84 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 18, 2002 SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN | SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN A Better Fishtrap oody is a big man. With shoulder W length white hair flowing out from under his Filson hat to his. broad shoulders, a luxuriant white beard,. tuddy complexion, and a wool shirt, he could easily be mistaken for a mountain man rather than a graphic artist, [ have Ryan set the Long Ranger down on the far side of the Hangover Run because in the high water it will be easier to fish from that side. “I've fished the Falls and McLeod Rivers near my home for brown trout,” Woody tells me. “But, this is the first time I've ever been. steelheading.” ; “Well, you’ve got good gear,” I remark, as Woody assembles his eight weight Scott rod then slides a high tech Bauer Reel to its seat, The reel is loaded with one of Jim Vincent's Rie VersiTips, the most innovative and durable line to arrive on the market in a lot of seasons. “They have a casting club in SanFrancisco...” “The Golden Gate.” “Yeah, that’s right. 1 went down there and a real helpful guy helped me get set up; told me what to expect.” I tig Woody up with a floating tip and one of Ron Grantham’s Sedges, not because I expected any fish to chase it in the high, slightly coloured water, but because I wanted him to see how the manipulation of his line affects his fly before he ° fishes the run with a wet fly or a sinking tip. Like most novice steelheaders, Woody stands too long in one place. I encourage him to mave more quickly,. telling him that fishing through a run twice quickly is far better than fishing it through once al a Snail’s pace. By the time we start over, with a sinking line and a big, black General Practitioner, he’s got the right tempo. Both of us follow the swing of the yellow line. I say, “Picture the place where your fly is. Try to slow it down and follow it with your rod tip.” He does. The line stops. The rod bows. In an instant I realize I've taken that Woody knows how to play a big fish for granted. “Let the reel take the load,” I yell, praying that the drag is set properly, which, thankfully, it is. After a short burst the fish shakes its head a while then runs right for us. Woody catches up to il. The fish rolls, showing its broad ted side. “A big male. Thought so,” I tell my sport. The fish runs and turns. Then it comes free. Getting a guy’s first steelhead to the beach is more fun than catching one yourself. I badly want to Woody to hock one. We bear down. Soon we hook another. Again the hook comes free. Before he can apologize, I tell Woody that these big salmon hooks with their long shanks and their fat wire have poor hooking and holding qualities. “The same thing happens to me,” I console him. But in coloured water there is nothing quite as attractive to steelhead as a big fly, preferably a big black fly. That night I get busy at the vise. The weekend before I'd watched Bob Clay tying Retrievers, a clever style dressing invented by his friend, and brilliant fly dresser, Wally Bolger. Sadly, Wally passed away from cancer last ‘year at the young age of forty-five, I was glad to see that Bob was carrying on ‘the tradition with Retrievers like the beautiful Stellar’s Jay. The idea behind the retriever is to construct a large, mobile fly armed with a hook of superior “holding and hooking qualities. To this end, Wally chose a bait hook, which he then threaded a four to six inch section of the space ‘age monofilament sold under brand names like ‘Tufline or Fireline through the eye of a short shanked, offset bait hook. That done, he attached it to the long shank of a salmon hook. After dressing the large fly, he clipped the large hook at its bend, creating an articulated hook with the short shanked, hard holding hook nestled in the tail fin of the fly. =~ [ dressed a pair of Black General Practitioners Retriever style, intending to give them to Woody the next day but the river went : out, He returned to California. When the river cleared enough to make fishing practical, ] went out with one of those flies on the end of my line, Two newly arrived steelhead took it. ' J landed both of them, In a way it was a memorial to Wally. MARWAN Abu-Khadra fought his way to several world championships and no ee poe w he's sharing his knowledge and experience with kar- ate and kickboxing students from Houston to Smithers and Terrace. JOANNA WONG PHOTO sl 638-7283 A champion’s journey By JOANNA WONG WITH AN unusual mixture of power and grace, Renshi Marwan Abu-Khadra moves swiftly through his Terrace Karate studio, throw- ing a series of punches and kicks, His red cloth uniform is loose- ‘fitting, but can’t hide a powerful fighter’s build. “Karate is not a sport,” ex- plains Abu-Khadra, whose once jet-black belt has worn white through three decades of rigorous training. "T's a lifestyle,” he says. “It’s a subject, it’s like school. With some it starts with mind, others with body — it’s power, control, understanding.” Yet oddly enough, for Abu- Khadra the road to becoming a world-champion martial artist started with a necklace. “My friend and I were Bruce Lee fanatics and I wanted badly a Bruce Lee necklace,” remembers Abu-Khadra. “It was the 70s, and every- bedy’s fantasy was to fight like Bruce Lee.” Then 13 years old, the Beirut- born Abu-Khadra had just moved to Germany. In the process of buy- ing his Bruce Lee necklace at a local martial arts store, he hap- pened to meet the wife of one of Germany’s most prestigious karate instructors, Grand Master Lem- mens. He quickly joined Lemmens’ club and fell in love with the art. “I was training very hard,” Abu-Khadra recalls. “Everything | could get I took.” Unfortunately, self defense soon became more than simply a hobby for Abu-Khadra. meant to be it hits you hard. They start picking on you and you have to fight.” At 18, Abu-Khadra received his black belt and began fighting on the European tournament circuit with the German national black belt team. His stunning agility and clever footwork. soon became legendary. He remained undefeated in Ger- many for his entire career, domi- nating the nationals for 12 years in a row. In i988, Abu-Khadra be- “It was the 70s and everybody’s fantasy was to fight like Bruce Lee,” With a German mother and an Arabian father, Abu-Khadra often found himself bearing the brunt of | racism — in both Germany and Ar- abia, “In Arabia I was looked at as a European boy. In Germany I was an Arab boy,” says Abu-Khadra. “In Germany it was very tough to deal with certain people. The pro- blem is skin, your color, your name. No matter how people came the European champion, a titled he held for two years. And in 1989, he won the Ama- teur Kickboxing World Cham- pionships, also a title he kept for Iwo years. “I remember everything,” says Abu-Khadra of the competition, “The mast important was my fight against Italy, The guy I fought was a bulldozer - no matter what you did he went forward. It was a skilled fight.” After becoming an internation- al champion, Abu-Khadra decided to shift his focus’ onto his students. “My goals right now are get-— ting my students where I was and better,” says Abu-Khadra, who currently runs three schools out of Terrace, Smithers and Houston. “When-I see my students fight I feel. sometimes I want to do it too but J really don’t miss it. The reascn is I’m full. If there would . be an Olympic champ that would be the next thing I didn’t get.” Abu-Khadra is the founder of the Shogun Dojo, which he estab- : lished after immigrating to Cana- da in 1996, The school was named after Japan’s highest ranking and most important soldier. The Shogun style is rooted in tradition, but Abu-Khadra tries to keep an open mind. “We look at what other peaple do an see how good it is and try to work with that,” he says. While the schoo! is young, Abu-Khadra already has a core following of 110 dedicated stu- dents. Continued Page B10 CATGH unicylcist Kris Holm’s Mexican adven- ture film Unizaba Oct. 5. SEANWHITE.NET PHOTO Film buffs in for a treat FANS OF MOUNTAIN FILMS are in for a treat Oct. 5 as the Banff Mountain Film Festival’s world tour to comes to Terrace. Mountain bikers and thrill seekers are guaran- leed some exciting action in one of the tour's films, Unizaba. Extreme unicyclist Kris Holm and Nathan Hoover explore Mexico in an adventure which culminates in Holm making a unicycle des- cent down a volcano. Holm, raised in North Vancouver, is no stranger to the mountain biking world having appeared in several high-action made-in-B.C. mountain biking films. Other films set to be screened include a film about B.A.S.E. jumping in Africa and a film called Bezerk in the Antarctic which follows a 19-year-old Norwegian who captains an ailing 27-foot sailboat in the Antarctic. The Banff Film Festival World Tour features a variety of film types including Mountain sports, to stories about mountain culture and the environment. This year’s line-up includes films from Canada, the U.S., Slovakia, Denmark, Switzerland and South Africa. The Mount Remo Backcountry Soc- iely hosts the tour at the R.E.M, Lee Theatre Oct. $ at 7 p.m, Tickets are available at Azad Adventures. mets Locals team up for Access Challenge By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN FOUR LOCAL men and a former Terrace woman took on a three-day adven- ture this summer most people would only watch on television. Frank Driol, Sandor Komlos, Roger and Chris Chicoine joined up with Alexis Chicoine and Van- couverite Garry Stock in the B.C. Mobility Opportu- nities fourth annual Access Challenge, The event sees teams made up of one dis- abled person and four able- bodied people tackle a de- manding three-day moun- tain excursion. Two and half years ago Alexis Chicoine was par- alyzed in a cat accident. The accident left her a quadriplegic, but it hasn’t Stopped her from keeping active. This is the second year she and her father Roger, have taken part in the event, Both say having one challenge. under their belts made them more pre- pared for this year’s event. “Just doing something the second time through everything comes a little bil easier,” says Alexis. “It is gruetling, there's no question. Bul it is such ‘a Unique experience.” The challenge took place Aug. 20-22 in Gari- _baldi Park in the lower ye ne crosses the Cheakamus River in her Trail Rider during the Access Challenge, mainland. The team bal- tled a 3,000 foot elevation gain, steep switchbacks, wooden bridges’ and crossed the Cheakamus River on a zip line. The able-bodied mem- bers helped manoeuvre Alexis around while: she sat in a specialized wheel- chair called a-Trail: Rider, designed ‘to - navigate rocky, ‘mountain. trails. “We just. pulled, grun- ted and groaned the whole way,” laughs Roger Chi- coine. “It was just an amazing trip.” mo The team ‘is hoping to take part again next year —. ifthey can, _ “Four of the six teams this year have done. it pre- viously, so at what. point are: they going fo ask us | politely not to go so other: ° people can try it?” says~ Alexis Chicoine.