Student, then teacher
Martial arts helps a teen direct his life after many difficulties.
By MIKE CAMUNAS, Times Correspondent
Published December 28, 2007
WESLEY CHAPEL
Jared Ciccarello is going to teach.
The 14-year-old black-belt student at Premier Martial Arts of Wesley Chapel has worked hard, and after just four years of training, Ciccarello is an assistant instructor, paving what he hopes will be a lifelong path with martial arts.
"I decided all of this when I saw the Jackie Chan movies when I was really young," Ciccarello said. "I thought, 'That's looks really cool. I wonder how they do that.' So I started getting into karate, and thought if I could get other people into karate, then that would be really awesome, too."
Ciccarello had to overcome some things to get there so quickly. He was struggling with attention deficit hyperactive disorder and was taking Strattera for treatment. The medication helped Ciccarello focus and try harder, not only with karate, but with school as well.
Ciccarello also lost his father, Bill, when he was 8. His father was a police officer, but also a chain smoker and alcoholic. He died of a heart attack.
Those things really affected Ciccarello.
"It kind of taught me a few things about addictions," Ciccarello said. "It showed me how it affected his life. He was really awesome, and he knew all these cool things. But he was also a strong guy."
Jared's mother, Ellen Ciccarello, realizes how her husband's death shaped Jared's persona.
"He was pretty close to Bill," Ellen Ciccarello said. "I think he really blamed the drinking and the smoking, and Jared wanted to be different than that. He didn't want to get into that kind of stuff because he could see the damage it caused in his life."
Those who have been training Ciccarello since he started martial arts recognize how he has refocused his life.
"He wasn't a very focused individual when he started out," trainer Lyndana Wethington said. "We worked on his concentration, and he works well independently. ... Because of all that, he's shown excellent leadership abilities."
And that's how Jared Ciccarello became an assistant instructor. He impressed Brian Wethington, owner of Premier Martial Arts, enough to attend a four-day instructional session specializing in class protocol and how to speak to students. Ciccarello is not permitted to handle a class by himself because he's under 18.
Jared Ciccarello, who attends John Long Middle School, might be young, but he's also mature. He misses his dad, but keeps his eyes set on the future.
"I might not have known my dad that well since he was always smoking and drinking, but it helped me," Jared Ciccarello said. "It made me not want to do that, to help people not do that either.
"I think about him. To be honest, here at karate, all I can do is do my best, but I know he saw it."
Submit feedback, story ideas by e-mailing mike.camunas@gmail.comBIOGRAPHY:
Jared Ciccarello
Age: 14
School: John Long Middle
Grade: Eighth
Martial arts status: He has a black belt and is an assistant instructor at Premier Martial Arts of Wesley Chapel.
Favorite movies: He loves anything involving Jackie Chan or martial arts.