surely do become better than the athlete that just shows up in spurts,” Lare said.
Over the years, the biggest change Lare has seen in students is confidence.
“From when they started to when they leave, they’ve developed a confidence to kind of go out into the world and just be confident in whatever they’re doing,” Lare said.
His approach relies on encouragement and steady progress rather than tearing students down.
“I very rarely if ever put somebody down,” Lare said. “It’s usually, OK, you’re there. Let’s make a little adjustment here.”
Students do not need to train for hours a day, he said. Even small amounts of practice and regular attendance can build skill.
At the youth level, sparring is meant to teach control, movement, awareness, and how to respond when adrenaline hits.
“It’s not to go out and just now start punching and kicking people as you see fit because, ‘Oh, hey, look, I’m a martial artist,’ ” Lare said.
A typical class begins with warmups, moves into basics, and finishes with instruction on techniques or forms.
He watches closely for small posture adjustments that can improve performance and confidence.
“If you can make them learn how to make that posture big and tall and proud, just that elevates their confidence,” Lare said.
Lare teaches through Hillsboro Parks and Recreation rather than running a commercial dojo. The setup allows him to avoid the expense of a separate facility.
“If I was wanting to make money off of this, I would be doing something else,” Lare said.
He is the only Dàyǒu Dào instructor in Kansas, with his own instructor based in the Fort Worth area.
That can limit competition opportunities, though he tries to attend Sunflower State Games in Topeka when possible.
What keeps Lare t is the way instruction sharpens both teacher and student.
“As I teach, I get better,” Lare said. “When they get better, I get better.”
In time, more experienced students begin helping teach others, creating what he described as a cycle of learning.
What Lare hopes students carry away confidence i to speak directly and honestly.
“Be forward with people,” Lare said. “If you say you’re going to do something, you’re going to do it.”