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ProfileIssue: Capricorn 06

Sensei, Laurie Shover, Teaches Women How to Defend Themselves with Shaolin Kempo Karate

Laurie Shover teaches Shaolin Kempo karate at Villari’s Self Defense Centers in South Burlington, Vermont. Winner of this years’ Vermont Business Ethics Award and a mother of two, she is a beacon of hope to men and women alike. Involved in karate at Villari’s since 1981, Laurie is one of the few women in the country to wear an eighth degree black belt.

http://venusrisingmagazine.com/images/articles/laurie_155.jpgOn her own at the age of 15 and living in a small town, her brother signed her up for karate lessons. At first, she didn’t like it because back then, studying karate was much more hard core. Laurie knew she needed the discipline, respect, self confidence, and self defense that these lessons would teach her, but she only stayed in class under pressure from her brothers. Because of her parent’s divorce, her brothers and her Kempo teacher soon became her mentors.

Today the number of men and women who flock to her studio is astounding. Ask any of her students why they stay, and most of them will tell you that they come back only because of her and her vision of hope for them. Tall and blonde with an infectious laugh, she has a way about her that is comforting. Training in Shaolin Karate for over 30 years, Laurie is tough as nails yet soft on the eyes, and her work outs leave you breathless. Could she really kill someone with those hands? You bet. Without any bravado, Laurie rules the roost in her classes and throws men larger than her down on the ground like toothpicks.

Laurie is known to me and many others as “sensei.” This is a Japanese term of respect for someone in a position of authority who has achieved a certain level of mastery or skill in a particular area or art form.

Thanks to Laurie’s leadership and discipline in the marshal arts, Karate has become my way of life. I feel more confident and more spiritually aware because of what I have learned from her. And the recent rape and murder of a young college student in Burlington was a painful reminder to me of just how important even very basic self defense skills are for women.

by Beth Quarles

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