Two weeks ago, Katie Whipple won the Silver Medal in the non-handicap beginner women’s division at the Karate National Championships. Whipple is a 33 year old woman from Dunlap, Tennessee who is legally blind.
Sensei Corey Green began teaching Whipple just seven months ago. She is not the first person with special needs to train with Green, nor is she the first of his students to make karate history. But she is the first blind person to qualify and then win 2nd place in traditional karate at the national level.