This is Barbara Hofman. She is a grandmother; she is 69 years old; and she is a San-Kyu brown belt in karate, as well as an assistant instructor in tai chi.
Go ahead and soak that in for a minute.
The story of how she started training in the martial arts begins years ago, with her children. Back then, Hofman was a single mother trying hard to make ends meet, trying to raise four kids on a limited budget. Like most children, hers developed extracurricular activities, and at some point they decided it was time for something physical. “When we were living in Chicago, my kids were interested in getting into something like that, so I got my two older children into karate.”
The problem was that her limited means didn’t allow her to pay for said classes. Then she met sensei Frank Sasso. “He said that because they wanted to work and they were pretty good students, that he would let them work for their lessons,” Hofman explains.
The situation worked out pretty well. The kids did some odd jobs for Sasso, and they spent some time learning and practicing martial arts. It was a win-win for everybody and something that Hofman spurred on because of her own interest in karate. Thing is, she never translated that interest into actually taking up the practice herself. “Raising four kids and working, I just didn’t have the time to learn,” she says.
Time marched on, and the Hofmans moved away from Chicago to pursue other things. Eventually they ended up in Phoenix, and that’s when Hofman’s daughter made a discovery. “My daughter said to me, ‘Mom, you know our sensei is living in Phoenix.’” That’s when Hofman decided she’d look him up so they could catch up on old times.
Although things were better, Hofman still wasn’t in a financial position to pay for karate lessons. She was 67 at this point, and a grandmother. And even though she had stayed in shape, it wasn’t like she was going to be competing in any triathlons anytime soon.
Remembering her previous experience with Sasso, she made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. “I worked as his secretary, and in exchange I could get martial arts lessons.” And that’s how it all started up again.
Her training began in tai chi, a different form of martial arts. “In general, for seniors who are looking to get into martial arts, I would suggest tai chi, which is very low-impact.” This skill can be translated to seniors in multiple ways, as the routines can be adjusted to avoid deep lunges and movements that some older people may find difficult to perform.
Although tai chi was interesting to her, Hofman always loved watching Bruce Lee films, and wanted to learn more. “I was always interested in karate. When I realized that [Sasso] was still teaching karate as well as tai chi, I talked him into letting me take some karate lessons.”
Today, she’s advanced to become an assistant instructor in tai chi, as well as advanced to the rank of San-Kyu brown belt in karate. It means she can even train with weapons. “I’m learning the Bo, which is a six-foot stick that you can fight with,” Hofman says. “Since I’m only 5-foot-5, it’s kind of an interesting weapon.” Plus, she’s tough enough to spar with other people — something even Sasso contends isn’t very common.
Today, Hofman is still training with Sasso. In fact, the two have even realized they have a lot more in common than just martial arts, and have upgraded their friendship to a happy romantic relationship. And while a lot of people may have doubted it was possible for a 69-year-old grandmother to train in martial arts — she was even one of them — Hofman has certainly beat the odds. “This was something that I didn’t really know if I could do at this age,” she admits. “But here I am!”
